Cable Damascus Disaster

[kraythe]

Well my first experiment with cable has ended badly. So before I give it another go, I am seeking advice.

First I took cable, heated to burn off oil, fluxed it, heated, fluxed, heated, twisted hand tight, fluxed, heated, twisted with a pipe wrench


and finally beat it down into a 3/16" x 1" x 11" billet. I gave it a once over with the angle grinder and life looked grand.


Next step would be a damascus fork (picture of the normal steel version which was my goal is below).


I split the damascus by drilling a hole for the end of the tines and then using a hacksaw to get a precise cut (because I had problems hot cutting the non-damascus black version with a chisel. Then i heated to fuller the handle down to a neck that would ultimately be a round middle section of the fork, leaving a flat handle for gripping. Then I flipped the fork around and fullered the other side, both times with a spring fuller tool (homemade). As I was squaring the flat stock between the fullers the damascus started to crack longitudinally. I thought it might be because i necked down too far but I am not entirely sure now. I wonder if the inner strands of wire just weren't welded. Anyway I am seeking advice on this one. I appreciate your input.

[dablacksmith]

well.... it looks like from the pictures that at the point where you necked it down the weld wasnt complete . the few times ive welded cable i found you had to work in short sections and continually forge in the direction of tightning with a twisting motion (i hope that explanes it good enuf) might try it again ...

[chris]

Hi Kraythe, looks as if the weld wasn't successful. I have played with cable a bit making blades and I always weld in small bits, plenty of flux and once I have welded the length I reweld the length again hoping that problems don't happen. Chris

[LDW]

When you were necking down I would say you were too cold and kept hammering. After you twisted the cable and started making it into a bar that should be done at a forge welding temperature to insure you dont have any flaws within the bar. I have posted this link several times so a lot of people may get tired of seeing it, but this is how I started welding cable and it has always worked for me. I do not think it is shown here but after welding the tip I usually open the cable and flux inside then twist back tight and proceed. http://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/BirthOfACableKnife# I would not call what you did a disaster, We all learn from our mistakes.

[rokshasa]

i think ldw has it right, working the metal to cold can break apart weak welds. most of the time i weld the bar a little at a time then when it has been welded i go over it again with welding heat and re work the whole bar, then i grind all 4 faces to see what i came up with, that way weak spots can be singled out if there are any and re worked yet again. sounds like alot of work but if it saves your project why not take the extra time. good luck in the future

[MattBower]

From reading your description it sounds as if you twisted the cable a couple times, then went straight to flattening. The way I've done it, based on the technique I've seen described by others (and this is my recollection of how Wayne Goddard says to do it, although I don't have his book with me right now), is to keep the bar round while welding it and to rotate it in such a way as to keep tightening the twist with your hammering. Once it's fully welded that way -- and yes, you really can feel a very noticeable difference in the way it moves under the hammer, once you've got it consolidated -- then you can start flattening it, or otherwise forging it to shape. I think it's important to get those welds really set before you start trying to change the shape too much.