bipolarandy

That gave me about 640 layers( give or take ), I know iv lost alot of steel due to very oxidizing gas forge Iv been making this in. Then I forged that billet out into a bar about 1/4" by 1" wide and about a foot long. And scrolled it up into a jelly roll I did the jelly roll because I thought it was a neato idea, and id never done one before. Now im going to start forging that into a flat bar that will become the blade. Its quite apparent how much metal iv lost during the forging. I started with billet almost twice the size of that. -Andrei

I thought id share some photos of the Damascus iv been working on for a few weeks. Usually I forget to take photos of the stuff im working on as i make it, but I remembered to on this one. I started out with one large diamond file, and a piece of 1045 that i drew out to the same dimensions. I cut those up, stacked them together and got a billet 8 layers thick. Then I drew that out, and cut it into 8 pieces and re-stacked and welded it. I did it this way to save my self the many folding and welding operations, And as long as you have use of a power hammer : ), i think its the way to go. Now my billet has 64 layers, I forged it out again and cut it into 10 pieces and welded it back together. -Andrei

I got a 14" metal chop saw , two sledge hammers (thanks richard!), and the book, "the craft of the Japanese sword" . Along with two other books about knives and the history of weapons. It was a good day -Andrei

Nice hammer, i like the style, But you need alot more practice on your welding. Thats a critical joint there and if you plan on using this to bash things, I'd go back and forge weld it. Just my 2 cents. -Andrei

Make or buy a Gas forge that you can weld in. Here are some pics of my homemade gasser i made for welding damask billets. -Andrei

Hot forging silver?!? He's a Witch!!!! Burn Him!!!!!!!!! here is a iron penannular brooch i just finshed today,,,,,, -Andrei

talkin about knives from files. Does any body know the actual alloy of any of these old files, like Black Diamonds or Nicholsons. I'v heard alot that they are close to 1095 and W1, but i'd like to know how much carbon is really in em. -Andrei

No matter who made it, the question is, how did it get out in the middle of the woods?

yeah, you know its bad when you set your leather apron on fire... i'v done that before

Oak, iv read alot about power sanders making the hamon line muddy. Is this true? Do you use power sanders after the heat treat? -Andrei

elf, for you first forge, you should go with solid fuel, coal or wood charcoal. Stay away from gas until youv'e learned how to forge, and be comfortable around a fire. -andrei

Hi Andy, glad you made it. I'll see you on wednesday with some drawing of the candle sticks. -andrei

sorry but your wrong beuler, i'v seen a smith up in Canada named Lloyd Johnson forge weld a barrel from flat stock. and to tell ya the truth, it didn't seen all that complex, or hard. Its just forging a bar into a rough pipe shape and welding the seem as you go along. As long as you have the time(it did take a wile) and the tools, swages and a mandrel... im sure anyone that was good at forge welding could do it. Now, the hard part comes later when you want to make that pipe into a barrel , then you have to bore and rifle it. and thread one end for a breach cap, and then shape the outside so its round or hex, or octagon, and polish it all smooth...... It was said that the old colonial blacksmiths could make a rifle barrle from start to finish in one week, and they had to forge their's from a 50lb block of iron, not flat stock.... -Andrei

Here is the wash tub forge thomas was talkin about Charcoal Forge It was designed for burning charcoal, and it works great for knives -Andrei

I just saw John fee last week,, hehe. FB, get down to the museum and load up on some of our good coal. We buy it from Reboy supply, which is the only other coal supply'r in NY short of Syracuse. -Andrei

Ok, Take a ride down to the Amherst Museum - Keeping History Alive and and load up on some of our coal. Its $5/bucket (bring your own buckets) Cost $5 for about 33#. Load yourself. You get it from the Museum between 9:00am and 4:00pm Monday - Friday. Payment to Jean Neff with either a check or exact cash in envelope, and your name/number of buckets/ amount enclosed printed on front of envelope. Weekend pickup by arrangement with Bob Corneck only -(716) 741-4311 (museum will refuse you access otherwise). On to your other questions, Wet coal is fine to burn, infact alot of people store there coal wet so it coke's up better. And you can use heating coal (Anthracite) for forging, it just wont burn any were as hot as soft coal. Personally , I'v found the joy of the propane forge. Turn it on and go, when your done turn it off. No buckets of coal to haul around, no nasty sulfur smoke, and no clinkers or ash to worry about. -Andrei

Can i just interject inta ya'll little cat fight. #1 I was aware that what I was doing might be dangerous, in fact I was a tad insecure and even asked "is it gonna blow up?" #2 In all the reading i'v done about "conatiner damascus", they allways talk about an air tight seal so you get a neutral atmo inside the can. If Rich Hale and Woody are right, that would mean alot of knife makers are exploding right now.

well, i just forge welded that pipe, and it didn't blow up on me... so i guess im lucky or somethin' :)

Hi guys, I just put together the makings for some pipe damascus, its just a 1" pipe filled with iron shavings and some drill filings with the ends capped and welded. But, I was wondering, when I heat this in my forge, is it gonna blow up? I mean, its sealed pertty air tight. Will that be a problem? Do I need to drill a hole in it? I dont wanna blow up my new forge, or me. So any help would be great. -Andrei

"I am intrigued about going blowerless, perhaps in the future." Check out these burners Welcome to Hybridburners.com , I just made one of the 3/4" kind (tho i dont advise making your own) and its awesome. Here are some bad photographs of the burner and my new forge made from a freon tank. -andrei

im sorry to tell you Bjorn, but a Hamon line will not show up in 5160 steel. -andrei

Hey Fb, whats your name, Im in buffalo ny, and a member of the NYSBD, Niagara Region. Good to see a fellow new yorker on IFI -Andrei