/diy/ - Do It Yourself

You can forge-weld any (well, almost any) ferrous metals together. The stark contrast of black/silver is usually created by welding strips of iron and steel together, the iron being the black element, steel the silver.

You can weld ferrous and non-ferrous metals together, but it's not an easy thing to do.

Anyhow, after you've welded your stock together, forged it to shape, etc, the pattern is usually made to stand out with a weak acid (etching). Polishing won't make the pattern stand out, usually, it's just for refining the finish of the material.

You can weld many different kinds of steel together, etch them, and then heat-treat them in an oven for a range of dazzling temper-colors, but this requires tightly controlled, precise heat-treatment. Usually you'd need an electric/gas kiln, or send it somewhere to be treated. The effects can be great (pic related).

If you want those pretty black/silver patterns that people have come to associate with 'damascus' steel, use iron and a good steel. I would not suggest doing this with anything bigger than a 6" knife, as iron/steel together make a blade that is more brittle than a blade made of one piece of homogenous, factory-rolled steel. But then, people don't usually go to the effort of pattern-welding to make a beater knife.