Damascus pattern

H

Halbrust

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Aug 8, 2015
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I haven't made any damascus yet. Most of it is beautiful, but not what I'm willing to put the time and effort into making. Then I saw the zebra pattern by Guinea Hog Forge. I love the bold vertical stripes.

I believe I've come up with a good way to create the exact look I want. But I want much more knowledgable smiths to tell me if I'm right or not. My idea is a three layer billet 1080-15N20-1080. Ladder pattern with a slanted ladder (///// vs |||||). I have had one maker tell me it will work, but will be very dificult.

If it will be difficult, why? It seems like a simple pattern/process as far as pattern welding goes.
 
I haven't made any damascus yet. Most of it is beautiful, but not what I'm willing to put the time and effort into making. Then I saw the zebra pattern by Guinea Hog Forge. I love the bold vertical stripes.

I believe I've come up with a good way to create the exact look I want. But I want much more knowledgable smiths to tell me if I'm right or not. My idea is a three layer billet 1080-15N20-1080. Ladder pattern with a slanted ladder (///// vs |||||). I have had one maker tell me it will work, but will be very dificult.

If it will be difficult, why? It seems like a simple pattern/process as far as pattern welding goes.
 
Not sure which exact knife of Scott's you're talkin about, but I know he does a number of different twist patterns, which would give you a more striped look as oppossed to a ladder pattern.

Three layers would technically be a san mai blade as opposed to low layer damascus, and if you tried to "ladder" it, you would get a sort of wavey or undulated look from the outer 1080 steel layer. It probably wouldn't end up all that bold or striking looking... for a stiriking contrast san mai you'd go with a stainless steel jacket, like 420 SS.

Here is an example of what I'm talking about, it's a san mai blade made by Karl B Andersen. You can see the waves, or undulations in the outer layer stainless steel, which he achieves just by drawing out the billet, I think by using rounded drawing dies on a press.




Anyway, if you ladderd a 3 layer billet, the dark core steel portion of the waves would just go all the way to the spine, if that makes sense..

You can make any pattern you want to, I guess I'm just saying that your idea wouldn't quite look like a zebra pattern.. I do hope you post some pics of w/e you come up with though. :)

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
 
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I'm not really a damascus maker ( yet! :D .. I've made some small billets in the past) so I'm not well versed in how the more unique patterns are made, but my best guess would be that he incorporated a twist somewhere in the patterning..

But regarding that strider, seems like your original thought actually would be the way to go about getting that look... by doing a ladder pattern on a san mai blade. You could make two billets so you can also try using 1080 as the core steel on the other to see which one gives you the look you like best.

Make sure to post some pics when you make it! ;)

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
 
That pattern is a more advanced look that what you will get by ladder patterning a san-mai blade. It appears to be a rotated and stacked billet. It would be made similar to how a feather pattern is made, but not hot cut to produce the feather. This would leave it as a vertical pattern.

If you really want to know the info, why don't you ask Scott?
 
I have talked to Scott. He was great and let me know right away that it was a twisted W where the layers were not reoriented.

Having not done any pattern welding yet, I can't fully wrap my head around what that means. I was thinking the san mai ladder would be a more beginner friendly way to get the bold vertical stripes I want.
 
San Mai ladder will not produce bold vertical stripes.

3-5 layers twisted very tight might get you close to what you want.
 
The first place to start is learning to forge weld.

Make up a san-mai billet with 1084 core and 15N20 sides. Weld it solid and make a knife from it. If that goes well, do it several more times.

Once you get good welds every time on a three bar billet, make a seven bar billet. Draw it out to three times the length, cut into three pieces, stack, and weld. Repeat two more times. You now have a 189 layer damascus bar. Make a knife from that.

Once you get the basics mastered, then you can start playing with the patterns. Twists are the simplest. Forge the billet square, then octagon, then round, then twist the snot out of it while at near welding heat. Grind it smooth, then forge out into a flat bar.
 
Halbrust said:
I have talked to Scott. He was great and let me know right away that it was a twisted W where the layers were not reoriented.

Having not done any pattern welding yet, I can't fully wrap my head around what that means. I was thinking the san mai ladder would be a more beginner friendly way to get the bold vertical stripes I want.
Click to expand...

Here is a good video that does a good way of explaining "one way" of how to make a W's pattern. It is just roating the billet 90 degrees so the layers are facing up, then you forge the bar down in that orientation, and then cut and restack after drawing it out that way. The video does a good job explaining the basics for beginners, I'd suggesting watching it all the way through, although he doesn't really start talkin about crushed W's until around the last 5 or so minutes.

[video=youtube;8vYW44iLP78]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vYW44iLP78[/video]

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
 
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You will need to twist yer w's extremely tightly to get your stripes as vertical as on Scott's Zulu.
It will be very difficult for someone who has not tried any pattern welding. Expect to fail in many ways.
I'm sure you can do it if that is your goal, though. It may just take a bit. By then I expect you will be hooked on making 'mascus, and will get into other patterns.
 
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