February 20, 201115 yr Hey folks, I recently started this project over on another forum, and thought I might as well "mirror" it here. Enjoy! I'm forging a billet of "Gordian's Knot" damascus. The original bar had about 100 layers.
February 20, 201115 yr Author Big version of that last photo: The billet after sitting around for a few days: I'm soaking it in acid for a while to loosen the scale. Then I'll grind most of the cracks from the twisting off. That way I'll know that I won't be forging them into the blade, and risk ruining everything.... This is the drawing of the knife I'm making:
February 21, 201115 yr Thanks for showing the progression of your work. Very interesting. I look forward to following you. Mark<><
February 21, 201115 yr Nice recurve design with very nice long clip. It will be good to see it as you work on it. Very enjoyable.
February 21, 201115 yr Author Not done layering? what is the count now? Yes, the patterning is done, and there are some pictures of the pattern in post numbers 2 and 3. I thought you were asking for pics of the finished knife.... The billet is made up of 4 bars, each with 100 layers. Two bars are twisted clockwise, the other two counterclockwise. Then all four are welded together, then the resulting bar is twisted clockwise. Then it's forged flat. That's pretty much all I've done so far. Tomorrow if I feel like it (I'm getting over a bug of some sort) I'll forge the blade to shape.
February 21, 201115 yr Author Here's what it looks like after soaking in HCL for a couple days: After angle grinding down to bare metal: After cleaning up on the belt grinder: I want to make sure the billet is flawless before I waste the effort forging a blade... Looks good so far!
February 23, 201115 yr Author Well, I think today's the day for forging. But first, I need to make an aluminum template, which I did yesterday: I also welded a sturdier handle onto the billet:
February 23, 201115 yr Author Looks like you have it well planned out! "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Really, every knife I forge gets a template, and a drawing. Some people can seemingly whip out a really nice knife with no planning or forethought, but that doesn't usually work for me. I like to know where I'm going and how I'm going to get there. :)
February 23, 201115 yr Author Some pics of the forging: It's not quite done yet. I'll finish it next time I have the forge fired up...
February 24, 201115 yr Excellent pictorial! Thank you for sharing this. Waiting in anticipation for the finished pictures.
February 24, 201115 yr i agree- lovely clear photos - looks amazing! thanks for bothering to show us in such detail! :)
February 25, 201115 yr Author Finished forging the blade today, and also thermal cycled it, and then ground it. Just have to file the guard shoulders and stamp my mark on it, then it's ready for heat treat.
February 27, 201115 yr Author Yesterday I heat treated the blade, and this morning I re-ground it. I started to hand sand it, and decided it could use a little more tempering, so it's back in the oven now. Here it is after hardening: Hardness testing: Re-grinding the ricasso and tang: Beveling the edge prior to grinding the blade: Re-ground with a 60 grit Blaze belt: Ground with a 240 grit belt: The blade in my hand sanding setup: A quick etch after a little sanding with 400 grit paper:
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