Double Y Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Howdy gentlemen and ladies, I am still working on my pattern welding. Some success and some failure. Attached are a few smaller knives I put together. The knife on the Banana is made from Cable. It has a curley maple handle and copper guard and butt. The knife on the antler...is ugly and poorly done. Abject failure on the welding. I need a suggestion here. I think I didn't clean the flux and slag enough on the fold and ended up with flaws. Does this look like that to you? It cracked when heat treating, but I had the antler drilled and the guard done so I put it together. You are supposed to learn from your mistakes and I hope I learned a lot from this one. The knife on the grapes, I am happier with. It was made from roller chain, with copper accents and purple heart handle. The etch worked better and the welds are passible, but still not perfect. I am however proud of the file work. That turned out pretty good I think. Still learning and failing! Thanks for looking, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksnagel Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Hey John, Don't beat yourself up so much. If I had Made them I would be proud of them perceived flaws and all. You say "Still learning and failing." Well failing is part of learning. If we didn't fail we would never improve on what we do. I like your knives, they are better than what I can do right now but through failure I WILL get better. Nice job! Mark<>< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golgotha forge & anvil Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 they look pretty darn good to me !!!!!! Gene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyGeorge Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 John, I'm not a blade smith. But those blades look nice to me. Yes, they may show some problem spots with the welds, but there are a lot of folks out there that would still buy them. Thanks for sharing, and remember the old saying....."Practice makes perfect". :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 It is so nice to see a new person in here that is spending time at the forge and not just in the site. This is a wonderful place to learn but the shop will give you answers and more questions. My suggestion is to get a bunch of cable and cut into lengths you like to forge and weld them up. Do them one or two at a time and then see how you did. A pitfall with making anything is to try and achieve a whole piece when any of the parts are less than you wish they would be.If you visit here I will show you a lot of billets and some of them have been shaped into knife blanks. None went past that stage as they had flaws that I did not like. If I sell a knife like that I would always wish I had not and wish that I could turn back time and keep it as tuition. Some time and materials that I paid to learn to make something. Let me back up I do have a knife that I like and it has a weld flaw. I finished the knife before I learned to examine each opart of the blade really close before finishing a knife with it. I won' sell or use it but I just like its looks. After you can weld cable really well each and every time put together some knives and see whot a wonderful difference it makes in the finished piece. Then try other steels that you feel would make a nice blade. Weld them and see how you did. grind,sand etch etc. Then on to trying new pattterns with those blanks. You will come along way in a hurry is my prediction. And Have fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Y Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 Thank guys. I am still learning and will be for quite a while. I don't have a desire to be a major bladesmith, but I have a desire to be good at pattern welding. I have an idea for some patern welded items, but need to build to that skill level. Critisism and suggestions are welcome. Thanks, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Y Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 Thanks Rich, great suggestion on the cable weld ups. I have a barrel full of cable lenghts and will do just that. The "knife" that I didn't like...I called it a knife for a lack of a better term - I gave away to cut strings on hay bales. It will get some use and if it breaks, I hope I am better by then and will give them another one. I got some "sure-weld" the other day and am trying a chainsaw chain billet with that. These other ones, I used 20 Mule Team and didn't keep the moisture out of the box. I have done a lot of reading and I see that may be a place I am failing. I will keep trying and failing and see where it takes me. It has gotten me this far in life and I still have all my fingers, so I will keep at it! John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanieltheFarrier Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 looks good. lots of character. wish i could do all that stuff. still working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkforge Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Moisture doesn't matter....it will boil out once it is on the hot steel. Make sure the flux is liquid (like hot syrup) and not crusty when you go to do the weld. Don't hit it real hard for the initial weld. First blows down the center of the billet to squeeze the flux/slag out the sides. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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