RichJ

Hi Albert, Yes, I've heard our SAS are well regarded. All the best.

Yes, I imagine he'd be good to watch and learn from. I was also impressed with their discovery of the suspected importance of Vanadium in aiding segregating the carbides outside the dendrites to form bands. Ric, I've been watching your videos and agree that there should be enough information to go on. Thank you for making the information available! Those ingots look like a lot of hard work to forge. Are you willing to pass on some hints about carbon content to aim for and suitable starting materials to try?

Thanks Ric, I appreciate your input.

Hi Ric, Thanks for the reply. I will look up Andrew. I will be down Taranaki for a family reunion so might be able to see him there. I think you are right about smelting from local ores. It would be very satisfying. I have had a look around your site and am part way through your video on smelting. Looks like fun. We have a lot of ironsand on our beaches. My early questions are around finding a crucible. Do you buy them or make them yourself? I have done pottery so know how to work with clay. Have you published your methods? With regard to classes here, I am not well connected with other smiths/ knifemakers but as I do and find interest I'll contact you. Thanks again Richard By the way, Ric have you been in contact or worked with John Verhoeven and/or Alfred Pendray?

Is Richard active on the site?

Hi Steve, I understand. I thought you were using mostly white cast iron. Apart from the long time at the forge this looks like a rewarding process. How did you find it? Did you get some nice patterns?

Thank you both for your replies. Maillemaker, thanks for the link to Richard Furrer. I doubt I'll make to one of his classes all the way from New Zealand but I'll send him a message and see if he can get me started. Steve, my reading suggests that you have to get the carbon accounting right before the melt. White cast iron would provide too much carbon without significant additions of mild steel. The old wootz swords that Verhoeven had access to had carbon contents between 1 and 1.5%. He certainly draws a strong link with vanadium and carbide segregagation forming the bands but only after some 50 heats during forging. Have you done any melts to date? How did they go?

Has anyone had any practical experience with wootz steel ingots? I have been reading the work of John Verhoeven and Alfred Pendray. Their work is intriguing. I'd love to work with some of this steel. For those who haven't read their work, they are able to recreate very similar metallurgy in the steel blades that Pendray forges to original museum Damascus blades. He prepares the wootz-like steel in crucibles then forges them into blades. It sounds like a complex task but the results are very pleasing. I also like the process of beginning with a very raw product and refining it - always pleasant in today's world where everything's made for us! You can read their work here: http://www-archive.mse.iastate.edu/who-we-are/people/emeritus-professors/john-verhoeven.html His damascus papers are at the bottom of the list. Richard