WIRE ROPE

[JARRETT]

Has anyone on here ever made a blade out of cable or wire rope?  I am by NO means a knife maker, but a blade enthusiast.  If you have made something out of wire cable do you have any idea of the construction of wire rope? I work for a rigging shop and we have an extremely extensive supply of various constructions.  I'm not sure if different constructions would make different patterns in the steel or not (although I think they would).Anyways, If anyone would like a couple of pieces to play with let me know.  we generally have all sorts left over from cuts.

[Bobby Urban]

Jarrett - the pattern of cable or wire rope Damascus will all be quite similar and is predicated by all the individual pieces of wire making up the rope. The pattern is rather consistent and similar to a high count twist Damascus only you don't have to fold weld and twist the billet. Once you have the cable welded solid the pattern is automatically there - I hope that makes sense.

As far as knives and process of making knives from cable it is rather simple in relativity to a traditional pattern welded blade and makes a cool looking finished product. The only potential downside is the unknown steel. This makes heat treat a bit of a guess but I have made plenty that turned out great from solid cable and really like cable San Mai blades. This sandwiches a known steel like 1084 between two pieces of cable billet. The finished knife has the cable pattern with a known mono steel edge and looks Somewhat like a hamon.

I would post photos of some if I knew how on this iPad.

If you can identify what the individual ropes are made from that would be a big help to the smith.  It only takes a small piece of steel rope to make a knife so one choker or piece of Crane cable can make a lot of blades.

[Todd Robbins]

Cable generally comes in grades as Plow Steel, Improved Plow Steel, Extra Improved Plow Steel, Extra Extra Improved Plow Steel, etc. Currently these grades are based on tensile strength, but traditionally they denoted a steel type. If my memory is correct, and it may not be, Plow Steel is 1065, Improved Plow is 1074, Extra Improved is 1095, and Extra Extra Improved is 1095 with some minor alloying elements ( maybe vanadium as a grain refiner?). The size of the individual wires is the main determining factor in how dense the pattern is.  Anti twist crane cable gives a little different pattern than regular cable. Cable that has been "laddered" looks really nice to me, but all of the cable I've seen looks really similar. I etches drastically different depending on whether it has been hardened or not.

[JARRETT]

Bobby you make perfect sense.  and Todd you are spot on with your grades.  We do not carry and plow steel, just IPS, EIPS, and EEIPS. and I was thinking that some of the non-rotation cable would look pretty neat.  We also get some exotic from time to time.  I was just curious If anyone wanted a piece to play around with.  I'd be curious to see the outcome, and would ship a few small samples on my dime.  We probably scrap a ton a week.  I'm not looking for a free knife or anything, just really intrigued in the whole knife making process.

[J.W.]

http://rs1104.pbsrc.com/albums/h328/kaiserandloki/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsfxztglvu.jpeg?w=480&h=480&fit=clip

Let's see if this works.

[J.W.]

[J.W.]

Double fail! Please reference my signature line.

[Bobby Urban]

Jarret - that is a great offer and I imagine someone should take your up on it. I certainly would if I didn't do all my forging in my buddies fab shop who is a bridge builder. We have miles of rope laying around. One thing to verify to save some head ache is if it is steel core. Some wire rope has nylon or "other" core and this plays havoc w forging.

[imskippy]

Jarrett- I would gladly pay shipping for a couple pieces of cable. I have not had a chance to work with cable yet and just got my forge up and running.

[JARRETT]

Bobby, I bet you do have acres of it laying around!!!   And yes it will be an Independent Wire Rope Core.  Imskippy, email me if you want.  [email protected]  Just let me know what diameter you think would work and what length.  I'll see what we have and send you some pics.

[JARRETT]

and J.W. those are some awesome knives! I would like to see a pic of the second one completed.

[kbaknife]

I would certainly accept a few pieces of the two higher grades.
Probably a foot long?
What diameter are they?
Address upon request.
Thanks for the offer.

[The Gopher]

Now I'm pumped, I gotta see what Karl will do with it!

[kbaknife]

Gotta get it first.

 

Originally posted by The Gopher:
Now I'm pumped, I gotta see what Karl will do with it!