W's/feather question

Travis Fry

Well-Known Member
Hi Bruce,

I just got back from a few days at the Clow's, where I made my first Damascus billets, got some good work done on a few existing projects, fell in love with the 14inch wheel, and generally has a great time. Making some feather pattern was discussed and attempted with no success. When I got back I stated looking at your old Ws from Walla Walla thread, and I had a question.

In your thread it looks like you intentionally didn't draw the billet out much between cuts and rewelds, and for the first several weeds only stacked 2 layers. Was there a reason for this? Or, to put it differently, once you make your "c" from your initial stack, is there a reason NOT to draw out the bar and stack, for example, 4 or 5 layers for your second weld?

We'll maybe make another attempt, and I'd like to go in with a better plan.
 
Bruce
I think Travis is hooked on making Damascus. Once he got it figured out that it is easy to wreck steel with "Orange Crush" (thanks Dana) he made some nice billets.
I think you should come out this winter and give us Albertans some feather Damascus lessons.
Jim
 
Bruce
I think Travis is hooked on making Damascus. Once he got it figured out that it is easy to wreck steel with "Orange Crush" (thanks Dana) he made some nice billets.
I think you should come out this winter and give us Albertans some feather Damascus lessons.
Jim

This is true.
 
Hey Travis,
I bet its nice to be close to Jims place for some quick damascus escapades.
Feather patterns are challenging for anybody even us old guys that have welded for years. I've had to go back on my own WIP threads to remember how its done a couple times.

I believe the best "C" shapes make the best feathers so if you can keep from crushing them by over drawing you will have a better finished pattern. I like to simply double the stack for the first 2 or 3 so the "C" shapes still look good. One major mistake is to flatten the billet instead of draw the billet. What I mean is the billet needs to be stretched out long but not pressed on the edges. Notice the oval shaped billets in my WIP? They weren't pressed at all on the edges. This means you may have to make a set of dies that will stretch steel lengthwise and not simply flatten. Squeezing on the edges is bad for "W"s

I hope this makes sense

Jim, that would be great. Its hard to get away from here though anytime of year. Kaye hates when I leave and can't always go with me. We need a house sitter.
 
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Hey Travis,
I bet its nice to be close to Jims place for some quick damascus escapades.
Feather patterns are challenging for anybody even us old guys that have welded for years. I've had to go back on my own WIP threads to remember how its done a couple times.

I believe the best "C" shapes make the best feathers so if you can keep from crushing them by over drawing you will have a better finished pattern. I like to simply double the stack for the first 2 or 3 so the "C" shapes still look good. One major mistake is to flatten the billet instead of draw the billet. What I mean is the billet needs to be stretched out long but not pressed on the edges. Notice the oval shaped billets in my WIP? They weren't pressed at all on the edges. This means you may have to make a set of dies that will stretch steel lengthwise and not simply flatten. Squeezing on the edges is bad for "W"s

If I understand you correctly, then at the "C" stage Jim's rolling mill (another thing I now think I need in my shop) might be the perfect tool for the job. It'll distort any pattern lengthwise (which doesn't matter at this stage) but not widen anything significantly, and would allow you to accomplish both multiple stacking and unsqueezed edges.

I'm supposed to be at work, not thinking about this.
 
If I understand you correctly, then at the "C" stage Jim's rolling mill (another thing I now think I need in my shop) might be the perfect tool for the job. It'll distort any pattern lengthwise (which doesn't matter at this stage) but not widen anything significantly, and would allow you to accomplish both multiple stacking and unsqueezed edges.

I'm supposed to be at work, not thinking about this.

I haven't tried this pattern with a rolling mill but it sounds like what you need. It's ok squeeze slightly on the edges after the first couple stacks just to straighten and keep it say about 2" wide. Main thing is to keep those "C" shapes by going slow. Throttle the Orange Crush down to idle speed. :)
 
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