Jesse,

Since no one has jumped in here I'll give it a shot. As a general rule, a little rust on the billet layers isn't going to hurt much. It's not recommended but not anything that will ruin the billet either. The rust will convert back to steel at welding temperature. If the billet gets extremely rusted then I would recommend a longer soak time but a little surface rust won't change much. [You can even convert forging scale back to steel with a long enough soak in a reducing environment.]

You mentioned a stainless san mai. I don't know if you have welded stainless before but it's a little different than welding carbon steel. If you are just wanting the visual effect then using 15N20 rather than stainless will be an easier way to go and will give you a nice contrast between layers. (I'm a big fan of the K.I.S.S. method, especially when it comes to making Damascus.)

I guessing that your initial question comes from you not having a welder available whenever you want it and if you want to weld up some billets ahead of time when you have the availability of a welder, then certainly do so. Store them where they will stay as dry as possible but don't worry if they get some surface rust.

Jesse

If you wanted to make up billets ahead of time without doing the initial forge weld, I would suggest storing them in a bucket of kerosene. The kerosene will burn off quickly in the forge and as long as the billets are submerged, I cant imagine that there would ever be a problem.

This recommendation is for stacks only. I would not do this for canisters because if they fill up with the kerosene, there is a possibility of them blowing up in your forge.

Brian

Thanks guys.

Gary i was unaware of the scale being able to revert back into steel through soak time. Very cool. I guess that's the one new thing i had to learn today, i might as well go home:) also i have done some stainless San Mai, just 304 so the faux hamon isn't as active as 416 but i think it still looks cool. I weld them all around though so i imagine they would be okay from atmosphere as long as the welds were sound. And that is certainly the case about access to a welder, my work week takes me away from my shop but where i stay has a welder, and if i can do the Grunt work whilst away and just forge when home, all the better.

Brian, submerging a canister in kerosene absolutely sounds like a terrible idea! !<img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> the stacks however that would do the trick for sure, just have to not put handles on them all until I'm about to forge hey.

Thanks again guys

Careful metal goes bad if you dont cover it and put it in the fridge HAHAHA JK