This is my first try on damascus forging. It is three pices, two mild steel and one Cr,Ni,Mo alloyed steel, forgewelded together and twisted and folded once. Not much of a pattern but I

i think thats great - and im glad that someone on here is on their first try at this stuff - i want a go - am a bit intimidated but you have inspired me - so cheers! i think thats a real achievement.

Nice to see some "simple" stuff to encourage the beginners. Might have a go myself after seeing that.

Cheers

Her is a picture of it when re-etched in ferretic cloride.

Janne I agree with the guys about the simplicity yet beautiful start at your making damascus. Frankly, I love it although never had a try. Your work is excellent in my opinion, and those cracks where the different alloys did not fuse completely, I find them very artistic and appealing, wow! Congratulations. nelson.

Pretty exciting that first weld, eh?

Janne , That really came out nice! Pretty soon I will have the confidence to try a weld. Still working on hammer control and judging the heat range I'm working in. Did you use coal or propane for heat source ? The etch really brings out the pattern. Can't wait to try it.
Dick

I like that a lot! I have yet to forge anything (on purpose) successfully. I will keep trying. Hope you post some more work, I think it's great.

It

A new try on some sort of damascus, mild steel and metal saw blade. etched in FeCl.

I guess my style is "poorly welded damascus jewelery", at least untill i get the hang of it.

I question for the moore experenced damascus makers: Is it of any good to try and fold the billet more times? Is there any chanse to close som of the earlier made poor welds?

Hello Janne . I've made damascus for years and I just finished a new knife. The more you fold your billet the more layers you will have and greater options for pattern making. Keep in mind that too many layers results in smaller design. As for repairing could shunts or poor welds I'd say check your billet before you make the finished item. Its almost impossible to re weld for example, your ring without ruining it. Grind the whole billet between each weld and make sure your'e at welding temp before you put hammer to steel. Hope this helps.
Cesare

OK, I guessed that the folding wouldn

If you reheat your work and re weld the could shunts it might work but then again you always compress the steel with each weld.You may ruin your work. I'd make a new billet and start over. Remember forge welding is difficult and takes a bit of experience. Folding your billet makes finer lines ,the fewer the folds the the larger the pattern will be. The force of your hammer blows depends on a huge list of variables such as the steel you use ,the thickness of your billet ,and so on. Use consistent force with each weld. Remember your first weld is already stuck . You just need to make the next one stick . I usually strike the steel hard when I make chain because of the thickness of the steel. Oh and another thing ,for the most part there's nothing a press or power hammer can do that a sledge hammer can't accomplish.
Cesare

compress metal ? if you mean get thinner, yes. but we don't compress the metal. also its not hard to forge weld, after you figure out the temp, and correct hammer blows, ifs fairly easy. Apprenticeships traditionally started at 7 to 10 years old, after learning fire control, one of the first tasks for the young man was to forge weld the small steel scraps into larger bars for later use by the smith. as steel was not easy to make, they saved everything they could.

In normal pattern welding, when you fold, or re stack the billet, you will also be re welding the first set. Patterns up to 500 layers are very visible, 1,000 layers tend to wash out a bit. It does not need power tools, I dont have any PW or press for welding, tho a press is my next building project.

FYI: the first blades to sell out for many of us at shows are the lower layer counts of 80 to 150 layers. Bolder pattern

Steve ...yes thinning of the steel is what I meant. As far as forge welding goes I've always found it relaxing not really hard at all but I know some smiths who find it impossible. I usually make my blades with 40 to 100 layers .
Cesare

Low layers are strange.... I like the look of higher layer count blades, but since people prefer the ones with less layers, (aka less work for me) I make them .. its their xall, as I want them to buy.