Meridianfrost Posted July 12, 2018 Share Posted July 12, 2018 Well folks, I am over the moon with my first piece of pattern welded steel. I just pulled it out of the etch (instant coffee), and I could not be more pleased. The knife was forged fron 3 layers of 1084, and three layers of 15n20, all .12” thick and 1.5” wide. I ended up with 48 layers, and a very all billet in the end. I don’t own a press, or a power hammer, so I hammered this one out by hand. What a great learning experience. All done in my little 2-burner diamondback forge. I was exhausted after forging it, but it was definitely worth the time. The reason I didn’t go for another fold is that the steel started to feel realljy thin, and I didn’t think it could take another weld without it thinning out to the point where it wouldn’t have been practical as a knife. The knife is 4.5 inches long and about 1.25 wide. I’m going to start with 8 layers next time, and instead of 3” length, I am going to go 4.5 inches. I should still be able to hand forge that into something usable and get more layers out of it. So there it is! Just thought I would share. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 Very pretty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven511 Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 Nice! A very bold pattern Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfeile Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 Very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awrksmokey Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 Awesome! I love the pattern! Awrkiron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John in Oly, WA Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 Congrats on the successful pattern weld! Kind of exciting to go through the steps and see it going together well. How long did you soak it in the coffee? I'm working on my first pattern welds now, but I have a forge press. I can appreciate all the effort to hammer it out by hand, though I think doing it that way would get the better of me. Nice bevel grind too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meridianfrost Posted July 15, 2018 Author Share Posted July 15, 2018 On 7/13/2018 at 12:37 PM, John in Oly, WA said: there is never any need to quote the preceding post that we all just read Thanks very much! Yeah, it would be nice to have a forge press. I will definitely be adding one to my smithy when I can afford it. I think it benefits me to do this by hand to get a thorough understanding of it. That is what I’m telling myself anyway I left it in the instant coffee for 2.5 hours, and while it gave me great contrast, I don’t have any texture differentiation. I’m confused by the ferric chloride part of this process, specifically where to buy it, whether I should buy powder and mix my own, or buy a pre-mixed solution, and what percentage solution to buy, and if I need to dilute a pre-mixed solution. I posted another question in the knife making forum to see if I can get some guidance there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lyuv Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 Meridianfrost - Very nice piece! Let alone that it's your first. After going through pretty much the same process and material, I can appreciate you getting very straight and parallel layers. I got them staggered and mixed, so your hammer work is good. On 7/13/2018 at 2:35 AM, Meridianfrost said: The reason I didn’t go for another fold is that the steel started to feel realljy thin I dont understans this. After you fold, you draw out the bilet (for the next fold) and it gets wider. Dont you hammer it on the "narrow" side to compensate for that? Why do you have thinning problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDarkNebulah Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 I went to a blacksmith meet a month ago and they told me an easy way to get ferric chloride is to buy some muriatic acid from home depot or lowes and then to let some iron to dissolve in there for a few days and then add some hydrogen peroxide and viola, ferric chloride. That is what Matt Parkinson at Dragons breath forge told me he does at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 there is an instructional thread about this in Alchemy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meridianfrost Posted July 15, 2018 Author Share Posted July 15, 2018 Thanks very much! As I would heat the steel to welding heat for each weld, I lost a lot of material to scale. It may have been my inexperience with doing multiple forge welds on the same piece of steel, but the volume of steel decreased as I went through the welds. I also did not start out with a huge billet. 6 bars of .120” thick 1084 and 15n20 that we’re only 3” long and 1.5” wide. I knew I would end up with a small piece, but I really thought I’d be able to get another fold in this billet. In the end I opted to just stop, and keep it at 48 layers. On 7/15/2018 at 5:21 PM, Steve Sells said: there is an instructional thread about this in Alchemy I found it. Thanks very much. On 7/15/2018 at 5:10 PM, MrDarkNebulah said: an easy way to get ferric chloride is to buy some muriatic acid from home depot or lowes and then to let some iron to dissolve in there for a few days and then add some hydrogen peroxide and viola, ferric chloride. Great info. I was just at a bladesmith meet where Matt was doing a demo of no-flux Damascus. He’s great. I should have asked him about the ferric chloride when I had the chance darn it. I just didn’t imagine I’d be attempting Damascus so soon. He was the one who Partially inspired me to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDarkNebulah Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 That was the exact meet he told me yea. It also inspired me to try damascus, but I've made alot less progress on it than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jspool Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 Good job! Can’t wait to see your next one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zrognak Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 Dam that looks great, I always got a soft spot for low layered patterns. Good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HP500 Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 Very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheoRockNazz Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Wonderfully done! On to the next! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeTausig Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 Looks nice. What is the final thickness of the blade? Looks like it could have easily accommodated another fold. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meridianfrost Posted August 19, 2018 Author Share Posted August 19, 2018 13 hours ago, MikeTausig said: Looks nice. What is the final thickness of the blade? Looks like it could have easily accommodated another fold. Well done. Final thickness was 3/16”. I was losing so much material after each weld that another one would have just reduced it too much. On 8/14/2018 at 11:24 AM, TheoRockNazz said: Wonderfully done! On to the next! On 8/7/2018 at 5:32 PM, Zrognak said: Dam that looks great, I always got a soft spot for low layered patterns. Good work. Thank you! I wish posts had a thumb’s up like option here! Thank you all for your kind words. I really appreciate the support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyO Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 Looks great! Welcome to the never-ending path of pattern welding. PCB etchant from Radio Shack is ferric chloride. I am currently using a 3:1 water to acid ratio. It's my understanding that most folks (myself included) will do a ferric chloride etch to get some topography to the blade before soaking it in the coffee. I've heard that the coffee "etch" is mainly a resinous buildup on the surface caused by the coffee. It rubs off fairly easily, especially if there is no topography on the blade. When you etch to get some topography, the coffee coats the carbon steel (the depressions made by the ferric chloride) and the nickle steel is higher in topography so that protects the coffee from rubbing off as easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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