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After seeing the fabulous build by Philip Patton and his extraordinary tail piece, it got me wondering.
Would damascus steel be usable for guitar tuners? Has it been done before? I did little googleing but nothing came up.
Forgive me if this is a silly question as I don't have much experience or knowledge in metalworking.

I can't find a photo of the tail piece....but I guess it could be done. You'd have to forge a bar to get the pretty damascus pattern, and then cut the pieces out polish the edges and drill the holes etc. Major amount of work on tiny hard steel pieces...that's why no one does it lol. Tuners are made from brass or bronze which can be cast, punched or turned very easily and are plenty strong for the application. Then electro-plated for the final finish
Also, who wants rusty tuners??

they would rust like a MFer.

It can most certainly be done, as long as you have a fat wallet. Using the standard high-carbon steels will definitely be high maintenance in the rust prevention department.

"Damascus" steel can also be done in stainless; a common combination is AEB-L with 304.
Your best avenue for further research is to contact a custom knifemaker experienced with that type of work.

Another approach you may consider is mokume gane (wood grain metal).
Conceivably, this could be less expensive than the stainless lamination (stainless "Damascus"). Not so much because it's easier to manufacture, but any machining is going to be considerably less since you're (usually) working with the softer nonferrous metals.
Recipes vary, but a common combination is nickel-silver, copper, and brass.
If you want to research this, custom knifemakers and specialty jewelers are your contacts.

Edit: BTW, you are talking about the tuner buttons/knobs, not the tuners themselves, right?

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Always have plenty of sandpaper; it's rough out there!

I think an easier solution would be to have custom tuner buttons made up than to have the entire tuners made up from scratch.... All the gears inside there could easily turn a 100% hand made Damascus set of tuners into a $10,000+ per set proposition...

Thanks

Damascus tuner plates might look nice, and not be excessively difficult to fabricate. A coat of lacquer might reduce rusting problems.