wagon tire/leaf spring damascus

[allessence]

Sorry I haven't been around much..

Been super busy with farrier work and getting all the blacksmithing stuff setup has taken up even more time..

I had a section of buggy tire about 2ft long.. I was out in the trailer and decided it was knife making time..

I welded it into a nice billet and when finished just cooled it off in the water tank.. It hardened solid up.. Oh, looky a new knife..

Anyhow I then folded and welded it a few more times to get a better more cohesive mass as all the voids from holes and rust and such had to be worked out of hit.. It ended up with 32 layers.. At this point I welded in a few sections of bandsaw blade to add contrast to the layers..

I then cut this in half and welded each half onto the side of a leaf spring..

One side came out mint.. The other side was lacking as much detail.. Overall it was a success.. Not bad for my first welded knife in many years..

[allessence]

clean up and ready for hardening..

Hardened, straightened and cleaned..

25% commercial White vinegar etch..

[allessence]

And just to make sure I was getting all the contrast I could out of the blade (IE character). I put it into some 34% Hydrochrolic acid.. I left it in for 10minutes..

The HA was to strong.. It ate the wagon part like it was ice cream..

It actually ate so much of the wagon portion I might need to stick it back into the vinegar to get any of the color back..

[Matt Shade]

Damascus is one thing with knives I have never tried. I like the blade shape, and the pattern is interesting. Looking forward to seeing how you finish it.
Any plans on the handle? How thick is it? Like an old school butcher knife, or is it thicker like a camp knife?

I'm hoping to get back to some hammering when/if the horse show season slows down.

[allessence]

Originally Posted by Matt Shade

Damascus is one thing with knives I have never tried. I like the blade shape, and the pattern is interesting. Looking forward to seeing how you finish it.
Any plans on the handle? How thick is it? Like an old school butcher knife, or is it thicker like a camp knife?

I'm hoping to get back to some hammering when/if the horse show season slows down.

Matt, I did it the hard way. I enjoy the difficulty of using old wagon parts and such and usually don't even clean them (remove rust).. Ideally starting with new or very clean material really is the best..

I have a tendency towards older blade shapes.. Just built in almost naturally.. Thanks

It's nearly 3/16" thick at the spine.. It's a combination hunter/camp knife.. I was thinking cherry or walnut for the handle though I still have some Bacote.. it will have a guard and pommel..

I'm going to be filming "How to make a knife in 3hrs" maybe tomorrow if I have time.. I've got 9 or 10 horses to trim tomorrow over the stretch 4hrs and nearly 100miles.. I'll be pretty useless when I get home for at least 2 hrs..

If you want to get in hammer shape, pounding out damascus by hand will get you there quickly..

which did you like better, the vinegar or the HA etch?

[Matt Shade]

Someday I will try damascus. I have read a lot, and watched a lot of videos on it but haven't committed to it yet. I need to get a better anvil stand built and get a few other things together to make a serious attempt. I have the benefit of never having decided which hand I prefer to swing the hammer with, so I can cheat and switch hands when I get tired

I can't decide on the etch. I generally like a lot of contrast, like 15n20 gives where you have some brighter layers. The vinegar etch gives that effect more, but I think the HCL etch gave a little better contrast even though it's dark on dark.

Sounds like you have a full day tomorrow. Day jobs always get in the way! We did 6 days in PA at an AQHA show, Came home for a 3 day summer camp, moved into the county fair with 19 horses (and their attached teenage girls) for 8 days, hauled home on sunday morning, and moved into the state fair with 7 horses on monday morning, then moved out wednesday night at 10pm. I've been trying to catch up on leather orders and work at home ever since. One of these days I'll have time to post a project, for now I'm glad some of you guys are

[weldor2005]

Blade looks great.

Most of what I've seen when etching though is a flouric acid and not hydrocloric. But I don't know. I thought both looked good. I agree with Matt in using a nickel content steel for the bright contrast, but you used what you had on a whim, and it worked out.

Thanks for sharing.

[Samcord]

I keep watching Forged in Fire thinking that I might learn something about knife making, or that I might see someone from SFT as a contestant. The $10,000 prize doesn't seem like enough.

On a side note, I was very sad to hear if the passing of Preston Roberts.

[allessence]

Originally Posted by Matt Shade

Someday I will try damascus. I have read a lot, and watched a lot of videos on it but haven't committed to it yet. I need to get a better anvil stand built and get a few other things together to make a serious attempt. I have the benefit of never having decided which hand I prefer to swing the hammer with, so I can cheat and switch hands when I get tired

I can't decide on the etch. I generally like a lot of contrast, like 15n20 gives where you have some brighter layers. The vinegar etch gives that effect more, but I think the HCL etch gave a little better contrast even though it's dark on dark.

Sounds like you have a full day tomorrow. Day jobs always get in the way! We did 6 days in PA at an AQHA show, Came home for a 3 day summer camp, moved into the county fair with 19 horses (and their attached teenage girls) for 8 days, hauled home on sunday morning, and moved into the state fair with 7 horses on monday morning, then moved out wednesday night at 10pm. I've been trying to catch up on leather orders and work at home ever since. One of these days I'll have time to post a project, for now I'm glad some of you guys are

FYI.. Bandsaw blade stock is 15N20.. or I should say the stuff I am using is.. I have commercial blade stock and the highspeed steel stuff is all 15n20..

If you look at the blade you can see where the 15n20 is the brighter contrast and in the stronger acid it is what is left standing tall..

Wow, I just thought you guys had a few horses but it sounds more like a boarding stable/show barn.. That is great if you can make a go of it.. It's a lot of work..

Originally Posted by weldor2005

Blade looks great.

Most of what I've seen when etching though is a flouric acid and not hydrocloric. But I don't know. I thought both looked good. I agree with Matt in using a nickel content steel for the bright contrast, but you used what you had on a whim, and it worked out.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks.. and the blade has 15n20 in it.. 6 pieces actually..

Originally Posted by Samcord

I keep watching Forged in Fire thinking that I might learn something about knife making, or that I might see someone from SFT as a contestant. The $10,000 prize doesn't seem like enough.

On a side note, I was very sad to hear if the passing of Preston Roberts.

Samcord, if you are looking to learn something from FIF.. Give it up.. Popular knife styles can be learned, mistakes can be learned but without a working knowledge of the fundementals there are just way to many gaps for newer smiths to fill in..

Thanks for sharing about Preston.. The show won't be the same without him.. You posting his passing lead me to his knife page.. He did some really nice work.. To bad they didn't cover more of his work on the show..

FYI.. A member here contacted FIF about me.. I'm not sure I am doing the show but tomorrow is my skype interview.. It's a 2 week commitment so we'll just have to see what happens..

[Matt Shade]

When you said bandsaw steel I was assuming "sawmill bandsaw" which are commonly L6. I didn't think it had any nickel, but I just looked it up and it is pretty close to 15n20 in composition.

Have you ever tried etching in ferric chloride? That seems to be a popular etch for damascus, I wonder if it reacts to the nickel differently?