Jacob Christian Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Hello all, Long time lurker, first time posting! I wanted to share with you the first blade that I forged from some crucible steel. I first found wootz about 8 months ago and instantly fell in love with the watered pattern, I had to make a knife. I watched tons of youtube videos, read research articles until my brain went numb and got lost on sketchy Russian/Ukrainian websites searching for bulat with google translate. In the end I followed pretty closely to what is outlined in the Verhoeven and Pendray research articles about wootz. However, I pulled significant amounts of information from the people of this forum and youtube videos posted by Niels Provos, Richard Furrer, and I know there was at least one more person but I cant think of it atm... Well enough of that, here are some pictures! According to the calculations, should be about 1.5% C. I used powdered mild steel bought online, cast iron from old plumbing pipes and bits of O1 tool steel for Vanadium and Chromium. I know you only need one but I got both . The wootz cake was a little over 2 kg Wootz Cake This is about my 12th wootz cake. All of the others were done with a charcoal fire and either fell apart when forging (Initially I was shooting for 1.8%C and then found out that much carbon in steel makes it a pain to forge!!!!) or had air bubbles.... This particular wootz cake was done in a propane furnace that I built. It has dendritic patterns on the surface but they were quite small. I ran the furnace up to temp then backed off a bit and finally killed the burner and sealed the furnace. Seems to of gotten a bit of annealing from the extra long cool down. Cut the cake in half and broke the center to show grain structure. Forging out the bar. The final bar was almost 2 feet long and I still have the other half of the cake left! Blade cut out of the finished bar and lightly etched Other side And here is the blade!! I have plans for a brass and maple burl handle And here is a close-up of the pattern. I feel that I got a pretty nice watered steel out of this! I only used about 6 inches of the bar for this knife. A lot of the people on this forum have publicly posted wootz content and I want to say thank you! 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua States Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Congratulations, mate. That came out beautifully. “So I'm lightin' out for the territory, ahead of the scared and the weak and the mean spirited, because Aunt Sally is fixin’ to adopt me and civilize me, and I can't stand it. I've been there before.” The only bad experience is the one from which you learn nothing. Josh http://www.dosgatosdesignsllc.com/#! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdJMFMqnbLYqv965xd64vYg J.States Bladesmith | Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dos.gatos.71 https://www.etsy.com/shop/JStatesBladesmith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacob Christian Posted January 5, 2022 Author Share Posted January 5, 2022 16 hours ago, Joshua States said: Congratulations, mate. That came out beautifully. Thanks! Once I get the handle material I will post a picture of the finished blade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Doerr Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 That's pretty incredible. I have been lurking for a while now myself but this inspired me to my first post :) How long have you been making blades? I can see myself chasing down Wootz once I get a better hang of everything else. Amazing work!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacob Christian Posted January 5, 2022 Author Share Posted January 5, 2022 1 hour ago, Jeff Doerr said: That's pretty incredible. I have been lurking for a while now myself but this inspired me to my first post How long have you been making blades? I can see myself chasing down Wootz once I get a better hang of everything else. Amazing work!! Thanks and congrats on your first post! Ive been making blades since 2011. I do it as a hobby and semi part time business. If you have any questions about anything feel free to ask me. I hit quite a few road blocks along the way lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 Very nice pattern! I don't pretend to know the historical patterns, but that looks good to me. Welcome aboard! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacob Christian Posted January 6, 2022 Author Share Posted January 6, 2022 Thanks for the welcome Alan. Glad to be a part of this group of knowledgeable people! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerhard Gerber Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 That blade is stunning, well done! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mitchell Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 Good job Jacob! It is encouraging when you finally get a successful blade. I am glad that you have found the material on this forum helpful. When I first started out there was very little material out there, but we now have so much more available to new smiths which can make their journey much simpler. We also know so much more now than even at the end of last century and more wootz smiths are sharing and collaborating now than ever before. It is an exciting time to be part of this community of artisans. All the best and I look forward to seeing your future blades! Tim MitchellBuffalo River ForgeGreat Lakes, Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Dougherty Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 (edited) Nicely done! I should also add, that is one whale of an introduction Edited January 24, 2022 by Brian Dougherty -Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Gastellu Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 Wow, beautiful result! Very well done, sir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary LT Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 Great job and perseverance, for sure. Yes there is much about wootz and this site and members on it offer great experience. I wanted to ask two things, 1) How difficult or tough was it to grind, (assuming belt grinder) and 2) What did you use to etch it? Thank you in advance, Gary LT "I Never Met A Knife I Didn't Like", (Will Rogers) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJH Posted March 28, 2022 Share Posted March 28, 2022 Excellent work well done figuring it all out, lovely blade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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