Cable Damascus

J

JasonByers

Joined
Feb 10, 2010
Messages
106
I made some cable damascus out of some 1.25 in cable I've been saving for a while. It welded up fine I thought and I shaped it into 1"X1/4" bars. I cut a little piece off to test the heat treat with oil. It hardened fine but when I snapped it the piece splintered. Is this normal for cable or did it not weld properly? When anealed I can bend it double with no splinters. Thanks for any help.
 
I have not observed that effect in cable steel, but if it's homogenous and hardens fine, I wouldn't worry about it. Or maybe try to make a test blade, tempered and all then destruction test it and see what happens.
 
The welds did not take. Cable needs a good soak at heat and I normally twist it tightly at welding temp. The tighter the twist the better. You can feel it become stiffer under the hammer when things come together. Cable can be tough. Some feel it is easier to weld than regular laminated damascus, I find it harder to get good clean material. You might want to try a stacked billet to get the forge welding down a little better then go back and try the cable again.
 
I like to weld cable inside a stainless canister. I have a lot of the 1 1/4" cable and get good weld results with one compaction on the press.

Use tubing that is just slightly larger in diameter than the cable and fill the voids with 10 series powder or the like. Make sure and fill all the voids and leave a weep hole; to be welded closed after the billet comes to heat.

Fred
 
I too have gone to making cable in a can. I stuff as much into a tube that will fit and fill the voids with the desired contrasting material. Here are a couple of pics.

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And and end slice on a pommel

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AC that bottom pic is awesome. Well, both are awesome but I love the look of the end cut like that.
 
Thanks Gixxer. I have made a couple of blades with the ends showing. If you W the billet it gives a really interesting effect.
 
Ok thanks guys. I thought the cable was good and clean, fluxed well, twisted tight and I did get the feeling from the hammer that it was all solid. I'm very much a beginner at welding but I thought the high yellow color and the bubbles from flux dancing around the piece was a sign it was ready. I also let it soak for a few minutes at that temp. And I also went ahead and beat a blade out and nothing came apart or splintered. I'm confused. I've made some stacked type a little while back and one that didn't weld well was pretty obvious, is welding cable different in that aspect? I don't have a press so I don't know about the stainless steel tube but any other pointers would be much appreciated. Thanks again guys.
 
Cable is tough to get clean welds on. What you described as splintering sounded to me like the welds let lose. It sounds like you are on the right track. When you reach temp the flux. Should look like melting butter. Also are you using anhydrous borax? It really makes a difference.
 
No I use 20 Mule Team. I'll get some good welding flux and try again with a smaller piece this time. It was my first one so I'm just proud I was able to get into a semi-solid bar. Thanks a lot A C. You guys have a happy Easter.
 
I would be careful about "welding" flux. Most of the stuff you buy is meant to be used on very small areas and has some pretty nasty stuff in it. A lot of the commercially made flux has iron filings in it that can play havoc on a damascus billet. Also it is very expensive, like $25 or more/lb. You should be able to find anhydrous for around $5 or less/lb. 20 mule team will work it is just not quite as good as the anhydrous. How are you cleaning your cable? On a large piece like you are using, I burn it out first then take apart the major strands and clean them. Then I reassemble the whole mess and tack weld the ends. If you wanted to try Fred's suggestion you don't need a press. Just find a piece of pipe, SS or mild will work and auto exhaust is perfect. Just make sure it is not galvanized. The pipe should just barely fit over the cable. Weld up one end solid. fill the remaining air space with powdered steel and weld up the other end. Leave a weep hole about 1/16 would be fine. Then get it hot. I normally allow my first heat to soak 30-45 minutes after the material is up to temp. One thing I did not see is what type forge are you using? A long soak is not practical in a solid fuel forge. Just keep at it and things will come together.

Get it Hot and Hit it Hard
 
I love using cable, and all i use is mule team borax. I soak the cable in gas for a day or so then spray down with brake cleaner, never had a bad weld doing that. I always thought cable should have somewhat of a fibrous inner structure to give it its flexibility. All work is done in the welding range though and I usually fold at least once.
 
Shop tip. Go to the hardware store and buy a container of roachkiller. Mix it with the borax. Seems(to me at least) to give better results .
 
I'll explain my whole process if you guys don't care and let me know if I'm on the right track. The cable I have is pretty greasy so I first burned the grease off in a fire letting the cable get red hot then I let it cool back to black and quenched it in warm water with some borax mixed in (I read somewhere that this will break up some more gunk). I welded up both ends with some rebar on one end for a handle. In my propane forge I brought the piece up to dull red then fluxed. Brought piece up to high yellow (took around 10 minutes) and twisted. I wire brushed, fluxed, heated and twisted again. Wire brushed, fluxed, heated to high yellow but only soaked for a minute or so and began to hammer at the tip while turning cable so not to unravel. That first round the tip was in a tight solid round bar. I repeated with wire brushing each heat but at this time I had a hell of a lot of flux built up in the cable so I fluxed about every other heat. I worked the cable into a round bar (stopped fluxing) then square and finished off hammering it into a flat bar. Hey thanks guys again for all the help. I'll try some pipe here soon and will clean better and soak longer. If you fellas have anymore suggestions I'd be grateful to here them.
 
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