Anyone know of a way to create Damascus steel pattern ....

[Cato]

...... on aluminium and stainless steel? Etching, chemical burning, masking and anodising existing material type of thing rather than making an alloy to look like it.

 

[Screwdriver]

Lot of work to make it look even remotely "Damascus". Depends on the scale of the workpiece and its intended use. Does the pattern need to be very robust?

Another option might be to create a pattern in vinyl and sandblast the cutouts. A hard paint might also work as a resist plus of course with vinyl you also have the option of electo etching or even acid.

 

[Cato]

Lot of work to make it look even remotely "Damascus". Depends on the scale of the workpiece and its intended use. Does the pattern need to be very robust?

Another option might be to create a pattern in vinyl and sandblast the cutouts. A hard paint might also work as a resist plus of course with vinyl you also have the option of electo etching or even acid.

The stainless steel part is a slash cut exhaust, so thin, awkward shape and exposed to high temps in operation. I'd looked at the blackening solutions that you can get but they appear to need heat to work so the mask would need to be something to take that and I'm not sure how/if the heat of the exhaust in operation would affect the blackening.

 

[Cato]

Something like cerakote or zircotec would work I think

It's worth looking into, but if it turns out to be something that'd look odd or only last five minutes then not worth doing really.

 

[Misterg]

with vinyl you also have the option of electo etching

I think that's what I would try - polish the 'thing' first and the electro-etch will show up.

Something like this (example selected at random - plenty more if you want to refine the technique):

 

[Screwdriver]

The stainless steel part is a slash cut exhaust, so thin, awkward shape and exposed to high temps in operation. I'd looked at the blackening solutions that you can get but they appear to need heat to work so the mask would need to be something to take that and I'm not sure how/if the heat of the exhaust in operation would affect the blackening.

Hmm. So it's a pattern you're after really then? I guess you wouldn't want it to look like something it couldn't possibly be made from!

Or is there a "knife" theme going on with the car/bike??

 

[Cato]

Hmm. So it's a pattern you're after really then? I guess you wouldn't want it to look like something it couldn't possibly be made from!

Or is there a "knife" theme going on with the car/bike??

It was idle curiosity when pondering finishes for parts which led to considering it for exhausts. No problem with it looking like something it couldn't be made from, well something it could be made from but it wouldn't last very long.

 

[Hopefuldave]

Stanless can be electropolished, so could you media blast for a matt finish, mask up and polish that way?

Electropolishing of stainless steels – British Stainless Steel Association

bssa.org.uk

Fun with electrochemistry!