Loneforge Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Well I was making a chef's knife and it broke on me after heat treat. When the blade broke it left an arrow shaped scar right up my right thumb.....Therefore this blade I have aptly named The Broken Arrow. This knife is the redemption blade. 38 layers of 1095 and 15n20 twisted. The handle will get lacewood and brass pins. This is just a sneak peak so I could see the pattern. Finished blade will be posted as soon I finish it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tantofolder Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 That is a bold and dramatic pattern,I like it very much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksnagel Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 Beautiful blade! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJAX Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 i have been using someone else's forge for a while and have been looking into getting one of my own. just out of curiosity, what forge did you use? i really like what your doing here, this kind of stuff just get's me stoked to go out and blacksmith, thanks for the post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loneforge Posted May 5, 2012 Author Share Posted May 5, 2012 I built a home made gas forge. Works pretty good....I think. Never seen another one running! thanks for the compliment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearhartironwerks Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 Lone forge, You didn't tell us what the heat treatment was. There are a lot of variables in damascus steel. Pretty much a given when forging a damascus billet is that you need to thermal cycle the forged billet at least three times prior to normalizing at room temperature. ( Thermal cycling means bringing the billet up to non magnetic, letting it cool to magnetic, then repeating the process in seccession. This is a fairly simple and quick process that makes a huge difference.) Then, for me, I like to anneal the billet by raising the temp to non magnetic and leaving it in the forge (closed up) overnight to anneal. Vermiculite in a can will work as well. Stress releaving is a major part of forging mixed metals. This process plays out big time when quenching the billett to avoid wharpage. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loneforge Posted May 6, 2012 Author Share Posted May 6, 2012 This blade as it is now has been triple normalized then annealed. Not Heat treated yet. The one that got broke was the same. The blade didn't break during HT, I broke it afterwards. It took a little warp and I tempted to straighten it before it was tempered. This knife will not even get looked at until it's been tempered at least twice after HT. I do the same as you I just messed up by trying to fix a little warp before tempering. Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearhartironwerks Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 Loneforge, I can't tell you how many times I've done the same...stupidly. Now, I quench twice and temper twice after thermal cycling, normalizing and annealing. I haven't had any break for awhile, and I use the hydraulic press for straightening with pieces of cedar shingles as a buffer when bending. Your work looks really good! John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loneforge Posted May 7, 2012 Author Share Posted May 7, 2012 Thanks Cheers.....tears to learning the hard way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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