Hello everyone if there is a post somewhere that addresses this that i haven't seen please just direct me there... but I have not been able to find much information about this topic. It seems to be one of those secrets that once you find out how to do it, no one shares <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//sad.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':(' /> I have attempted to laminate layers of AEBL and 304 a couple of times and while most were complete and utter failures I did manage to get a nice little billet welded up, but once I tried to forge it out EVERY single layer came apart. I have been attempting this in a steel container welded shut with some paper inside to make the reduced oxygen environment with all the surfaces ground and cleaned and stacked tightly. I have read over Ariel Salaverria's stainless Damascus spoon WIP on his site a few times and see that it is indeed possible, but I must be missing something.

Just to clarify I am not talking about san-mai layering with a carbon steel edge/core and a layer of stainless on the outsides. I don't see why anything that can be done with carbon steel Damascus patterns and mosaics cant be done in stainless as well as long as the right temperatures and materials are used. As someone who lives by the beach and spends time in the water I would love to make a stainless Damascus dive knife <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

If anyone has been successful with this and can at least point me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it.

(the only idea that I have not tried yet that I think might work is to make the billets very thin and after the initial forge weld simply use stock removal.... but that wouldn't be a very interesting pattern or anything <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//sad.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':(' />