Geoff Keyes Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 I have an order for an Heirloom project, so I'm doing a bit of R&D that I wanted to share. I'm tooling up to make a mosaic damascus dagger. I haven't made any damascus of any kind in a year or so, so I'm a little rusty. I had a billet that I had intended to tile, I took that and added some 15n20 and 1084 filler pieces. This was the first weld. I then brought that down to 1/2" square by 45 inches long. Then I cut it into 9 pieces and stacked those and rewelded and brought that down to 1.25" x 6 I'm thinking that I will steal a trick from a member here and do tiles in a can to weld this into a bar. I'm trying to avoid distorting the tip too much. I'm pretty pleased so far Geoff 4 "The worst day smithing is better than the best day working for someone else." I said that. If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly. - - -G. K. Chesterton So, just for the record: the fact that it does work still should not be taken as definitive proof that you are not crazy. Grant Sarver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Dougherty Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Nice I'll be following along on this one... -Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Keyes Posted February 5, 2021 Author Share Posted February 5, 2021 (edited) I made some progress . I needed to build some tooling (better squaring dies and some other stuff) so I spent a couple of days doing that. Then I used the new die to bring this down to 1.250. Then today I cut them into squares. I still need to make some triangles and then the can, but things are progressing.. Edited February 5, 2021 by Geoff Keyes "The worst day smithing is better than the best day working for someone else." I said that. If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly. - - -G. K. Chesterton So, just for the record: the fact that it does work still should not be taken as definitive proof that you are not crazy. Grant Sarver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Mulkey Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 Looks good. Thanks for sharing. Gary ABS,CKCA,ABKA,KGA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Keyes Posted February 6, 2021 Author Share Posted February 6, 2021 (edited) Thanks Gary, it's based on your process. Fingers crossed. Today I had to put the surface grinder back together, surface all of the pieces and then cut triangles. Next I need to make the can. Every step of this is new ground. Admin, can we move this to the WIP folder? Geoff Edited February 6, 2021 by Geoff Keyes "The worst day smithing is better than the best day working for someone else." I said that. If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly. - - -G. K. Chesterton So, just for the record: the fact that it does work still should not be taken as definitive proof that you are not crazy. Grant Sarver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted February 6, 2021 Share Posted February 6, 2021 You mean Hot Work? We don't really have a dedicated WIP folder. I'll put it wherever you want, just let me know. I'm diggin' the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Keyes Posted February 6, 2021 Author Share Posted February 6, 2021 Hot work is fine. I want to thank Gary Mukey for sharing this process in previous posts. I'm certain I would never have thought of it otherwise. Here is my plan, going forward. I'm going to build a vblock for one end out of carbon steel. That will cradle that end and weld to it (I hope!) do that I can use that for the tang. On the other end I plan to do the same thing, except that piece will be coated in a release agent and will NOT weld to the stack. My end hope is to have a billet that is already pointed so that I can do a minimal amount of forging that distorts the pattern. Several years ago I went to one of Josh Smith's hammerins and saw a demo by Owen Wood where he used a similar process to build a chevron pattern core for a billet. Wish me luck G 1 "The worst day smithing is better than the best day working for someone else." I said that. If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly. - - -G. K. Chesterton So, just for the record: the fact that it does work still should not be taken as definitive proof that you are not crazy. Grant Sarver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted February 6, 2021 Share Posted February 6, 2021 Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles dP Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 Luck "The way we win matters" (Ender Wiggins) Orson Scott Card Nos qui libertate donati nescimus quid constat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Dougherty Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 Looking good Geoff. What you are describing should work fine. However, the distal v-block is probably not necessary if your can/canoe is the right length. I did a billet recently where I used steel powder to hold things tight at the tang end, but left the diamond at the tip unsupported, and it welded up just fine. The only thing I would add is to start welding at the tip. I had an issue with the can failing on the first billet I did solo after taking Gary's class last year. I made the can out of fairly light sheet metal, and it came apart pretty early in the welding process. The tip on that one was also unsupported, and I didn't quite have time to get it completely welded before the can opened up. Ended up having to grind quite a bit away. As you say, it allows for forging the tip with minimal distortion. -Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Keyes Posted February 13, 2021 Author Share Posted February 13, 2021 I tried to get the pieces welded. While not a complete disaster, not really a success either. The process got away from me a bit. You can see some deep cracks. Still it sort of worked, I can get a blade out of the good section (I think) and I've got some "scrap" for a can-'O-scraps and some jewelry. I need to get a better etch to photograph how the pattern turned out "The worst day smithing is better than the best day working for someone else." I said that. If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly. - - -G. K. Chesterton So, just for the record: the fact that it does work still should not be taken as definitive proof that you are not crazy. Grant Sarver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Keyes Posted August 30, 2021 Author Share Posted August 30, 2021 Just to keep this rolling, I remade the billet, differently of course. I ended up with a X shape in thick 1084 and "W" filling the corners. This thing is massive, which is part of the problem. I cut everything and surfaced it Then I tried to spot weld it, which was not as pretty, but I did manage to straighten it up a bit and then I put it back on the surface grinder and took off most of the welds. I didn't get a pic of that stage Then I got it in the can, which I also don't have pics of and took a nice long heat on it. The welding wen't well, but the can welded up on one half of the billet, so there was a bunch of grinding to get it off, then I bumped it a little wider and here I am. I don't know where my pattern is right now, so I'm going to go a little long on the main billet (the chalk outline is what I'm after) and still have enough for a side knife. This project had really stretched my skills. I'm probably not making any money on this one, but I'm learning a ton. G BTW, can you weld on a mag chuck? I don't want the current from the welder to fry something, but it would have made lining up the bits pretty simple. g "The worst day smithing is better than the best day working for someone else." I said that. If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly. - - -G. K. Chesterton So, just for the record: the fact that it does work still should not be taken as definitive proof that you are not crazy. Grant Sarver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerrod Miller Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 2 hours ago, Geoff Keyes said: BTW, can you weld on a mag chuck? I don't want the current from the welder to fry something Shouldn't be a problem as long as you ground out your part, so the current doesn't even go through the magnet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragoncutlery Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 (edited) The magnet might and or probably will efect the weld puddle at least it has when i have welded near a holding magnet Edited September 1, 2021 by dragoncutlery Brandon Sawisch bladesmith eagles may soar but weasels don't get sucked in to jet engines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerrod Miller Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 2 hours ago, dragoncutlery said: The magnet might and or probably will efect the weld puddle at least it jas when i jave welded near a holding magnet Yeah, but he's just tack welding, so not overly critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Keyes Posted September 15, 2021 Author Share Posted September 15, 2021 The billet as surface ground. No cracks or delams. Even after grinding this is going to be a big beast. 1 "The worst day smithing is better than the best day working for someone else." I said that. If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly. - - -G. K. Chesterton So, just for the record: the fact that it does work still should not be taken as definitive proof that you are not crazy. Grant Sarver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Dougherty Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 Congrats! You do have a lot of steel there -Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Keyes Posted September 24, 2021 Author Share Posted September 24, 2021 An update. I had to buy belts and some mill tooling (which is dammed expensive, IMHO), but I'm making progress. There is still a bunch of material to remove, and I need to clean up the fuller before HT, I may try a scraper. G 5 "The worst day smithing is better than the best day working for someone else." I said that. If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly. - - -G. K. Chesterton So, just for the record: the fact that it does work still should not be taken as definitive proof that you are not crazy. Grant Sarver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Keyes Posted September 25, 2021 Author Share Posted September 25, 2021 I hate grinding dagger points. It's so easy to wash out the lines and make them wander about. I need to take another 16th all the way around, bleh! g "The worst day smithing is better than the best day working for someone else." I said that. If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly. - - -G. K. Chesterton So, just for the record: the fact that it does work still should not be taken as definitive proof that you are not crazy. Grant Sarver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted September 25, 2021 Share Posted September 25, 2021 Ain't that the truth! I almost always end up draw filing to fix the ridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Keyes Posted September 25, 2021 Author Share Posted September 25, 2021 That's probably a thing i should try. I need to hand finish the fuller as well before I harden this beastie g "The worst day smithing is better than the best day working for someone else." I said that. If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly. - - -G. K. Chesterton So, just for the record: the fact that it does work still should not be taken as definitive proof that you are not crazy. Grant Sarver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifford Brewer Posted September 26, 2021 Share Posted September 26, 2021 If ya can't be good don't git caught !! People who say stuff can't be done need to git the hell outta the way of people who do stuff !!! Show me a man who is called an expert by his peers And I will show you a good man to listen to ...... Show me a man who calls himself an expert and I will show you an egotistical asshole...............!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Keyes Posted November 6, 2021 Author Share Posted November 6, 2021 I haven't posted on this one in a while, but I have been working on it. Right now it's in a hand rubbed 220 finish. I've decided to go with a short sword style mount, quillon guard, spacer, butt cap and nut, on a frame handle. I think I have figured out handle shape, but I thought I'd see what other eyes see. Number the handle shapes from top left through bottom right. 1 "The worst day smithing is better than the best day working for someone else." I said that. If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly. - - -G. K. Chesterton So, just for the record: the fact that it does work still should not be taken as definitive proof that you are not crazy. Grant Sarver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted November 6, 2021 Share Posted November 6, 2021 Number 4, the coke bottle for me. Even if it isn't a bastard length blade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Keyes Posted November 6, 2021 Author Share Posted November 6, 2021 I'm sort of leaning that way m'sel g "The worst day smithing is better than the best day working for someone else." I said that. If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly. - - -G. K. Chesterton So, just for the record: the fact that it does work still should not be taken as definitive proof that you are not crazy. Grant Sarver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now