Basket Weave Damascus in a Canister

Sean, I learned this from Tim Hancock. He gets away with leaving a very sharp v cut. I've always played it safe and radiused them just a little. You can get a good closer pattern with small or no radius. Minimum stretch marks.
Sean Cochran said:
Thanks Bruce, Im going to give this a try.
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Mentally, I was following everything just fine up until the accordion cut... now I'm just baffled at what's going on and very anxious to see how this turns out....
 
BRad704, this is for you:

I used the dremel and a cutoff wheel to reach the bottoms of the V's and got them rounded out pretty good. The blue layout fluid let me see where I was missing.

In the fire and ramped up to about 2100-2200f and wet with anhydrous borax so it wouldnt de-carb while I'm working on it. I used a 1/2" steel rod to help get it started. No hurry and had to flux a couple more times because of how many heats this took but I think it came out good. Its about 1/8" thick and around 12" long so it will make some folder blades. I have to wait till tomorrow to see the pattern.

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I had to stop flattening and grind off a little of the lumps where the tops of the bends were.

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Bruce, another brilliant set of WIP pictures and technique. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into these.
 
The pleasure is all mine Boss. Thanks for the kind words but most of all Thanks for this Great forum! I bet you put the real time and effort in.
BossDog said:
Bruce, another brilliant set of WIP pictures and technique. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into these.
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Hello Bruce,
this is really spellbinding like a thriller. I kook forward so much to see the pattern. When i did the accordian fold i just notched it from both sides with the cutting disc, i'm shure yout method will make less stretch marks.
Thank you again for let us take part.
Regards peter
 
Bruce this is awesome! I enjoy watching you work more than about anything else I do with my free time. :) Can't wait to see this beauty etched...
 
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+1, Awesome Bruce.Great WIP! I love your WIP's. So thorough I feel I can hit the shop and Wip one up me self :) This pattern sure seems to be a ton of Work. Do you make a Mosaic out of all those v bits you cut from the billet?

BossDog said:
Bruce, another brilliant set of WIP pictures and technique. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into these.
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Well I have the accordian flattened out surface ground. I ran it through my Evenheat oven a couple times to normalize and anneal it. I went up to 1600 and held it for 5 min and let it cool to around 800, than back up to 1500 and back to around 700 to ensure grain reduction and annealed it at 1350 for 1 hour and let it cool all night in the oven. It should soft as butter right now so I can cut, drill and file it.

I want to use it for folder blades if it comes out like expected. As usual I dont fall in love with anything until I know its worthy of a fine knife. Christmas shopping has put a cramp in my knifemaking obsession so you may want to check back later to see the pattern.
 
I've even got my wife following this with me now... :) We are both very anxious to see how this turns out!
 
Bruce Bump said:
Dave, my long friend, how ya doing? So good to see you pop up occasionally.
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Bruce I've never been better. Just got off a long run of hard work at my job and ready for Christmas and a few days off. I'm about ready to start my Hill Pearce homage ... I keep saying that! :) But I'm actually taking a week off from work and hope to get back in the shop for a few days real soon now.
 
Bruce,
Qick ? on the accordian, What angle are you laying it out to? and what is the thickness you start out at before you start flatting it?
thanks
Greg
 
Hi Greg,
The bar was 3/4" square before I took the triangle bites out. The angle is 65 degrees and the material left to flatten was right at .180" thick. After all the flattening and surface grinding it is at .120" thick. Just about right for a folder or a couple small desk knives.
gmerrell said:
Bruce,
Qick ? on the accordian, What angle are you laying it out to? and what is the thickness you start out at before you start flatting it?
thanks
Greg
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Here is the bar after opening it up and surfacing it. The pattern is nothing like a standard basket weave due to the 1084 added to one corner of the 4 way and re-squaring the billet and the accordian cutting. Notice how big the 1084 appears? When the bevels are ground into the blade the 1084 wont be half the blade as it appears here. The pattern will average out from the left side of the blade to the right side of the blade and the 1084 will appear to be more like a san-mai pattern. So far its all gone as planned but remember to not fall in love with it until the fat lady sings.

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Amazing.....
When I scrolled down onto the picture, I did a double take and said "What the******". It reminds me of a 4th of July banner. You ARE the man Bruce. Thanks for the inspiration.

Rudy
 
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