wrought iron/15n20 san mai 'Mouse Skinner'

[Scott Roush]

So I finally managed to weld up some wrought iron san mai!  I got a decent billet that was starting to fail towards the bottom, so instead of wasting it I made this little guy. Not sure how long it will last, but despite that big pit towards the ricasso, the blade itself seems welded okay. But the handle... well, we won't talk about the handle.

 

 

It is just two layers... some real slaggy wrought iron from the woods and an 1/8" piece of 15n20.  So that ugly little sucker is a single beveled edge and I hollow ground it to display as much of the wrought iron as I could.  

This is what I did with the rest of the billet.  It's a 6" blade cleaver.. hollow ground on the right and flat on the left. With a 1/4" spine, this thing can chop.

 


Anyway... this is something I've wanted to do for a long time and is really one of the reasons I got into knife making to begin with. I'm am really, really excited about doing more of this stuff.

Also... here is a hawk I made from a bar of W2.

 

 

[sticshooter]

Very cool stuff Mossi.<><

[Steve Nuckels]

I'm a big fan Scott!

Steve
-------
Potomac Forge

[jpsowers]

That chopper would look good in my kitchen  :p
All of it is really cool Scott.

[stickhead]

Nice work I like your style

[Scott Roush]

Thanks folks.

Judging by the lack of response, I guess this wasn't the best forum to post this.... I just thought folks would be interested in laminating two such incredibly different metals.  It's my first time doing it and I think it's an amazing process. Makes ya feel the ages. There is just something so cool about wrought iron...

[Roughcountry]

I like the look Scott. Do you use flux when you weld it?

[Scott Roush]

yeah... I fluxed with 20 Mule Team. Somebody told me on another forum that they sometimes get that black boundary between the layers when they flux at too cool of a  temperature.

[SCRAP]

Nice job , that chopper is really nice and unique .

How does it seem to hold an edge ?

[Scott Roush]

funny you ask... I was literally just out in my shop honing it and chopping wood,slicing rope, slicing paper, etc.  It does all very well.  The 15n20 seemed to handle the torture well.  And that little 'mouse skinner'... I've been using it all day to cut leather and other various 'utility stuff' and it still shaves hair.

[KHALVERSON]

scott
im really diggin that hawk
did you wrap it and forge weld
or mill the slot for the haft
either way has got to beat the hell out of the hot slitting business
i bet that w-2 holds an edge a lot better than those railroad spikes
kevin

[Scott Roush]

yeah Kevin... it performs much better.  I was actually a little concerned about too hard on the edge since I forged it pretty thin... so I torched it to bluish.

But I have a mill now... so it is pretty easy to make perfect slots that are easy to drift. That was a 1/2" bar and I slotted it with an 1/8" end mill after drilling a line. So nice!

[tippit]

Scott,
What were the thickness of the three pieces of steel?  Did you tack weld the ends first?  Pictures of your set up would be cool.  I just picked up some anhydrous borax from that blacksmithing symposium...not supposed to be as runny/messy in the forge.

[Scott Roush]

I learned from previous lessons to use flux like rare pixie dust, so I haven't been too concerned about mess... but with my new forge it doesn't matter that much anyway.  I designed mine like Karl's and just filled the bottom with kitty litter. When it gets too gnarly, I will just replace the kitty litter.

I will photograph it the next time.  But I just used two layers on this one since it was more of a test.  I have some wrought iron plate I found in the woods that is 1/4" thick. So I cut a strip of that and ground it so that is was MOSTLY free of rust and scale.  It was pretty pitted and I didn't get all the pits out which might be the reason I have kind of a funky boundary.  I then tack welded with a 110 volt wire feed welder a 1/8" thick bar of 15n20 of exactly the same width to the wrought. I put welds at the ends and then about every 1/3 down the length.  I did the welding while having the bars firmly clamped together with several c-clamps.  Then I just started getting the ends up to color, fluxing judiciously, and then doing light, even taps when it was just about to burn up.  The end started to fail due to not getting it as hot as the rest of the billet I think.

Can't wait to do more.

I also succeeded in getting a real nice forge weld of 15n20 and 1084.  Soon you will see a giant san mai camp/bowie show up here. But after seeing such awesome pattering with my wrought, I'm already losing interest in that one.

Hopefully soon... stainless.

[SCRAP]

Have you made any other knives before from solely 15n20 ? I wonder why it is not used more often for blade steel other than in damascus ? Just seems strange that you dont see many knives made from just 15n20 , maybe there is a reason that i dont know about ?

[Scott Roush]

Scrap....  Maybe others will pipe in, but my understanding is that 15n20 is a simple steel for heat treating, a good performer, has some nickel and is used for bandsaw blades.  I think the reason it's not used for knives is that it typically comes in such thin stock.

I'm curious about carbon migration between the wrought and 15n20 though... I wonder if there is any opportunity for loss of performance in that regard???