Jaegers Forge and Foundry Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 So i was thinking before I take a shot at Damascus that I should try a San Mai knife first. I've already been practicing forge welding and I'm able to get the welds to stick. For this I was thinking I'd use angle iron as the taco shape and a file for the blade. I've never seen people use angle iron to make San Mai and was wondering if this was the right approach? Also I have an old pickaxe head lying around and was wondering if that could be useful for anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 San Mai is often just a 3 layer pattern weld. Problem with angle iron is getting a good weld in the fold area. Definitely start the weld by hammering that region! Pickax: spark test it. Often good for drifts and other tooling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaegers Forge and Foundry Posted June 26, 2020 Author Share Posted June 26, 2020 Okay, Thanks! Also I was thinking I'd make a drift if the pickaxe isn't usable to make an axe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Spark test it. For some strange reason; thousands of different manufacturers from over a hundred different countries for the last several hundred years did not use the exact same alloy to make a pickaxe. Test it and decide what it would be good for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaegers Forge and Foundry Posted June 26, 2020 Author Share Posted June 26, 2020 Okay, I will thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyO Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 San-mai can be more difficult to make a decent looking blade than a standard damascus billet with more layers. In order for it to look good (IMO), you have to keep the core centered in the billet while forging. So make sure you flip the billet regularly to forge from both sides evenly, or you can make sure you change sides of the billet each heat, and don't lose track... Good luck and be sure to post pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 hope you are starting with a very thick high carbon section because carbon migration to the angle iron will zap it fast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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