Damascus Steel From Stick Welding Electrodes 

"It is still soft, it will not get hard" is not something i ever expected to hear in a Alec Steele Video.

Little known fact, forge welding welding rods together is actually how bees came up with the shape of their honeycomb. It was a bee blacksmith messing around with techniques centuries ago that made the same discovery you did, and his queen liked it so much they built a whole hive out of it. Wasn’t long before neighboring colonies copied them and here we are today!

"It really should be getting harder now" Hey man, he's just not in the mood. Don't rush him.

I loved the "Alec doesn’t pay me enough for this" camera angles during the first attempt at forge welding. I'd have been hiding up the back, too, Jamie!

Hexagons are, in fact, bestagons

14:14 I wonder if you could make a QR code

Fun fact - honeycombs become hexagons for the same reason! They start as circles, and gravity forces them into the shape, as it's the most complex regular polygon that tiles a plane

I would love to see Alec go back to making swords again. I miss his swords. The One Day Sword is one of my most favorite videos.

13:27 Hexagons are the bestagons. It's also the most efficient shape to cover a plane. Giants causeway is for the same reason. Great content as always.

That little "ahhhhhh" after the grinder decided to eat that one billet on the second cut... i feel ya man. i feel ya.

"It's soft,it will not get hard" and "little butt crack"... How inspiring...😅

I love watching Shurap make canister damascus out of random collections of metal objects.

1:13 Me: "Oh that weld doesn't look half bad!" Alec: "That's an ugly weld." Me: "Oh yeah totally. Hideous even."

0:45 goodbye retinas i guess

13:16 'Hexagons are the bestagons'

Hello Alec, I’m a new viewer and subscriber. I know you have millions of subscribers, so I doubt you’ll see my comment, but I’d like to share something with you and your team. I recently had a motorbike accident and have been bed-bound for the past couple of weeks. Your channel has been a huge source of comfort and inspiration during this tough time. Binge-watching your playlists has not only kept me entertained but also sparked a deeper interest in making things from wood and metal. Your enthusiasm is contagious. Thank you for sharing your incredible passion and skills with us-it’s made a real difference for me personally. I’m looking forward to watching all your videos, especially since I’ll be bed-bound for many more weeks. Thanks again. Will Horton

"Twig" welding 😂

The whole process of creating Damascus steel from stick welding electrodes was truly fascinating to watch. It's how every minute detail contributes to the final result. The incorporation of your skills and the science behind it is very educational.

Make sure you're wearing a respirator when sawing through fire brick, you can get silicosis from inhaling the dust

Dude's parents really knew what they were doing when they named him, "I like steel."

5:54 me after 4 beers

0:39 as a certified welder i can confidently tell you that when your running DCEP the current flows from the ground clamp to the stinger. The current flows up the electrode not down. If you were running DCEN then the current would flow from the stinger to the ground clamp. Remeber current always flows from the negative to the postive in like batteries, wall outlets, welding machines (only if you're in DCEP)

Alec you are clearly enjoying yourself too much, finding new ways to make Damascus steel out of things not meant to be Damascus! but EPIC WORK mate keep it up!

This is the first time in my internet career that I've heard a non welder accurately describe stick welding as a form of arc welding as a whole... I tip my hood to you sir 👌🏻

13:16 it's because hexagons are the bestagons

13:22 Hexagons are the Bestagons XD

Hexagons are the bestagons. Also, think confined shrinking space around many round objects, then when pressed the void in-between is filled and this is why you get hexagons. Its just one of those natural constants in the universe, a lot of things become hexagons just because it simply is the most optimal shape.

7:24 "I don't think we can fit any more rods in there... we can force one last one in." ... reminds me of the "Girl on couch" meme.

13:20 That's nature for you. Bees don't build hexagons either, their round honeycombs just get shaped that way when they fuse together.

14:13 goodnight everyone

Please contact CGP Grey and see if there’s any kind of collaboration you can do with those hexagons, because they are certainly the bestagons.

Jamie: "I wonder why the chop saw cannot cut through this when everything else goes through it like butter?" Also Jamie: "I have put A LOT of things that I shouldn't have put into this saw into this saw"

Can't Wait for the Power Hammer video!

Early 2000s, my high school actually had a welding class. We did arc welding with those sticks, and also oxy acetylene welding. At the back of the shop was a bunch of tanks that were plumbed to the 20 or so tables students used. I wasn't very good at welding, but it was a fun class i looked forward to every day.

as CGP Grey once said "Hexagons, ARE the bestagons"

I want to express my appreciation for the straight up forging segments.

5:54 sorry Alex, but it happens to the best of us 😂, i had to.

So, a couple things: Firstly, flux does not "turn in to a gas" to protect a weld. It turns in to a liquid, and that liquid prevents oxygen from interacting with the molten metal. I make jewelry for a living, and this is a constant in my profession. We have to then use an acid 'pickle' to remove that glass layer. The temperature at which this happens is right around the same temp as the forging temperature for steel. Secondly, all those voids in the non-cleaned billet are essentially glass. Not surprising in the least if you take about 30 seconds to research how flux works. Thirdly (and this is mostly for the comment section, your (Alec's) reaction to it was appropriate, because it's an awesome thing to randomly encounter), of course it's hexagons! Any arrangement of round rods, hammered at 90 degrees, as well as on the corners (clearly shown in the video), will produce hexagons. He quite literally hammered it from 6 different axes. All that said, definitely love the random videos of you playing around and learning. Cheers!

13:17 Hexagons are Bestagons!

That moment of reconsideration after being told it might explode. Going from nahhh to full protective gear.

If there's carbon in the flux, it may have helped to do a bit of case-hardening of those rods.

I am *ABSOLUTELY* confident that if you sold the failed lozenges as custom CNC-engraved dog tags, they would completely sell out in hours.

Hexagons are Bestagons!

That honeycomb pattern is wild! As for others' workshops, I've seen that Wil has moved into a pretty sweet place😁

Hexagons truly are the bestagons 😁

"That box did not last Long" Alec Steele Best quote ever

hexagons are the bestagons... the universe has shown it again.

13:42 SOOOO SATISFYING THAT SQUISH!

Alec don't you know that hexagons are the bestagons

The editing with the flux removal was quite possibly the best I have ever seen on this channel. Props to the Popple

Actually, you could use that to make a cool pattern on the side, like each rod is a pixel, and then use it to make mosaic Damascus. I'm thinking for instance a spiral galaxy, how cool would that be! Also to help create the pattern when stacking the rods, you should dip the tip of one of the two types of rods in blue dye.

Cheers mate. Because of you I've been employed as a forge machinery operative in the company based in Lincoln UK

a wise man once said: "hexagons are the bestagons"

You'll actually see hexagons come from circles a lot! honeycomb is a good example. circular straw shapes would use the least beeswax (for maximum area in the void) but since it needs to tile the plain, bees use hexagons. if you imagine plugging the end of a bunch of straws and sucking the air out from between them, they would expand to make a hexagon pattern. You've done the same thing but with compression instead of vacuum. It's because hexagons are the closest approximation of a circle that still tiles perfectly

9:35 bloody Alecnesium ruining your day

the fact that it made even hexagons speaks volumes about your ability to control a power hammer...very nice cool buckle

well you know what they say, "hexagons are the bestagons"

Alec, suggestion here for giving the belt buckle that slight curve so that it doesn't catch on your shirt: if you have an old propane tank you can cut the bowl shape off the bottom, and it makes a perfect little concave die for shaping a belt buckle.

Hexagons are bestagons!

In the wise words of SCPgrey: "Hexagons ARE the bestagons!"

Hexagons are the bestagons.

No mater how many times Alec does the “what if I make _ into Damascus” it’s still amusing.

Hexagons are the Bestagons

That's cool as heck. Longways looks like tree rings. And shortways looks like honeycomb. That's friggin cool.

Twig welding?

Loads of cool discoveries started with the words "I don't think it'll work but I want to see what happens anyway." 👍

Can you make one of the old arab straight swords?

you should try tig or mig welding a pattern! basicly engrave a patern or drawing, and then tig weld it in, then grind it out smoothe, aneal it than harden it up (sort of like the old viking runes, but with welding and anything you want, fire,water, a name, alec steele logo , etc). i thought of this idea way back when you only had 100k subs and i found your channel!! long time fan, but i miss the old music you had back than tho lol

I often clean up welding rod- I knock most of the flux off with a hammer on the "anvil" part of a vise, then a wire wheel in the drill press. I use a drill to turn it, and a piece of hardwood scrap with a hole drilled in it to control the rod. Works beautifully.

I watched you for years. Amazing to see you grow older. Looking like a real man now. Cheers and thank you for inspiring me to be a blacksmith

This is cool, because Will Stelter recently posted a video about more or less this exact process! (not using welding wire, but using long pieces of wire to create intricate end patterns in damascus)

It always used to blow my mind how bees knew exactly how to turn precise 60 degree turns at the right moment to make perfect even hexagonal honeycomb. It wasn't until I was in my 30s that I finally learned that bees just make round cells, and as they dry, the laws of physics warp them into hexagons. Same thing going on here. SCIENCE!!! :D

10:40 this is actually a really great way for anyone new to welding to understand the importance of cleaning your work. dirt, slag, and flux inclusion create voids in the material that cause weak points in the weld. Always clean your welds!

For sooooo much years i would have love to see you explore the world of wootz steel. hope it happens one day

The hexagon thing is also why honeycomb is hexagonal. The bees don't intentionally create hexagonal tubes. Bees make a wall of connected, tightly packed circular tubes. The tightest packing pattern for circles is hexagonal. As the bees go in and out of the circles, their bodies bump up against the walls, stretching them where there are gaps between the circles, which makes them hexagonal.

The round rods resulting in hexagonal shapes is similar to how honeycomb shapes. Bees don't make hexagonal cavities, they make stacked circular ones and the weight/pressure from those around it force it into a hexagonal shape.

🤣🤣🤣 Where as the YT channel 'Shurap' uses ground pepper and cut up dried chilli for his Damascus, Alec here uses Dog hair! 🤣🤣🤣 😎🇬🇧

This is by far the best looking Damascus you’ve made, in my opinion

That's how Bees started doing hexagons. They just compacted the circles.

I think they took on the hexagon shape for the same reason bee hives are hexagons. They start circular/tubular but if you squeeze a bunch of tubes together they will always become hexagonal. Take a big handful of plastic straws and squeeze them together and they will become hexagon shaped.

I think you should forge a beekeeping hive tool and give it to a local beekeeper. The hexagons would be sweet!

13:16 "it's taken the shape of hexagons" Of course, what else but the bestagons?

The hexagon pattern is so cool! You have to do it again, maybe cut square blocks and turn 90 degrees to show the pattern on the flat of a blade

"i want to see what happens" after he explains all sorts of good science. thats a good scientist there. i dont know if you got a degree but your study is impressive.

Send a slice to Will and let him put it through that press he’s been playing with. That hexagon pattern stretched one way would look so cool.

"Literally anything exists" Alec: "Can I make Damascus steel with it?"

If Shurap's videos taught me anything - it's that you forgot to put some pepper into the can! And that you should lubricate the inner walls of your can, so that you don't have to mill it later.

Turning into hexagons at the end was terrific!

Yoo the hexagons r so cool because the crystalline structure of steel is like wow. Thats sick.

Never forget: Hexagons are the bestagons.

It's not Hexagons, it's Bestagons ;) thanks for the fun video ❤

Just wanna put it out there that I think our man Alec Steele is probably the closest to discovering how true Damascus was forged a millennia ago. Just due to the sheer fact that he ends up accidentally creating some of the craziest and most mesmerizing patterns. I'm pretty sure that's exactly how they figured out Damascus back then.

Hexagons truly are the bestagons!

Oooh, that hexagon pattern was super cool. Like beehives.

Congratulations on inventing hexagon Damascus. Looks suitable for far more than belt buckles.

0:30 "How many stick/tree puns can we fit into the first thirty seconds?" "Let's find out"

That's a crazy idea! The hexagon pattern looks awesome. You should've tiled it and made a knife.

Happiness is the reward we get for living to the highest right we know.

These videos are nice but I want to see another build video like the feather damascus kris knife. To me that was a high point of your videos and what hooked me on them. Seeing that project go from start to finish was must see entertainment. We got to see all the successes and failures and you explained every step along the way.

Channel is just as good as it was last time I checked a few yrs ago! Awesome!