I made my first peice of damascus

backtines

backtines

Well-Known Member
So I finally jumped in and I think it came out ok for the first time..

I bought a 20ton press from Harbor Freight for about 200 bucks . I stuck a 20ton piston in there , I used an old 3/4 hp motor I had as well as an old hydro tank and pump I had laying around. .I piped in a valve and did what I had to do to make this press work..
For sure I will need to beef this thing up . I just wanted to see if it would work.. Im happy to see that it did but definitely will need some beefing up , or Ill just build another one heavier and stronger all around when I have a chance..

Anyway , I took some1084 and some 15n20 , stacked it , pressed it , restacked a few times .. I cut some grooves and drilled a few holes in it and this is what came out of it ..

Im gonna scrap this one . I just wanted to see if i could do it ..

I learned that the i shouldnt rush the pressing .. I need to make sure my pieces are cleaned real good before I stack .. As you can see in the last pic I didnt get a good weld .. I was definitely rushing everything because I wanted to see the result ..

I need to slow down and not be so ancious, but Ill get there .. Im pretty happy for the results anyway ..

I also didnt heat treat this blade .. Im going to do that also just to see what happens.

Thanks for looking and if anyone has a plan on building a good strong press , I would love to see them .

Thanks

















I finally finished the knife.. The pics above was a quick profile but I ended up reshaping and getting rid of the bad weld . It's been heat treated and now I can call it done.. This is what I came up with. Thanks for looking..

20140601_194417_zps19a3b42a.jpg
[/URL]
20140601_194358_zpsb2ef2d4e.jpg
[/URL]
20140601_194341_zps2385284b.jpg
[/URL]
20140529_225959_zps561477e8.jpg
[/URL]
 
Last edited:
Mikey,
Very cool! I'm glad you are experimenting with your home made Damascus/Pattern welded steel.. There are many more qualified to help with how to make it but I do recommend that you Google "A tale of Wootz"
and Wootz steel.
Wootz was the forerunner of Damascus and a modern steel at that.
Have fun buddy!

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
WAY WAY too cool brother Mikey !!!!

Glad to see your press together.

Cool pattern... Don't you dare scrap that steel !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thin that blade out beyond the delam and make a little parer or something out of it. Just sayin :)

Nice work man

Crowd chanting..... More More More

-Josh
 
Looks really nice. I like the idea the press is small in size. I've always wanted to build a portable bench top model that could be moved by two men.
I do think you need to flux and give it a longer soak time. A pyrometer in you forge would be handy. Welding temperature is lemon yellow and the the metal is sizzling like bacon frying. You only have about 5 seconds to weld it.

Be sure there are no concave surfaces that can trap flux.

I've never had luck simply folding damascus without grinding off the scale.

Anhydrous Borax? I've never had luck with 20 mule team borax.
 
Last edited:
Why would you want to scrap it, finish it up and you'll have a fine looking knife. I for one would want to see how everything looks when finished.
 
Tom Militano said:
Why would you want to scrap it, finish it up and you'll have a fine looking knife. I for one would want to see how everything looks when finished.
Click to expand...

It seems that one of the welds didn't take.. I guess I can grind that bevel down more to see if it goes away.. I still need to ht it to and hope more layers don't walk away.. I hear ya though. I guess I should keep pushing it along to see what happens after ht ..

Thanks again to all that lefts comments and those great tips.. Thanks bro's
 
backtines said:
It seems that one of the welds didn't take.. I guess I can grind that bevel down more to see if it goes away.. I still need to ht it to and hope more layers don't walk away.. I hear ya though. I guess I should keep pushing it along to see what happens after ht ..

Thanks again to all that lefts comments and those great tips.. Thanks bro's
Click to expand...

Mikey,
I suggest you finish it and test till you break it! You can learn a lot from your first attempt at Damascus.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
That's awesome man !! I would love to build a press like that, someday someday.

Good job !!
 
The old saying "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" is true when making damascus. Get everything clean before trying to set your weld.

A weld can be set with a press (if you have a fast enough press). Just remember that if you are having to re-heat between initial weld presses, you are probably backing up.

Unless you are starting with a very thick, and long stack, you can probably set the initial weld, and subsequent fold welds faster with a hammer than a somewhat slow press.

That press will come in very handy when drawing out the billet for subsequent layering.

Always think "CLEAN", "HOT", and "FLUX".

Looks pretty dang good for a first attempt. Study it and try to figure out how to make it better.

Robert
 
Robert Dark said:
The old saying "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" is true when making damascus. Get everything clean before trying to set your weld.

A weld can be set with a press (if you have a fast enough press). Just remember that if you are having to re-heat between initial weld presses, you are probably backing up.

Unless you are starting with a very thick, and long stack, you can probably set the initial weld, and subsequent fold welds faster with a hammer than a somewhat slow press.

That press will come in very handy when drawing out the billet for subsequent layering.

Always think "CLEAN", "HOT", and "FLUX".

Looks pretty dang good for a first attempt. Study it and try to figure out how to make it better.

Robert
Click to expand...

This press is definitely slower then the ones I've seen in action on you tube . I know it bigger motor and pump next time and I may have lost time in some of the initial welds . I also know I was be inpatient and not getting it as hot as I would like because I was anxious to see the results. I'm pretty sure I know what I did wrong , especially not grinding all the scale off completely when I did my folds.
I'm gonna beef the press up a little and give it another go and see what happens .

Thanks again dudes
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top