Jump to content
I Forge Iron

Reforged File Fighter and Damascus Utility


TheoRockNazz

Recommended Posts

Howdy guys,
Today I have two new blades for your consideration.
First is a file given to me by Owen Bush when my class with him ended, reforged into a fighter similar to his own seax style with a twist. Blade was normalized, forged, annealed & drilled, normalized, differentially hardened, then double tempered to a delicious gold color at 395F/202C. The fittings are low layer damascus that's been etched then lightly repolished so only the topography shows, with steel pins, brass spacers, ebony and mosaic pin.
IMG_20120817_141817LO.jpg
IMG_20120817_141740LO.jpg
IMG_20120817_141834LO.jpg
I live in NYC, so when the blade was finished I just ran it over to Bill at MastersmithS, where it was added to his collection and soon to be on his website - only my second accepted knife! Here's Bill with it:
IMG_20120818_152927LO.jpg

The second is a damascus utility knife of old jackhammer bit steel (S-5?) and mild steel that I had forged a while ago in London (at Shelley Thomas' forge), but never handled until back in the States; handle is bamboo with mosaic and brass pins. The blade is differentially hardened tempered the same as the first; but has a small cold shut that I am not thrilled with, yet doesn't effect its cutting ability.
IMG_20120817_141545LO.jpg
IMG_20120817_141643LO.jpg

I'd love to hear what you guys think,
Theo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Machinery's handbook says that the S series would make good jackhammer bits and that morphed into many junkyard steel lists stating that jackhammer bits were made from S series steel.

However as has been posted here before:
From Grant:
JACKHAMMER bits have a hole down the center and go in a percussion drill (jackhammer). Paving breaker bits are solid and go in a paving breaker. Yeah, I know, most people call 'em jackhammers. Having owned a company for 18 years that produced millions of them probably makes me a little pickier than most. For me, if a customer ordered a 1" x 18" jackhammer bit, I had better send the right thing.

As an aside to this, I've had just about every bit made spectrographed and never found one made from a tool steel. The largest manufacturer (Brunner & Lay) uses a modified 1045 for all their bits. Vulcan used to use 1078 (a high silicone 1080) but have changed to a boron steel in the last few years. Most others (Delsteel, Pioneer, Ajax, Tamco) use either 1078 or 9260. I Had good success using 8640. You only have to remember that B&ampampL is water quench and the others are oil when you use them to make other tools.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cool, thanks! If it was something more exotic that might explain the cold shut... though damascus is new to me and I need more practice as well.
I had patternwelded a bundle of billots of the same mix before leaving the UK, which I'm now using entirely for fittings because it uses mild steel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...