How do you square up a damascus billet

Hi

I was wondering what equipment or machines you use to square up the surface and edges of a damascus billet when you are through welding it up?

Thank you,
 
I use a press or hammer . You just flip it around and make it do what YOU want!!! If you welds are good you can pretty much do what you want to it .. If not, well the scrap yard pays .15 a pound ........ errrrrrr,
 
What I am meaning is if you want your billet to be 1 1/2 wide and it is a bit wider in certain places or fatter in some places than it should be, do you use a surface grinder or mill to make the dimensions even?
 
What I am meaning is if you want your billet to be 1 1/2 wide and it is a bit wider in certain places or fatter in some places than it should be, do you use a surface grinder or mill to make the dimensions even?

Nope. I use the 6" wide dies on my hammer to make it even. It takes a bit of practice to do it right but its better than wasting more material. I typically take off .010" per side on the surface grinder once I finish the billet. This evens it up and removes all the forging pits. The key at this step is flux and brush often, other wise you will have massive forging pits to remove.
 
Many times I use the analogy that everything we do is a "Give and Take" situation.

IF I'm not concerned about messing up the pattern by forging it to size, I use either the air hammer or the press to square billets up. IF I want to ensure the fully integrity of the patter, I will most often anneal the billet and grind.

If it's a "basic" pattern like random, birdseye, etc. then either way works with no drawbacks.
 
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