Fist solo go at damascus...

[gudspelr]

I've made 2 San Mai blades and some cable damascus at a friend's shop (who has 2 power hammers and a press).  I've had some 1084 and 15N20 around for a while and have really wanted to give it a try with my tooling-hammer and anvil.  A little while back, the better half said I could wall off a portion of the garage for my "shop" and this is the first time I got the forge up this hot in its new home.  You'll see some "problems" that developed which I'll be remedying soon.

I put together two, what I figured would be managable sized, stacks.  Please ignore the sorry welds from my poor skills and el cheapo HF welder.  I know, the thinner 15N20 should stay on the inside, but for a few reasons, I had a double layer on the outside of one of the stacks.  One layer on one side started bowing out shortly after seeing the inside of the forge, but it seemed to work out in the end.

   

Some 20 mule team getting added.  By the way, I have a whole new respect for you all who post WIPs and pics of your stuff with really hot steel in hand.

   

Making sure to tap and not beat the snot out of it, I worked to the end with flux sparking out in all directions.  They both had that solid feel on the anvil after a few cycles of hammering, wire brushing, fluxing, and over again.  I also tried to make sure I left them in the forge long enough for the heat to get all the way to the middle.  Hope I don't end up with them de-laminating or otherwise failing down the road, but if so, I'll just have more to add to my already sizeable list of what not to do       .

   


And here's the fun part-melted blinds...  I saw this part way through and suddenly became more than a wee bit concerned.

   

I had the window open and a door to the back yard right behind me and to the side for some good ventilation.  I started checking everything in the vicinity including my LP hoses, fittings, wall, window screen, but all were cool to the touch.  When I reached up high, I could feel all the heat hanging in the air, down to about where those blinds were sagging...     :D  

Anywho, it may take me a little while to get through these, but will keep posting any progress here.  I've read several threads on different sites about damascus making without a press or power hammer and know there are others who are in the same boat I am.  I've wanted to make some tomahawks/camp hatchets for a long time and am hopefully going to make some out of this.  I stuck them in vermiculite after setting the welds.  I'm planning on grinding off the scale and MIG welds and think I'm going to drill some pilot holes to help me drift the eyes straight.  I've also got a hardy tool in my mind that I want to make that will hopefully lend a helping hand when it comes to drawing out the blades.  

Jeremy

P.S.   Anyone else amazingly annoyed with Photobucket now? Took me forever with just these pics.  There a better outfit to go with?

[D.Ellis]

I'll be watching this one, I am just learning to do damascus myself, and no power hammer here, just a dim wit and a big sledge hammer.    
Darcy

[gudspelr]

Yup, big dim wit here, too   . I'll happily share the dumb things that I do to cause failures so others might have a better result. I'm heading to a hammer in this weekend, so won't be making any progress on this project for a bit, but looking forward to seeing how this all turns out. By the way, I enjoy seeing your knives, Darcy and that last WIP you did was great. Always fun to see other's processes.

Jeremy

[gudspelr]

Before I go to see some friends who make much better knives than I do, I decided to clean these little stacks up and etch them.  Figured maybe my buddies can tell me how much I messed them up so I do better next time...

I ground off nearly all the scale and MIG welds (wasn't too worried at the moment, since they'll be getting put back in the forge again).  Then I etched part of them in my ferric chloride (diluted nearly 4 to 1 with distilled water).  Oh, and I didn't mention it at the beginning, but I ground off the mill scale of the mating surfaces on the 1084 prior to forge welding.  Here's what I've got so far.

   


Hoping there aren't some ugly surprises on the inside for me later on, but only time will tell.  Unless guided in a different direction, I'm planning on drilling some small guide holes next so when I slit the eye and drift it, it's more "square" than were I to do it without.  After getting the eye close, I'm planning on drawing out the blade end, then the spike or hammer on the other side of the eye.  Then, straighten everything up, make sure the eye is to the right dimension for my handles.  After all of that, the quick work of grinding, sanding, etc...  Should be fun   .


Jeremy

[D.Ellis]

How's progress on these going........don't leave me hanging man!  :D  
Darcy

[gudspelr]

Darcy-
There has been some progress, a bit unexpected though.  I took these to a hammer in to get some opinions on how the welds were, etc. and I was told "hey, let's get those in the forge and layer them up!".  We ended up drawing both little billets out on a press, ground them, cut pieces out, re-stacked and forge welded. I now have one billet of about 109 layers that I squeezed on bias to use for a tomahawk head or two. I have some pics I can post of what we did to it if you're interested?

Having the unexpected help was great, but I'm having some second thoughts on using this billet out of the gate...  I'm thinking about trying another head or two before using this Damascus so as not to make a fat mistake on it. I have a cable welded billet that I'm planning on starting with, but am waiting for 1 little thing-wheels. I decided to put my metal table with my forge on wheels so I don't melt anything else in my garage. Last time I went to the store, they were out of the ones I would need, so hoping that will come soon. Then I can get the forge turned back on-safely   . I'll be continuing the thread with hand only techniques and will do more low layer billets by hand again. Wasn't too hard to do up to that point and gives good practice for me.

Jeremy

[D.Ellis]

Hey Jeremy, good to hear you have not run into any unpleasant surprises......always interested in more forging pics.
I have got my new welding forge up and running, just need time to play. I have a low layer count blade ready to finish, and plans for a higher layer count bowie when time allows.
Looking forward to more of your progress pics.
Darcy
   

[gudspelr]

Here ya go, Darcy-

The above billets turned into a couple of these.

 


Then I took a grinder to them.

 


Cut them up into pieces and re-stacked and applied a handle.

 


After all of that, it got welded in the press, then squished it on bias to give a little different look when it's finished out.

Jeremy

[D.Ellis]

 If I wasn't so busy swinging a brush saw these days, I'd be out in the smithy pounding some steel into submission. Thanks for posting the pics.
Darcy

[Bobby Urban]

Gudspelr - hammering on a bias will give some different results from just moving the steel in a straight fashion but if you really want to get some great patterns try pounding the billet into a somewhat round shape and twisting it.  This is a rather simple method of getting some really elaborate patterns.  

Another trick is to pound or drill dents into the billet and then re-flattening to give a tear drop pattern or grind in lines in different configurations before re-flattening the billet for chatoyance(sp)

Damascus is fun - frustrating at times - but fun!!

[gudspelr]

Bobby-
I plan on experimenting with different patterns as I go along. There are so many cool things makers do with pattern welding...makes my brain hurt sometimes   . One of the things about making knives that is so much fun for me is there seems to be no end to what you can do. There's always something different to try out. I'm hoping to build a press someday down the road which will make reducing billets and achieving some of the different patterns so much easier. Thanks for the suggestion, may have to try some twisting soon.....

Jeremy