Call me a "Dumbass"...

A

AbLonewolf

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Jan 30, 2020
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So I have been making knives for about 3 years now. I do not forge, just purchase the carbon steel bars. Know a bit about it, but certainly not an expert at it.

About 2 weeks ago, my son gave me his Xmas wish list, which included a Damascus dagger. Since I am not into Damascus making, I ordered one from Amazon (Coldland). My Dumbass mistake I know...hehe

Received it a few days ago, and determined that the full tang past the steel guard is warped about 1/16". When you place the G-10 scales, notice it quite a bit. Simply cannot epoxy the scales properly due to the warp.

So I used a blow torch and heated it up, placed it between 2 straight bars, with a drill bit at the bend. Used a couple of clamps to squeeze them. A bit scared though as I don't want to break it. That did not help at all.

Is it because I did not heat it enough?

I have a forge, should I try heating it hotter with that?

Too late to return as Xmas is right around the corner, so I have to deal with it in the shop.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanx in advance!
 
AbLonewolf said:
Is it because I did not heat it enough?
Click to expand...
Possibly, but hard to tell without seeing what you did. What colors did the tang turn when you tried to heat it?
If I were to try this, I'd put the rig in the vice with the tang/warp bent the opposite way at least as far as it is out of line. heat the tang with the torch with the blade wrapped in a wet rag, then leave the blade in the vice until it air cools to room temp. If you are able to keep the blade cool, you could even get the tang up to a dull red heat and then bend it back to straight.

Unfortunately, you are possibly/probably dealing with unknown metals, so it's anybody's guess on what the correct way to do this is.
AbLonewolf said:
I have a forge, should I try heating it hotter with that?
Click to expand...
If you have a good way of keeping the working edge of the blade cool. An induction forge would be perfect for this.
 
We need more info:
Steel mix in the damascus?
Did you heat it to red and then cool slowly in sand or vermiculite?

I think I see the problem - Two straight bars with a drill bit only at the bend won't straighten anything. It takes three points to flex the tang. You need drill bits at the two ends opposite the center bit for it to flex.
 
oh boy !!!
i will try to help... #1 is it a high carbon Damascus ??
never heard of the brand .. i would look up what it is....
IF it is high carbon "The most popular/ cheapest" you should first use a heat block to avoid screwing up the heat treat by protecting the blade from heat..
next heat up only the tang to cherry red, let it slowly cool down and you should be able to straighten it ..
many now days are trying things like laser etching and other methods to make things look like Damascus... i only made Damascus for about 5 years so my experience has limits at 3 billets a week.
 
Ok.

Checked the manufacturer (believed to be from India). Blade hand forged using 1095/15N20 steels. It is heat treated.

Thanx for the replies so far. Obviously was misplacing the bits.

Will try heating it up in the forge protecting the blade the best I can.
 
Ok.

Tried the forge process. Worked fine but...

Another thing I found out was the warp also had a bit of a wabble. It worked pretty good to get the horizontal warp out. Managed to grind the "vertical" warp. The scales are now very well aligned, so adding them will be a breeze. Grinding was very minimum.

Thank you for all information provided....And I will never buy a cheap Damascus blade from Amazon...lol!

Sonny boy will get his dagger for Xmas!
 
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