May 20, 201016 yr What do you guys think of using the lost wax casting method to make the general blade for my first knife and I can just grind it down and polish it up? I found a company near me in PA that does lost wax and wanted to know what you think http://www.ppcpinc.com/lost_wax_casting.html Also how is damascus design done on blades? it looks awesome!
May 20, 201016 yr What do you guys think of using the lost wax casting method to make the general blade for my first knife and I can just grind it down and polish it up? I found a company near me in PA that does lost wax and wanted to know what you think http://www.ppcpinc.com/lost_wax_casting.html Also how is damascus design done on blades? it looks awesome! If you're trying to make a Bronze Age knife, casting would be a good way to go about it. A steel blade, not so much. Search the archives here -- or the Net generally -- for tutorials on pattern welding. That'll answer your question about "damascus." (The scare quotes aren't intended to be insulting; I just don't like to use the term Damascus for pattern welding, because I have an idea what real Damascus steel was -- and it wasn't pattern welded. I understand that you probably don't know the difference. That's OK.)
May 20, 201016 yr would not use casting to make a knife. the reason involves the difference that the grain structure between a cast steel and a forged steel cast will generally break easyier .what they call damascus today is pattern welded steel and there are books written about it . in a nutshell its 2 different steels welded together then manipulated . after grinding they are etched to show the differences between the 2 steels .if you are looking to start makeing knives there are companys that make blade blanks in a variety of sizes and styles .good luck!
May 20, 201016 yr There is at least one maker that makes cast blades and knives. Google Boye dendritic knives if you woould like more info.
May 20, 201016 yr I remember reading about Boye's dendritic steel and believe he uses a specific alloy and I think it is relatively high in Cobalt. ron
May 21, 201016 yr Yeah, but those aren't steel. They're mainly cobalt and chromium, with a bunch of other alloying elements. Iron is a small fraction of the composition. Not even close to a project for a first-timer.
May 21, 201016 yr go with Matt - he knows what he is writing. either forge or just get a bar of steel and grind away the parts that don't look like a knife. or, cast bronze and hammer the edges to make them hard. that would be a heck of a project, and really beautiful. kc
May 21, 201016 yr Boye was originally casting those in D-2, and they got pretty favorable reviews, though heat treating D-2 isn't for the novice. Probably best to stick with simple alloys and grind or forge the first few.
May 21, 201016 yr Boye was originally casting those in D-2, and they got pretty favorable reviews, though heat treating D-2 isn't for the novice. Probably best to stick with simple alloys and grind or forge the first few. Casting D2 wouldn't exactly be for the novice, either! I'm not sure I even understand what the point would be.
May 22, 201016 yr As I recall he was trying to find a way to produce inexpensive copies of forged blades- complete with hammer marks and on some, file teeth. D-2 was necessary to compensate for loosing strength in the casting process. There was a company casting blades in 1045 too, but I don't even forge blades out of steel that cheap!(I think they were located in India)
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