Cable Damascus

Steve Randall

Steve Randall

Well-Known Member
I will start off by saying this is the first time I have Used cable Damascus. A friend of mine sent me a billet he made in his shop so I forged a knife out of it great. When I finished and etched there are small pits along the lines of the cable just randomly spaced. My question is this normal for cable Demascus? I was going to scrap it or make it into a shop knife, just don't know how much work I want to invest Thanks Steve Randall
 
Steve, I am no expert but i listen to what people say a lot.LOL Sounds like these pits are were the wires did not completely weld together. Probably unattractive but i doubt if it would hurt the performance that much.
 
I know what you mean I listen a lot just have a problem with the recall portion.LOL I am sure that's it, not welded good. I was thinking it would create problems down the road like rust in those areas. I know I would not sell it like that.Now I have to tell my friend his welding job wasn't that great maybe i will send him the knife ( just kidding)..Thanks Steve
 
Hi Steve!

Many times people will suggest that individuals start out their forge welding with cable because "it's easier" than regular laminated materials.....NOT SO! I actually think that cable is one of the more difficult materials to forge weld. If you think about it, you have a whole bunch of tiny round rods, wrapped loosely around each other, and they just try to keep sliding past each other when being forge welded.
Those small pits you mentioned are indeed weld flaws...and they will cause not only rust issues, but also integrity issues.

There was a time when I made a great deal of cable damascus, but as I became more experienced and gained better understanding, I realize that I was handicapping myself by using cable, and not giving my customers the best I could do.....I almost never forge weld cable any more. I personally think that unless a person has a good supply of NEW cable, of known element content, that they are just spinning their wheels.
 
Thanks Ed , yes after I started looking at it there are lots of places that must weld up and no way to prep.It looks very cool but I think maybe just a one time thing will work for me . To much work for another shop knife, like I need another one of those.......Steve
 
Any pics of the blade Steve? Would It be possible to grind deeper to eliminate the marks?

I made some Cable Damascus at Indian Georges HI's. I have a bunch of Billets. I hope they Welded up tight!
 
stabber said:
Any pics of the blade Steve? Would It be possible to grind deeper to eliminate the marks?

I made some Cable Damascus at Indian Georges HI's. I have a bunch of Billets. I hope they Welded up tight!
Click to expand...
Bubba Sr. I do not think you will have the same problem.:steve:
 
Steve,

For the most part, that is a pretty good welding job for cable. That is a rather deep weld flaw at the clip...and if the cable used in the blade was "recycled", whoever welded it did better than most could. I agree with Stabber....you might be able to adjust the clip a bit, but I also worry that you would expose more flaws based on the "pits" I can see to the rear of the most obvious cold shut. It's a tough call!
 
yes I think there are to many little places for me to feel confident in it to try and take the clip down. I will just chock it up to the old learning curve and scrap it for now. Man sometimes that learning curve sure get steep LOL... Thanks for the help.......Steve
 
Steve
im not going to try to countradict anyone but ive always had pretty good success with cable..
buy new cable ,soak the crap out of it to remove the lube /junk in it ,bring to high heat ,flux ,heat again twist the crap out of it ,you will feel it stretch and become solid /then run it on the power hammer to square it up. you can feel the steel change from loose to tight and solid only then would you even try to forge something from it .i personally think cable is great for a knife but only when done well ..some people weld it up in a can with powdered steel as filler ,personally i think the super tigh twisted work's best you might have to heat &twist more than once ..good luck with it remember it is"Playtime"
 
Ed is right that cable is a lot more difficult to get perfectly welded than most people think. I too welded up a bunch of cable when I started and found my own solutions to the problems that arose. My main complaint about cable is the quality of the etching you can get with it, I was never satisfied. So, a few years ago I started making my own cable out of known alloys and it looks great. It does take more time for the setup, but the stuff looks great and performs great too.
 
I do like the looks, though I did think it could have had better contras after etched. I did not make this billet myself a friend of mine did with his new press. He said that he bought the cable from a knife supply ( can't remember who). He also had some unknown stuff he sent but I couldn't use it at all. Maybe when I get my tire hammer built I will give it a try or just stick to regular damascas ......Steve
 
Ive been told that a billet of cable made with a press is not as good as a billet made on a power hammer, the one saying this said it had to do with the harmonics of the hammer. I do know this, the cable Ive done once I learned to twist it several times at welding heat and making it a solid round then flattening turned out much better than the rest I had made. As Ed said, there are LOTS of pieces moving around. Ive done cable in a can that welded great, just couldnt replicate the "Tree Bark" or reptile like pattern from twisted cable. Anyone know a remedy for that?

Thanks and God Bless
Mike
 
serpentblade.jpg


Mike,
I make all my steel with a press and I do not have any quality issues.
Also this is some of my "cable damascus" which I call serpent. I think it comes very close to the look of cable.
Posted by Diamond G Knives
"Ive done cable in a can that welded great, just couldnt replicate the "Tree Bark" or reptile like pattern from twisted cable. Anyone know a remedy for that?"

I do not make mine in a can.
 
Last edited:
Delbert

You are a man much more in tune with his craft than I am! Wonderful looking blade. How did you get the color so dark?

I too use a press for all my damascus work. But only go to the press with cable once Im sure it is fully welded on the step of my anvil first. And I will use only one piece of cable at a time.

Would you care to describe how you go about doing your cable? My way seems very slow, but its the only way Ive found to make it work for me with no delaminations.

Thanks and God Bless
Mike
 
There is nothing more frustrating to me than to get halfway thru a grind only to find a hole in any type of damascus. I have never made my own damascus for good reason, I worked 30+ years as a heavy equipment mechanic and swingin a big old hammer was a good part of my day, every day. When I retired my hammers did too. one lucky day I bought 2 pieces of damascus on Ebay for next to nothing. I said to myself, "how can I go wrong" The first piece looked good right up to the end and then a crater appeared. the second piece started off bad and got worse. The frustration factor got so high I had to bring one of my lumpers out of retirement just to beat those two pieces to death. needless to say since that episode I only buy American, top shelf American damascus. I really don't know where those two billets came from but I'd put money on, not here! As far as cable goes that stuff Del showed made me want some... as soon as I get payed for this last knife I'm gonna have to see what Del has for sale
 
EdCaffreyMS said:
Hi Steve!

Many times people will suggest that individuals start out their forge welding with cable because "it's easier" than regular laminated materials.....NOT SO! I actually think that cable is one of the more difficult materials to forge weld. If you think about it, you have a whole bunch of tiny round rods, wrapped loosely around each other, and they just try to keep sliding past each other when being forge welded.
Those small pits you mentioned are indeed weld flaws...and they will cause not only rust issues, but also integrity issues.

There was a time when I made a great deal of cable damascus, but as I became more experienced and gained better understanding, I realize that I was handicapping myself by using cable, and not giving my customers the best I could do.....I almost never forge weld cable any more. I personally think that unless a person has a good supply of NEW cable, of known element content, that they are just spinning their wheels.
Click to expand...

Ed I have to agree on that one , It can be a real chore getting cable to weld . I have had a few dissapointments
 
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