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I Forge Iron

Buying Damascus


1776

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So... not up to making my own Damascus, and kinda had this idea in my mind for a while.

 Question 1: Has anyone bought Damascus,

 Question 2: Have you made a knife out of Damascus you bought?

 Question 3: Is it a good idea to buy Damascus billets for knife making if you can't make your own Damascus?

 Yep. Thats the run down. Any answers?

 Thanks,

 1776

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A lot of folks buy pattern welded billets like that to make knives, and by all accounts I have read the Alabama Damascus stuff is high quality.

There are tons of knife makers out there who only do metal removal and don't even have a forge in their shop.

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Rob Thomas and Chad Nichols are household names in the custom knife community for high quality Damascus purveyors for stock removal knifemakers.

George Palagonia of American Metal Xchange sometimes has Damascus or Timascus/Mokuti available.

Tru Grit Inc has a section for blade steel stock that includes a selection of Damascus products

dont hold yourself back from buying pattern welded blade stock to start with, it's a little more expense up front and a little more heartache when something goes sideways but otherwise it's just steel.  Get the HT instructions from the supplier or tell your HT vendor what it's made of so they can do it right.

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9 hours ago, Chinobi said:

Rob Thomas and Chad Nichols are household names in the custom knife community for high quality Damascus purveyors for stock removal knifemakers.

George Palagonia of American Metal Xchange sometimes has Damascus or Timascus/Mokuti available.

Tru Grit Inc has a section for blade steel stock that includes a selection of Damascus products

dont hold yourself back from buying pattern welded blade stock to start with, it's a little more expense up front and a little more heartache when something goes sideways but otherwise it's just steel.  Get the HT instructions from the supplier or tell your HT vendor what it's made of so they can do it right.

I'll look into those, thanks.

8 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

If you were down this way I'd suggest Pep Gomez in Las Cruces.

Does he have a website?

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22 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Not that I know of he's been supply a custom knife business in Mexico with pretty much all his output and so doesn't need to "advertise".

I see. Well, thanks.

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  • 1 month later...
On 4/5/2017 at 2:18 PM, JHCC said:

1776, ...and you can afford one of JPH's:

DO IT!!!

Well, thats the bite now isn't it. ;) Got a little bit of a pinch on cash right now. Dang it. Kinda been on a shoe string for a bit. But hey, thats the way it goes some times. If I wasn't in this position, I'de take your advice. But the world is a cold hard place sometimes. No Damascus for me... :(

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On ‎4‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 2:54 PM, Caleb Hale said:

I was a bit shocked when I saw how much a damascus billet goes for, but you can buy Chad Nichols' billets online here: http://www.texasknife.com/vcom/index.php?cPath=1022

Man, I don't even sell my Damascus knives for that much!

This one lets just say I sold for less than a hundred $$. No flaws that I could find, I just price my stuff a little low...ya'll will kill me now! the guy who bought the Damascus one as he was handing me the money said "you could have charged twice as much and I still would have called it a deal!". That's when you know you underprice your work.

IMG_6002[1].JPG

and this one I sold for les than $70... they sold really quick....

IMG_5999[1].JPG

 

IMG_6001[1].JPG

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Put the money you would spend on a billet towards a Damascus making workshop IMO :) join ABS(sorry for the plug, but I've met a lot of great people through them, some tools, but many greats) and the Washington Blacksmith Association, they must have some kind of classes every once in a while.

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Certainly not cheap, but a lot less risk of a failure. The go to supplier here in Oz has some beautiful stuff available, and it is in stainless knife grades, they source most of their steel from the US, so you will have access to it there for sure.

Here is the link to the Oz Supplier if you just want to drool, if nothing else you might be able to search the local suppliers easier if you know the name of the grade. . (scroll down a little, the top stuff of for bling, not blades, that is lower down)

oh, and make sure your sitting down before looking at the prices - price is per centimetre of steel......as I said not cheap!

 

https://www.artisansupplies.com.au/product-category/knife-making-supplies/knife-and-blade-steels/damasteel-premium-blade-steel-and-damascus/

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  • 4 weeks later...
On ‎4‎/‎16‎/‎2017 at 10:18 PM, Chinobi said:

... and the Washington Blacksmith Association, they must have some kind of classes every once in a while.

I'll second checking out and joining the NWBA, Northwest Blacksmith Association (blacksmith.org).  As the mentoring center coordinator, I can tell you that this weekend is our annual spring conference, and Dave Lisch, MS is one of the main demonstrators.  Also, in October, we're having a mini-conference and swap meet (Swaptoberfest, if I'm not mistaken) and we're going to have a billet making demonstration with 6 members being able to participate and take home their own welded billet.

I also know that some of the members on the east side of the state have their own "mini conferences" or hammer-ins a few times a year.

Edited by billyO
speling
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