Low layer count damascus

Chris Railey

Chris Railey

Well-Known Member
I am going to try a low layer count damascus billet all by hand tomorrow. Those who have done it by hand tell me if this sounds OK. I plan to go .065 15N20 and .125 1084. Four inches long. There will be five layers with 1084 on the outside and middle. I plan to fold it twice ending up at 20 layers. I intend to make a small Kiridashi out of it.
 
I’ll be interested in how it works out. I want to do the same. I already have the steel but have not educated myself on welding. Never done it. TIG, MIG, flux... I barely know what any of that is yet. How will you weld yours? Best of luck to you. Hope to see a post on your process and results.
 
I have done it twice. Like a year ago. I made sure the starting billet wasn't thicker then 1inch. It was probably 4inches long give or take. I believe got it up to 50layer before I couldn't swing the hammer anymore. I used a 5lb hammer and it probably took me like 6 long hours to do it. Both times I screwed up the blades on the grinder. I was still new at using a 2x72 and I didn't have variable speed back then ether.
 
MikeL said:
I’ll be interested in how it works out. I want to do the same. I already have the steel but have not educated myself on welding. Never done it. TIG, MIG, flux... I barely know what any of that is yet. How will you weld yours? Best of luck to you. Hope to see a post on your process and results.
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I will post pictures as I go Mike. We will see if it works.
 
Pieces are cut and ready for tack welding together. I have a 110 wire welder so that is what I will use. I do not normally weld a handle on but because I will be folding this one I think I will. Pieces are 4 inches long and one inch wide. Five layers of 15N20 (.065) and 1084 (.125). Edit: I also cleaned each piece to shiny metal.4EFE35F2-5581-4BD2-971B-69F47A3AA7D7.jpeg
 
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I have done one by hand and used a charcoal brake drum forge. It was a lot of hammering! I used 1084, 15n20 and 5160. It was 1"x 1"x 3", I folded it 3 times for a 15 layer billet. After I finished this, I built my blown propane forge and started building my press!!!
Your plan sounds right, I personally like the low layer count Damascus.
Oops, I actually folded it 2 times for a 20 layer count.... started with 5 layers, first fold=10 and second fold =20
 
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Confession time: My first welds are set and as I draw this billet out for the fold I will at some point use my Fly press. Fly presses are still Chris powered so its not cheating technically. Amazing how solid these billets get. The press keeps looking at me saying “dummy, you paid for me”.
 
Chris Railey said:
Confession time: My first welds are set and as I draw this billet out for the fold I will at some point use my Fly press. Fly presses are still Chris powered so its not cheating technically. Amazing how solid these billets get. The press keeps looking at me saying “dummy, you paid for me”.
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Nothing wrong with that. Everytime I start a billet I'm so glad I have a 25lb LG. And a shoulder!! lol,,,,,
 
Thanks guys. Next time I will not use .125 stock. I can get the layer count up if I go thinner. I have some .095 1095 so that with .064 15N20 I hope to get 7 layers from the start. It is very solid so I am happy.
 
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