Search the Community

Hi guys, So the time has come to make a copper San mai blade. I was thinking of doing a nickel outer shell. Then copper, then hardenable steel core. I'm open to any and all tips, recommendations, warnings, step by step of how you would do it, and what you would stay away from. anything else that will help me with this new goal. Thanks so much in advanced.

Hello everybody! My name is Tomo and I'm from Croatia. I've got a problem with san mai (and my english but that's something you cannot help me). I've welded some billets using mild steel for cladding with 1.2519 core. I draw out the billet and hit it on sides and everything seems to be solid. Then I started forging a knife. Everything goes well with forging in the point, bevels and tang. When I finish straightening on lower temps I go to normalization temp and when it cools down the parts of blade starts to delaminate. This happened on 4 of 5 blades (one was successful and I don't know why). I'm using my power hammer (gently) for drawing out the billet and 80% of forging process. The steel was clean when stacked, welding temp in my gas forge was between 2200-2300 °F. Is it a problem with lower temperature (1650 °F) when I'm straightening everything or something else. I hope someone can help me. Thank you!

So I'm a newbie and I was finally able to successfully crank out a small San Mai billet of 1084 core and 15N20 by hand. I was excited to see what I could do with it after looking at work by guys like Josh Fisher. I profiled the knife, put bevels on it, then threw it in ferric for the test etch which revealed a pretty neat pattern. I decided I'd like it to be fairly nice looking, being that it is my first San Mai blade, so I took it up to 3k grit with hand sanding. I then followed etching processes that I had researched, with very bad results in the ferric. The acid left the surface of the blade dingy and dirty looking. I switched to a less aggressive etchant, lemon juice with a drop of dish soap. The lemon juice seemed to leave the 15N20 a bit brighter and the 1084 a little cleaner. This is where I started having problems on the finish of the knife. Since I am so new I do not have a lot of experience with etchants and etching processes even though I have researched a lot online. When etching in lemon juice, I tried several rounds, rubbing with steel wool in between, then cleaning, then re-etching. I also tried several rounds using mother's mag polish in place of the steel wool. Both seemed to give the same result, wiping away the contrast between the 1084 and 15n20. After doing this several times, I couldn't tell what it was doing or when it was supposed to end so I abandoned it and decided to do my "final etch". It looked great out of the etchant, so I flooded the blade with Windex to neutralize the acid. When I wiped the blade it left lots of streaks on the finish. When oiling and attempting to remove the streaks, they didn't go anywhere. After oiling I used my thumb to try to rub the streaks away. When I rubbed the darker finish of the 1084, the dark grey turned to a very light dull grey and my thumb was dark. My question is, is there something wrong with my process? It seemed to get the best results as far as contrast, but it doesn't seem like the contrast is permanent if the dark finish of the 1084 can just rub off. I am very inexperienced, I welcome and greatly appreciate any advice, guidance or criticism on making this blade stand out! Thanks in advance Will King

Hi guys, so it's my first attempt at a San mai blade but I don't know if the gaps in between my bullets are too wide. Can you take a look at them and let me know. I wouldn't want any cold shuts or delams. Thanks!

My first attempt at a blade was a railroad spike knife (of course). My second attempt at a blade was a forge welded san mai from a railroad spike and some questionable coil spring. Having used up both of the spikes I had, a guy at work just gave me a bucket load more. I have a feeling that my next knife may involve a railroad spike. I really like the rustic feel of the spike as a handle contrasting a highly polished blade. A set of steak knives is on the cards. So far, everything has been an experiment and that's not likely to change. However, it's probably wise to start getting input from those more skilled in the art so that I may produce something that is fit for purpose. I recently acquired a random bunch of stock... mostly mild steel and 3xx stainless. Luckily, I did find a square bar of 440, although I don't know if it's A, B or C, so I guess I have to assume A? I'm thinking of repeating the san mai, only this time slotting in some 440 instead of the useless coil spring. With that in mind, I have a few questions... Are there any special considerations when forge welding mild steel to stainless? Assuming the 440 is A, is it even worth using or should I look for something else? Given that I don't know whether it's A, B or C, how should I handle the heat treat? Also, is there anything else I shoud be thinking about for this project?

Hi all! writing out of desperation, as of tonight, i am on my fourth attempt (and failure) at welding SS to cabon steel. The best i got was a few partial welds on my last attempt but it can't be that hard? Can it? first i tried a simple forge weld between several layers of aeb-l and 304, using only flurspar flux. Bound to fail, i know, but one has to try! Then i tried welding the sides and went san mai with 304 and 1075 (xc75 here in france). Three tries later and no luck! I was fairly certain i had clean welds on my last try, with aeb-l and xc75 , good heat in the forge, sprayed some wd40 before the last weld, soaked forever, and only got a few partials... any ideas? Advice?

This started out as a gift for my son but he wanted something more LOTR inspired which is cool. It is 304/1084 San mai with wrought iron fittings and a maple handle that I stiched a leather wrap around it and with an ode to Peter Johnsson I wrapped string around it wet to give it that look that is both functional and pretty damn cool looking. Overall is about 12-14" and the blade is some where around 8-9 " I promised the lady who wanted it for her husband a sheath so I made this little guy cheap and easy.

San mai of wrought iron shell with 15N20 and 1095 cutting edge. Handle window contains LEGO bricks tumbled at random angles before being sanded down to show their cross-sections. Black cotton ito with 3d printed cast brass menuki. I've been having a lot of fun with these window knives, and have another half dozen in the works.

If anyone is interested in coming to Tucson for a good demo, The Arizona Artist Blacksmith's Association is holding this one in Tucson on Jan. 20, 2017 Details at: http://azblacksmiths.org/calendar/ EVENT DETAILS Demonstrator: Rich Greenwood Rich was on the series premier of History Channel’s “Forged in Fire”. He was also on the most recent season’s episode for fan favorites. Rich will be demonstrating a “San Mai” style kitchen knife. San Mai is taking two, or sometimes more pieces, of steel and forge welding them together. Usually a harder steel is used as an inner core with a soft outer jacket to make a knife blade. Rich will explain the whole process and reasons for doing this, and then he will demonstrate it. You won’t want to miss this! • Registration begins at 8 AM, the demonstration starts at 9 AM. • Registration fee: $15 for members $20 for non-members, Free for first timers (Non-members who haven’t attended an AABA event before or who have attended only AABA open forges). • Potluck lunch at noon on Saturday. • Tailgating is encouraged. Tailgaters, please consider donating to Iron in the Hat. • Free horseshoes, RR spikes, cable, etc. from Ira’s scrapyard. Ira will have other stuff for sale. • Smiths can forge after the demo on Saturday and on Sunday. Bring hand tools. • Ira will have a BBQ and campfire Friday and Saturday nights. Bring meat and potluck dishes in a cooler. • Camping and lodging will be available all weekend at Ira’s. Camp out, sleep on the floor, sleep in the treehouse. Call him at 520-780-9076 to make arrangements. • Bring things for Iron-In-the-Hat and Show-and-Tell. Don’t forget to put your name on anything you bring for Show-and-Tell. TIMEAll Day (Saturday) LOCATIONIra Wiesenfeld's Shop 1801 W Overton Tucson AZ 85737

San mai blade of 1095 core, random pattern shell, and pure nickle shims. Bolster and butt cap are 3D printed cast copper, designed to sport a pigs head and squiggly tail. The cutting board and knife holder was made by Eugene Manigo, owner of Kambui Custom Craft in Brooklyn - both the board and handle are reclaimed walnut and teak with new purpleheart. This is the first completed knife using my friend and fellow knifemaker's, Jann Muchnikoff, 23 ton press; what a wonderful tool! Comments and critique always welcome, Theo

Cherry handle and wrought iron and 1095 San Mai steel blade. A Scandinavian style puukko with a 6 1/4 inch over all length and a 2 3/8inch blade. The carving on the top of the handle is a Swedish design has been around for centuries, and is adorned with a copper pin in the center. Thanks,

Well I've struck again, working to do well in this style before I want to move on to others. I've got a wrought iron and 1095 San Mai Puukko, with a birds eye maple handle. Simple but useful. OAL - 6.5 inches Blade Length - 2.5 inches Blade thickness - 3/16 of an inch Handle - A smidgeon under 4 inches All comments are welcome, I won't improve otherwise. Thanks for looking everyone. -Tim

Finished some knives... Both are wrought iron san mai with super pretty curley maple ( cut from the same block...thanks to Jared Stier!) for the handles. You really have to move it around in the light for the full effect. Not really any similarities beyond that First is a little quickie puukko-esque knife I made for fun. I did a bit of carving on it because I hadnt done any in a long time. I learned with this one that carving and buffing are, for all intents and purposes, mutually excusive . I'm still digging white compound out of the cracks...I'll probaby make a sheath for this one and put it up for sale.. The other one is something I finally finished up after about a year. A friend of mine is into film and we filmed a short video of me making the blade, but we never really got around to shooting the handle process Maybe I'll talk him into letting me post what we finished...Anyway, I had to finish this one up for a birthday. Wrought iron gaurd, nickle silver bolster, and copper spacers from an "unrolled" plumbers pipe. These last few I was just messin' about with the camera. Plants are cool. Before you ask...yeah we didnt really get a "winter" this year in the first place and most of the plants are confused and think its spring already... Thanks fer lookin'