Hey Everyone..
I was hoping you guys on here would like to show us newbies some easy and neat ways to make damascus billets?
Dezi
The words easy and damascus don't usually go together.
Long billets are run through the forge rear port and moved in and out. Often, you are only working about 6" per heat, so that is all the billet you need to heat.
Start with the basic random pattern and shoot for 200-500 layers. Once you get the welding down pat, move to a ladder pattern. From there it gets more and more complex.
I'll give you a trick that can be done by anyone who can make a basic random pattern, and will make your damascus blade a one of a kind.
1) Make up a 512 or 1024 layer random billet ( eight bars X six folds or seven folds) and draw it out to around 5/16" to 3/8" thick.
2) Pre-shape this as your blade, only way too thick. Forge the basic bevels in, but don't go too far. Clean up the scale to a rough ground surface. It should look like a very thick knife blade.
3) Get a 1/4" or 3/8" letter stamp set, and deeply strike your initials or name all over the billet on both sides. You can make you name - DEZI, initials - D.?., turn the letters all directions, etc. Try it out on a piece of mild steel first to decide what you want it to look like. Try and get each letter stamped in one crisp and clean punch. A slow speed HF hydraulic press will help with this, but a 3# machinist hammer will work just as well.
4) Grind the billet until the stamp marks are almost flush, and then proceed to make the blade. This should remove the excess thickness. Once the bevels are ground and sanded, the stamp marks should be flush and nearly invisible, except when you etch the blade. If needed, you can deepen any mark that is grinding out too fast by carefully re-striking it.
5) Etch the blade as normal, and you should see the stampings as neat pattern dislocations.
You can do this and put a personal message on a blade, like - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, or a name - JOHN SMITH or a date - 9-11-2001, etc.
Play with this on a bar of cheap damascus to try it out.
If you think about it, it is nothing but the same principle as birdseye damascus.
