bobasaurus Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 This weekend I worked on forging my first full-scale pattern welded damascus billet. I've previously done one miniature damascus test with a bandsaw blade and pallet strapping and it turned out okay. This time I used 1.25" wide 1080 and 15n20 pieces tack welded into an 8 layer billet after a lot of grinding to make things square and shiny. I welded on a handle and heated it to about 2325 deg F in the forge until uniform temperature. I did fluxless forge welding for the first time and it seems to have worked perfectly so far, I didn't see any separation while drawing later. After drawing out the bar to about 1" square I twisted it (took a few heats... 1" is pretty thick for my small twisting wrench). After I took the neat picture below, I forged it nearly square again. That's all I was able to do with my arm power for the time being, I don't have a power hammer or press so this is all hand hammered. Not sure what to make with it yet, maybe an axe or kitchen knife. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Generally we recommend rounding a billet before twisting, Also 8 layers is pretty low save for early historic pieces, (pre 1000 A.D. and at least by viking times they were generally assembling more complex structures out of the low layer billets.) The welds do look good at this stage though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Square, fold and weld again? Would doing that a couple times muddy up the pattern after twisting? Just thinking here but if that's 1" sq, that's a LOT of steel for a practical size knife and more than enough for a integral hatchet. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobasaurus Posted February 13, 2017 Author Share Posted February 13, 2017 Yeah, it ended up as a lot of steel... almost bit off more than I could chew. Rounding the corners a bit before twisting would have helped, I'll do that next time. I'm going for low layer count more for interesting patterns than historical accuracy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron Poet Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 After you made the knife I'd use the extra to make jewelry, maybe a bracelet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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