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WIP -- Stainless Steel Damascus Lights

PhotonFanatic

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 17, 2003
Messages
2,337
Location
western Massachusetts
I have a good collection of Stainless Steel Damascus round bar stock made by Chad Nichols and I also have a couple of custom orders for lights using that steel.


So I'm planning to make around four lights, possibly more, and send them all off to the heat treater at once, in order to save some money--otherwise the lot charge is a bit much for a single light.


So far I have two styles that I've completed; one is an RCR123 powered single-stage light and the other will be a three-level light powered by a rechargeable 18650 lithium-ion battery. Both versions are twist operation.


I am open to making one or two more custom lights, perhaps in slightly different styles, depending on what you might want. If interested, please contact me via e-mail, or PM.


Here are the two lights:


SidebySide_SSDAMS-A.jpg



And some close-ups of the RCR123 light:

CR123_SSDAM-1.jpg

CR123_SSDAM-2.jpg





Admitedly, the SS Damascus doesn't really look that great until it is heat treated and etched and then it looks like this:


NicholsSSDam3-4.jpg



But, as a perpetual tinkerer, I'm keen to find a way to make SS Damascus, which is comprised of two steels, i.e., 304 and 303, have more contrast--shinier 303 and blacker 304 after they are etched and the light is finished.


So as part of my experiments, I've managed to etch the SS Damascus to achieve a nice sharp demarcation between the two steels:


RShah Test Piece Etch-1.jpg



Why so deep--well I intend to machine the high relief 303 steel after it has been heat treated, to take a skim coat off. That will leave me with a super smooth surface which can then be buffed and polished, resulting in something like this:


RShah Test Piece Etch-3.jpg

RShah Test Piece Etch-5.jpg





That test piece has been buffed and polished and using a sharpie, I have also darkened the 304 steel, although that is not how I hope to darken the 304 in the final pieces.


I'll post more WIP photos as this moves along.

UPDATE 11/14/11:

I've been working on another 18650 battery sized Stainless Steel Damascus light, almost identical to the first one, but this has 8 Tritium vial slots to be filled in later by its new owner. Here is a close-up of the actual machining of one of the slots--as you can see, the end mill cuts lots of nice small slivers--which just love to embed themselves in my skin.


18650SSDamascus_TritSlotMachining.jpg



And here's a close-up of the slot after it has been cleaned up a bit:


18650SSDamascus_TritSlotCloseUp.jpg



And after all the flutes and Trit slots were in place, the tail end looks like this:


18650SSDamascus_TailEnd.jpg



I think I might tame that down a bit and remove some of those sharp corners.


So, at this stage, I've completed machining three of these Chad Nichols' Damascus lights:


SSDamascusTrio.jpg



I am thinking of making one more CR123 version, the shorter one shown, plus I have an order for an 18350 battery sized version with an E-Series Light Engine compatible head. The customer wants a 'mule' style, i.e., no reflector, just pure flood output.

EDIT 12/7/11:

Wow, I can not believe it has been three weeks since I updated this thread. :)


I have completed five of the stainless steel Damascus lights, with at least one more custom order to complete. Here are the five pieces:


SSDamascus_FivePiecesReady2Etch.jpg



Today I managed to etch three of the lights--remember this is being done before they are heat treated, something which is usually not done. Here's what the light looks like shortly after being rinsed in some water after being etched:


18650SSDAM_Etched&Wet.jpg



When you first etch a light and you see something like that, with its great contrast between the black and the silver, you think you've hit a home run. But the eurphoria quickly fades after you clean it up in some baking soda solution and let it dry. Then you get this:


18650SSDAM_Etched&Dried.jpg



Nice, but not what I want. I know though that etching with the right solution, after heat treating will produce a darker charcoal color.


Here are the RCR123 sized lights that were etched today--first a close-up:


CR123SSDamascus_EtchedCloseUp-1.jpg



And a bit further away:


CR123SSDamascus_EtchedCloseUp-2.jpg



I am really going to replicate the wet look, if at all possible, so I'm experimenting with my small test piece, although it has not been heat treated yet. Still, this is close to what I hope to achieve. And, no, this was not done with a Sharpie this time. Newly darkened piece on top, and below that is how it looked after the etching, but before darkening:


SSDamascus_black-silverTestPiece.jpg
RShah Test Piece Etch-1.jpg


What's interesting about etching and finishing a stainless steel Damascus light is that I can do some things that a knife maker can not do, since the light will only be held in the hand and not be used to cut things, i.e., not subject to as much wear and tear. The test piece has been etched, then sanded and buffed, colored and then once again sanded. There will be one final step designed to protect the black areas from abnormal wear and tear.

EDIT 12-31-2011:

Just retrieved them at the heat-treater yesterday--spent part of today cleaning up the threads--they tend to get a little rough after heat-treating:

Nine-Up_HeatTreated.jpg


Will start building the LEs and working on the etching this week.

EDIT 1-8-2012:

As I have mentioned before, I've been experimenting with trying to darken the etch on stainless steel Damascus (pattern welded steel). That has led me to try various blackening agents and coatings. Alas, these do darken the etch, but I'm not 100% convinced that this is the final answer. But here are some of the results:

First is a light that was darkened using ink and then clear coated:

Tapered&Fluted-18650-2.jpg

Tapered&Fluted-18650-3.jpg


And the next light was coated with baking lacquer and then polished:


ThatDamnBlockyBoy-1.jpg

ThatDamnBlockyBoy-2.jpg



The final example was etched in the normal manner, although it needs a deeper etch so that I can polish the brighter colored steel a bit more, imo:


Tapered&Grooved-CR123-1.jpg

Tapered&Grooved-CR123-2.jpg



At the moment, I'm inclined to prefer the baked enamel version for a darker black, but I'm coming to realize that the normal etching, while not producing really dark black, more like gray or charcoal, has its advantages and beauty, too. The main advantage being that it is bare metal and will retain its look for a long, long time.

EDIT 01-13-2012:

Getting around to completing the etching, and in some cases, the re-etching of the lights:

SSDAM-18650-8Flute&Trits-PolishedFinal-2.jpg

SSDAM-18650-8Flute&Trits-PolishedFinal-4.jpg



SSDAM-18650-SixFlute&Trits-PolishedFinal-1.jpg



SSDAM-CR123-BlockyBoyPolishedFinal-1.jpg
 
Last edited:

jch79

**Do Not Feed The Vegan**,
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May 2, 2006
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On the asphalt.
Awesome! Love the little 123 light - a DamBlockyBoy?!? The BB has to be one of my favorite all-time lights.

Goes without saying, but nice work, Fred! The etching looks like metal sheets inside STONE! :cool: Nice!

:popcorn: john
 

Essexman

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 9, 2006
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1,192
Location
U.K.
Hi Fred, those lights look great, very nice work indeed.

Now If you drill a bigger hole in your test sample it would make a nice lanayrd bead :)
 

PhotonFanatic

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 17, 2003
Messages
2,337
Location
western Massachusetts
Unfortunately, I have had a small problem with my lathe--one of the bearings finally died and I had to replace it. Normally not a difficult thing to do, but this lathe's construction with its variable speed mechanism, threw me for a loop. Finally figured it out and now it's running fine. I'll try to post some more pics real soon.
 

PhotonFanatic

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 17, 2003
Messages
2,337
Location
western Massachusetts
Even though I don't use lanyards, that thought did cross my mind. Might be a good way to clean up the small pieces that accumulate. I'll see what I can do--they probably need to be a bit smaller in diameter though.
 

tallgrass

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Nov 27, 2007
Messages
4
where do you get your Damascus? I have been looking for Stainless in thicker dimensions.
 

tallgrass

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Nov 27, 2007
Messages
4
Sorry, i should have been more clear, i did not see stock of that thickness on his page. Where did you get that dimension or was it custom?
 

Obijuan Kenobe

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Joined
Sep 19, 2010
Messages
1,059
Location
Pittsburgh, PA, USA, Earth
Oh my. That is some NICE looking metal work. I cannot wait. I simply cannot wait.

You should be getting a package in the mail soon, Fred. I also emailed you regarding some options (leaving some final decisions to you, depending on what is doable in your mind).

I win.

obi
 

toby_pra

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
6,044
Location
Germany
Fred,

this one is stunning! Comes out very very nice!
One of the nicest lights i have ever seen! ;)

Great!
 
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