Advice for using damasteel.

S

Storm W

Joined
Feb 19, 2019
Messages
915
I am building a very special knife for a friend and its going to be my first time using damasteel. A wife wants a very special anniversary present for her husband. He is fighting cancer right now and they are on a fixed income. It's a once on a lifetime splurge for them. I am plowing all the money she has saved into the coolest materials I can find as well as hitting my stash for anything else. Since I don't have the luxury of doing a lot of testing on this I am hoping that you guys can make some recommendations. Mostly I am wondering what kind of hardness to run it at. Its going to be a 7-8" bladed chef knife. Any extra tips for etching and thickness behind the edge would also be appreciated. A friend is doing the HT for me with quench plates and cryo. Also is there anyway to extend the tang after its hardened? I thought about tapering it and using JB weld and pins or some sort of wrap. The piece I got was only available in a 10" length so it doesn't give me as much room as I would like for a tang.
 
Storm W said:
I am building a very special knife for a friend and its going to be my first time using damasteel. A wife wants a very special anniversary present for her husband. He is fighting cancer right now and they are on a fixed income. It's a once on a lifetime splurge for them. I am plowing all the money she has saved into the coolest materials I can find as well as hitting my stash for anything else. Since I don't have the luxury of doing a lot of testing on this I am hoping that you guys can make some recommendations. Mostly I am wondering what kind of hardness to run it at. Its going to be a 7-8" bladed chef knife. Any extra tips for etching and thickness behind the edge would also be appreciated. A friend is doing the HT for me with quench plates and cryo. Also is there anyway to extend the tang after its hardened? I thought about tapering it and using JB weld and pins or some sort of wrap. The piece I got was only available in a 10" length so it doesn't give me as much room as I would like for a tang.
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This whole tang business has me curious about what is the proper length, especially because you waste so much material on the bottom side. Hopefully you get some good advice here - I want to splurge on the material too for a build soon.
 
If you have access to a TIG welder, you can weld on a stainless steel extension on the tang. Type of stainless isn't really critical, but RWL would be the best choice.
Have at least 2" of the damasteel in the tang. Do the extension weld on the bar of Damasteel before grinding the knife. I would give the extended bar a temper at 300F for an hour to relieve any stress. HT the blade and extension as normal when done shaping, and the extension should be strong.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
If you have access to a TIG welder, you can weld on a stainless steel extension on the tang. Type of stainless isn't really critical, but RWL would be the best choice.
Have at least 2" of the damasteel in the tang. Do the extension weld on the bar of Damasteel before grinding the knife. I would give the extended bar a temper at 300F for an hour to relieve any stress. HT the blade and extension as normal when done shaping, and the extension should be strong.
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I'm having the piece sent directly to a friend for HT since I don't have power for my oven right now. I think that means welding is out along with the fact that no power for my oven means no power for my welder. I'm thinking about giving it 2.5" of tang and double pinning it. Would that cause any problems? I don't think brazing SS is a easy thing to do if I recall. I might try to epoxy and wrap a extension on just for some extra safety.
 
DustinY said:
This whole tang business has me curious about what is the proper length, especially because you waste so much material on the bottom side. Hopefully you get some good advice here - I want to splurge on the material too for a build soon.
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I typically braze an extension on with nickel silver rod. It sticks to stainless or carbon steel. The grain gets blown up, but not as bad as welding with a puddle. Thermal cycling will fix the grain in carbon steels and an anneal will get everything in order with stainless. I have made extensions in carbon fibre too.
 
DustinY said:
This whole tang business has me curious about what is the proper length, especially because you waste so much material on the bottom side. Hopefully you get some good advice here - I want to splurge on the material too for a build soon.
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Save the cutoffs for guards, folders, bolsters etc.
 
What about doing a frame handle and using steel for the center layer? Not sure if that would help but maybe with all the extra metal around the tang it would help support it. Also it might look really unique.
 
2.5" of tang should be sufficient if you use Corby bolts or similar fixtures. Obviously, you want a strong straight grained wood for the handle. Micarta would be even better.
I can offer some Micarta types that look great on kitchen knives.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
2.5" of tang should be sufficient if you use Corby bolts or similar fixtures. Obviously, you want a strong straight grained wood for the handle. Micarta would be even better.
I can offer some Micarta types that look great on kitchen knives.
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I'm going to use stabilized wood and a stick tang. I will do some sort of extension that I will pin on and hopefully anchor the whole thing. I would be interested in hearing what Micarta you recommend since I have a pile of 15n20 blades that need handles. I thought I was using black linen and used black canvas instead on one. I'm not a big fan of black canvas though I like green and tan.
 
Personally I don’t think stabilized wood is that strong. It Maybe stabilized but it doesn’t mean that it’s hard. I would use a hardwood if it were me.
 
Try this, ive had good results, just use something strong for the frame part. Ive been using canvas micarta. The tang only needs to go a bit past the midpoint of the handle. You also get a nice balance, this way, use heavier materials for the handle if you want a more "in your palm" balance point like a full tang would have.
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Check out places like USA Knifemakers, Pop's, knifekits.com, Jantz, and the many other suppliers. USA Knifemakers has a vast assortment available.

While you can order just one set of scales it is far smarter and cheaper in the long run to order a sheet and cut your scales to exact size. It is three or four times cheaper that way. I try to buy it in 12X24 sheets.

Don't get it thicker than you need. 1/4" thick is usually a good size to buy.
Most average size handles are 3/4" at the thickest place. The biggest thing you see in new makers is handles that are way too big and fat. Take some good knives you like from the kitchen and such and measure how thick they are. That will give you a good idea of how thick to shoot for.

Micarta (and Ultrex) comes in many solid colors and textures as well as laminations. Black canvas Micarta is great for hunters and camp knives. Linen Micarta for kitchen knives. Paper Micarta is hard to finish and I don't recommend it to new makers.

I like the Black/Blue/Black layered linen Micarta (but, all the colors look nice). The effect won't show until you start to shape the handle.

Then, there are the patterned Micartas. The one I really like is called "python". It really looks like a snakeskin when the handle is shaped. Here is a photo of the sheet and a handle
(internet photos):
IMG_5699_300x300.jpg
th


Handle material can get to be an addiction.
I have been organizing my supplies as I slowly move things into the new shop. I didn't realize how many places/boxes I had my Micarta sitting/stored until I got them all into one large bin. There must be 70-100 pounds of it. Needless to say, I won't be buying any for a while ( Yeah, I have said that before, and then I look at a suppliers site and say ..."Hmm, that new pattern looks pretty nice")
 
Hey thanks for typing that
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Check out places like USA Knifemakers, Pop's, knifekits.com, Jantz, and the many other suppliers. USA Knifemakers has a vast assortment available.

While you can order just one set of scales it is far smarter and cheaper in the long run to order a sheet and cut your scales to exact size. It is three or four times cheaper that way. I try to buy it in 12X24 sheets.

Don't get it thicker than you need. 1/4" thick is usually a good size to buy.
Most average size handles are 3/4" at the thickest place. The biggest thing you see in new makers is handles that are way too big and fat. Take some good knives you like from the kitchen and such and measure how thick they are. That will give you a good idea of how thick to shoot for.

Micarta (and Ultrex) comes in many solid colors and textures as well as laminations. Black canvas Micarta is great for hunters and camp knives. Linen Micarta for kitchen knives. Paper Micarta is hard to finish and I don't recommend it to new makers.

I like the Black/Blue/Black layered linen Micarta (but, all the colors look nice). The effect won't show until you start to shape the handle.

Then, there are the patterned Micartas. The one I really like is called "python". It really looks like a snakeskin when the handle is shaped. Here is a photo of the sheet and a handle
(internet photos):
IMG_5699_300x300.jpg
th


Handle material can get to be an addiction.
I have been organizing my supplies as I slowly move things into the new shop. I didn't realize how many places/boxes I had my Micarta sitting/stored until I got them all into one large bin. There must be 70-100 pounds of it. Needless to say, I won't be buying any for a while ( Yeah, I have said that before, and then I look at a suppliers site and say ..."Hmm, that new pattern looks pretty nice")
Click to expand...
Hey thanks for typing that all out. I am new but not super new to the game. Lol. Those specialty Micartas are really cool. I love the coffee bag ones.i thought you were going to tell me something about the brands or what not to buy. I have some Micarta handles that look great and some are only so so. I bought most of mine though pops but I bought some from Atlas billiards and I think that might be the one that looks better. I prefer at least 3/8 so you can sculpt the handle a bit. If you have a thin blade and sculpt 1/4 you are under 1/2 and for me that's to thin.
 
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