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I Forge Iron

Recommend a metal for a Damascus Blade


mfkerr

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I am working on building a gas forge based on the blue prints in this forum.
I have never forged steel before but am excited to get started.
Can someone recommend a metal I might have laying around as something to start with? or just what king of metal to use that will produce nice Damascus.
I have a sundry of different metals:

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It seems that you have never forged a knife before. Damascus is a very advanced skill requiring temperature control that can only be aquired with years of experience. The steel you are suggesting does not have enough carbon to make a good blade. They are made with scrap metal with various impurities. I suggest you start with railroad spike with HC on the head. They don't have enough carbon to make great knife and will have to be resharpened often but they are good to practice on. Learn damascus when you have mastered the basics and have a good eye for temperature colors.

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And I'll suggest the coil spring from a car or pickup. They do have enough carbon to make a good knife and can usually be gotten free. If you have a friend with a cutting torch have them zip it down opposite sides of the coil giving you a bunch of ( pieces. By the time you have worked through all of them you should have learned some basics!

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I jumped straight into damascus forging, but had pretty mixed results to start with. All good advice from the guys above,....

but ;) if you were wanting to have a stab at welding up a billet I think the king of scrapmascus has got to be bandsaw blade and pallet strapping, get it all shiny and clean with a grinder before you stack it up to give yourself half a chance though! and read up, lots :)

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Thank all of you for the great advice.
I am an experience welder of all sorts and am familiar with metal working.

I will continue to complete my forge and see what happens.

BTW, has anybody made the forge in these blueprints in the 200-300 section.

If you look at the plans, does the shape have to be round or will an octagonal shape work for the oven.

Thanks...
Mark

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  • 2 months later...

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