Cable Damascus and the Press

[Greg Covington]

Here are some pics of a knife that I just finished. The blade is forged from 3/4" cable that a railroad friend gives me from the scrapyard. The cable has to be taken down as the center strand has a thin piece of red plastic strip running along it. Interesting in the mix there is one wire that is different than the rest. I stacked four pieces into a bundle...welded, and cut the end off the billet and there were four bright dots at the end.

I was not satisfied with the billet size after the draw so I folded it once....hence eight separate bright wires running thru the billet.

Towards the end of the first draw, I worked the billet over well with a 3.5 lb hammer, on three separate heats. This was to insure that it would close up nice. It was explained to me that the press will not always close cable and that the billet needs the harmonics from the hammer to get all the little pinholes out. Also, I used anhydrous borax on the billet and gave it a longer soak because of all the grease that was present in the cable.

It welded superbly and the resulting blade hardened nicely....cuts very well too. The blade measures 7.5" and is a meaty 5/16" at the spine. The grip is black palm.


Here are the pics:

 

[indian george]

Niccccce. The blade style and damascus is excellent.

 

[Mr.BadExample]

Wow, nice! the black palm really matches up with the cable blade very well.

 

[Sweany]

I LIKE it

 

[Robert Hankins]

Damn sweet blade Mr covington
Great combination of materials

 

[happycat]

Greg, very nice everything! I really like the black palm with the cable damascus. Way to go!
Ed

 

[Greg Covington]

The black palm is kinda strange to work......the black "tubes" in it are harder than the rest of the wood and the rest is rather porous.

It does go well with the cable though.

 

[MJ Hofbauer]

I have some of that Black Palm, it is a very interesting wood. When I ripped a piece on the tablesaw I wound up burning up a blade from all the resin. I have a question for you, did you have it stabilized? If not, did you have any problems with the lighter wood wanting to 'peel' off?

Beautiful knife BTW, the damascus really flows with the design. Almost has a worn look like the steel just got that way thru the years.

-MJ

 

[Danbo]

Another great looking knife. Normally, I'm not a great fan of cable damascus(mainly, due to all the inclusions), but this one I really like.

 

[rhrocker]

I like it all also Greg. There's something striking about the guard to, I like the lines. You've got a good touch!