How to Shrink a Quarter WITH SCIENCE!

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

Although I saw some cool blacksmithing at Pennsic last year where they were using the 'damascus' method to make knives etc out of old steel cables and chainsaw chains.

SDunno about their madjicakl durability, but it was cool as hell to watch and play with.

Also, a piece of cable that ends in a forged, sharp blade.

W00T Steel indeed.

[Richter]

Damascus (technique) doesn't neceessaily mean steel is GOOD, it just means it's layered.  If you have some semi crappy, and some good steel, folding and welding them together enough will give you a cutting edge covered by striations of good/  bad steel.  In theory, the bad flakes off with use, exposing more good, giving good, lasting cutting performance.  The alternating layers and "grains" to the steel also (in theory) give it stength like metalic plywood.

What you're describing isn't true (often called wootz) damascus, it just looks like damascus and is used to fool the gullible.  Usually referred to as welded damascus.  It looks awesome, and can be a perfectly good blade (it produces a mid carbon steel which is what you usually want),

Its not made from layers of good and bad steel either, its made from layers of high carbon and low carbon steel.  Which are both good, but for different reasons (low carbon is stronger, high carbon is harder).

Those alternating layers do not actually give any bonus of strength either, the layers melt together in the forging process to form a normal (if cool looking) steel.  Though the folding process will improve on poor quality steel by forcing out impurities (which is why the Katana uses a folding method to forge, Japanese iron is really shitty).

Modern mall sword fake damascus is usually not welded damascus either, they just take stainless steel and laser etch it to make it look like damascus.

Low carbon steel isn't "stronger" as such.  While it is not hard enough to hold and edge well, it CAN bend without cracking, good for structural pieces, less so for cutting.  High carbon steel, as you said, IS harder, but subsequently more brittle.  Both kinds of steel can be hardened and softened by different applications of heat, but the carbon contant of the steel (aside from alloys) determining how ultimately hard it can get. 

Using different high vs. low carbon for the cutting edge of a tool vs. the spine / back had the purpose of both conserving rare high quality steel (Technique used by both the Japanese and the Norse, among others), and had the bonus of giving a more flexible spine.  This is different from Damascus.  Which are we talking about?

The Damascus steel doing the same, we have both come out and said.  It's impossible to communicate clearly sometimes, read more carefully before you fly around calling people wrong.

[Requia ☣]

Low carbon steel isn't "stronger" as such.  While it is not hard enough to hold and edge well, it CAN bend without cracking, good for structural pieces, less so for cutting.  High carbon steel, as you said, IS harder, but subsequently more brittle.  Both kinds of steel can be hardened and softened by different applications of heat, but the carbon contant of the steel (aside from alloys) determining how ultimately hard it can get. 

Using different high vs. low carbon for the cutting edge of a tool vs. the spine / back had the purpose of both conserving rare high quality steel (Technique used by both the Japanese and the Norse, among others), and had the bonus of giving a more flexible spine.  This is different from Damascus.  Which are we talking about?

The Damascus steel doing the same, we have both come out and said.  It's impossible to communicate clearly sometimes, read more carefully before you fly around calling people wrong.

I'm not as certain on this part, but I'm pretty sure the Japanese get the different edge/spine properties by tempering the edge and not the spine.  Norse swords I know jack about.

Damascus steel, both wootz and welded forms, rely on a combination of low and high carbon steel, which is why I brought it up.

[Richter]

They did both in some versions, laminating several different steels together, then differentialy heat treating the edge.

http://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/def_en/articles/steel_collector/japanese_sword.html

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I STILL WANT THE QUARTER SHRINKING MACHINE!  I NEED IT!

[Requia ☣]

Steal an MRI, I bet you could adapt it to do this.

[Richter]

10 miles of power lines and the BIGGEST damn capacitors you can find.  The hugeass electric company ones.  Get lots. 

[The Good Reverend Roger]

10 miles of power lines and the BIGGEST damn capacitors you can find.  The hugeass electric company ones.  Get lots. 

National Grid has them?

[Richter]

10 miles of power lines and the BIGGEST damn capacitors you can find.  The hugeass electric company ones.  Get lots. 

National Grid has them?

Yup.  Pretty sure some of the big honkers at the electrical sub - stations are the item in question.  They must replace them off and on.  If not you can always rig an asston of more commmonly available ones.

I'm pretty sure you'd have fun with one of these too
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bclee/lens.html

[Reginald Ret]

THESE NEED TO GO IN CRAZY PREPARED!

[Payne]

dont spoil the fun, they shrink when the aether is squeezed out of them..