"ladder pattern Cablemascus"???

[mcraigl]

Anyone ever ground a ladder pattern design into a cable billet? Just wondering if it would help show off the cable even more than just twisting it and welding it up. Or would it not even show up and therfore be a waste of time? Just curious.
ML

[me miller]

You can see it but just barely. When you cut through the cable to ladder it , it just brings some of the other wires to the top and doesn't show up very well.

[LDW]

I agree with me miller. I have done it before and it did not make much difference. What I have found for cable to dress it up, is to do an accordian fold to it. That way you have the ends of the cable on the side of the blade.

[brucegodlesky]

I've had some success doing ladder patterns in cable.
Just use a thicker grinding wheel to do the grooves.

[mcraigl]

Bruce,
So you're saying you want the grooves wider than normal? Here's another thought I had, tell me what you think. What about drawing the cable billet out to say 1/4", then sandwiching a piece of L-6 between two layers of the cable billet, "then" putting in the ladder pattern? Might give a cool effect of waviness to the edge where the L6 is wavering back and forth, plus give a bit of contrast in the ladder part of the cable. Anyway, just thinking out loud and hankerin' to put together another cable billet. thanks for the input all.

[brucegodlesky]

The last couple I did, put the cut in with a 1/8"chop saw blade thenj went back and widened it with the 4" angle grinder anda 1/4" thick wheel. It opens it up a bit more than a 1/4".
Adding that L6 would make contrast for sure.

[mcraigl]

I think I am going to give the L6 a try. Don't know if I'll get forge time this week or not. I'll show pics when I get going on it. Got a couple of other projects that "have" to get finished first though. Will the L6 by itself make a decent edge material if it's the core of said cablemascus ladder pattern billet? I've only heard of folks using it in tandem with one of the 10xx series patterns and I know they make a good edge, but with the finer layers the edge is being crossed by many of the alternating layers. In my mind this thing would end up with a solid edge of L6 assuming I can keep everything nice and centered. Just another thought...

[Rich Hale]

This to me means shop r and d try it with and without the L-6 try wide grooves and narrow..just keep track of what you do to each piece in case you wish to make more of the same. What I tell you I do may not look the same as I describe it when you do it. When you get something you like then it may lead you to more research...But have fun!

Edited June 2, 2009 by Rich Hale

[mcraigl]

Ok, guys. I got some cable from Mike-hr. It's about 1.5" dia. I'm wondering if it's a little too big. I cut an 8" piece, welded the ends up and then did the first welding pass. I'm a little worried that the center is either going to have a lot of inclusions, or isn't welded very good. It took a lot of heats to get the whole thing welded and I'm afraid a bunch of junk may have fallen in there in the process. I'm hopefull that if I use a welding/near welding heat for drawing it down to billet shape will help close up anything not welded and maybe evacuate any junk stuck in there now. Tonight I'll take another welding pass and assuming all goes well will forge down into a billet shape. Then hopefully tommorow night I'll be able to do the sandwich with the L6 and maybe start the pattern development. I'll post pix at that point I guess. Thanks for the help so far.
ML