Maillemaker Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Evening, all. I would just like to take a moment to thank all the pattern-welders out there. I tried a bit of it today, and I'm beginning to understand what an arduous task PW'ing steel is. I want to thank you for your dedication and skill, for taking blacksmithing as a craft and turning it into an art form all it's own. Your efforts are truly remarkable, and an inspiration to all. Yours sincerely, Maillemaker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Thank you for your comments. I have made billets for quite a while now and this may just be me, but when I stack and weld layers of steel even when I draw each step out and cut grind restack and weld again until the layer count reaches wotever I had in m ind. It is, again for me. Just a welded billet of layered steel, Ok maybe at times I add some pure nickel for a particular look. I do not consider that I have welded a pattern welded billet. I do other things with it to actually make a pattern. A twist for instance makes a wonderful look. If I cut across the billet to a certain depth at carefully spaced intervals alternating from side to side and then flatten the billet out I expect to see a ladder pattern in the finished piece. There are a lot of different ways to develop a huge number of patterns. And even m ore when you put mosaic pieces of different patterns together for even more patterns.MM please do not take this as me being critical of your post. I just wanted to exprfess my thoughts on pattern welded steels and this seems like a good time to put them in print. I also do not ever refer to my work as damascus. Methinks that is too far awayh from the methods I use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 Having played a bit with both, I understand Rich feelings. Damascus is a crucible process that allows a pattern to present in steel. Pattern welding is layered steels, with carving and/or twisting and more stacking in applying these various modes, we hope to get what we wish for, and some times not what I wished for, but thank you anyway. While I do expect to get paid, PW is really a labor of love. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 Personally I try not to use the term "Damascus" as all since it's been used for centuries for two very different materials. I prefer to go with pattern welded and wootz to avoid confusion. However pattern welding has been called Damascus longer than this country has been called the United States of America; do you not use the term United States? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 I was visiting with pattern welding genius Daryl Meier at the 1980 Santa Cruz, CA, ABANA conference and as we talked, he produced a steel slug roughly 3/4" x 7/8" and dime thin. It contained two pattern welded American flags in a flowing design, each flag approximately 1/2" in length. All stars and stripes were present. When I handled it, I turned it over and the flags were present on the other side, as well. No obverse nor reverse. The design was present on both faces of the slug. Daryl said that I could keep the slug, for which I was extremely thankful. I asked him how he did it. He smiled and said that each night as he was falling asleep, he would try to construct in his mind's eye the setup of the weld. Finally, after several days, it would all come together mentally, and then he would know what to do. Yeah, right! About six years ago, I was visiting with Sid Suedmeier of www.littlegianthammer.com. I showed him Daryl's slug, and Sid drew another slug from his pocket. This one was 11/16" x 5/8" x a scant 1/8" and depicted a tiny little giant hammer 1/2" tall. This was made by a couple of Florida men, and apparently this was not pattern welding, Nevertheless, it was an awsome likeness of the 25 pound hammer. I am not familiar with the process, but it may have to do with the careful laying out of powdered steels and sintering (?) the bundle in some fashion. Perhaps someone can better explain. Sid allowed me to keep the piece. The workmanship on both slugs is worthy of any piece of fine jewelry. Neither pattern welding nor powder metallurgy are my forte, so I very much appreciate what went into these pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ric Furrer Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Frank, The use of powdered metal for making pictures is called "mosaic" damascus..I have seen everything from snoopy on his dog house to very organic quilt patterns. As one who makes pattern-welded steel (simple,composite and mosaic..in a variety of alloys) as well as the crucible stuff I can say with certainty that it is a disease. There are some who have dedicated their lives to the technique...such as Daryl: http://meiersteel.com/gallery.html and has inspired a generation of other smiths. If you REALLY want a treat have a look here: http://www.steveschwarzer.com/images/ss-knf-pic-9.htm Steve is a friend and he was one of the pioneers of the technique. I used to visit him 15 years ago when I lived in Florida and we would stay up till the wee hours of the morning preparing the billets for the next day. Mailemaker, I may be able to take a few years off your learning curve if you care to stop by some afternoon. Ric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 At an ABANA conference years back in AZ Darryl Meier shared with the crowd how he did the work for that stars and stripes pattern, That is showcased in the Knife presented to President Bush. I hesitate to share the process as i consider it his and will leave it up to him for that. I weill never stop kicking myself in the hiney for not buying a belt buckle he donated to the group and was for sale at a great price. It was oval in shape, pattern welded with an anvil in the middle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 There have been some great pictorial work done with wire EDM cutting two intricate designs that will then interlace and get forge welded with a press to keep from skewing the design. You then have to forge down the fairly large billet; but you get *feet* of the pattern in smaller format! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arean Ellis Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 I was given a piece of pattern welded steel yesterday... just the left overs from another project. What a pain in the butt to work! I put a twist in it and then tried for a bottle opener. I spent more effort trying to avoid splitting the fragile steel than actually forming the bottle opener. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 I was given a piece of pattern welded steel yesterday... just the left overs from another project. What a pain in the butt to work! I put a twist in it and then tried for a bottle opener. I spent more effort trying to avoid splitting the fragile steel than actually forming the bottle opener. you need to forge this at welding heat to prevent this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peacock Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 I got these from Tom Clark shortly before his passing. I don't know who made them. Just that the round one is Mr. Haberman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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