First damascus knife WIP (photo heavy!)

P

PHCKnives

Joined
Dec 31, 2013
Messages
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This is going to be a photo documentation of my first ever damascus knife. I will try to take as many pictures along the way, wish i had a better camera but money is tight and school is biting into my time as well. I have been doing stock removal for the past year and change. Sold around 17 or so blades and attended a few shows as a vendor sharing a table with my mentor Ross. I have become more confident with my fit and finish, free hand grinding etc. So i went through all my stock and decided it was time to do a damascus piece. Being a guy who has grown up fascinated with large sharp objects naturally my dream knife was always a bowie with a stag handle. I have been saving a piece of sambar stag just for this purpose. After getting all the designs worked out today i dragged my 15n20 saw mill blade out of the steel stock and began torching on it to get the 4, 2" wide pieces i would need out of it. I am currently waiting on the 1095 to come in as i just ordered it today. I do not have all the pictures of flame cutting the saw because i was by my lonesome at my buddies race shop using his torch. The plan is to start here in a few weeks with a 5 1095 and 4 15n20 billet and cut and fold until it is 234 layers and then go from there. I will try to answer any and all questions on this project in a timely matter, but school does keep me away from the forum for a good part of the day. Appreciate any and all comments and feedback and hopefully you guys will like what is to come, for now i have a few pics i snapped on my iphone to show what the beginning stages are.
 
First, might wanna be careful about mentioning sales and such without the proper credentials.

Second, kudos for stepping up to the heat and beat. Not that there is anything wrong with straight stock removal. If you haven't done much forge welding, start with some practice scrap and get good clean welds before moving on to your blade steel. A bad weld or slag deep in a billet will wreck your day in a hurry once you start shaping...

1095/15n20 is great contrast and performs well. It is my choice for pattern welded steel. I currently have a billet that started as 10 layers of alternating 1/16" thick steel, 6"x2" dry welded... I would suggest starting with fewer layers. Your only adding one fold to get the count up and it's less surface prep and such. Trust me, getting a 1"x6" 4 layer billet of thicker stock cleanly welded is easier than a 10 thin layer billet. And, it is easier to tack up nice and tight.

What kind of setup do you have? Forge, anvil, press, etc? Whatcha using for flux or going dry? Any past work (aka knife porn) to show off?

Welcome!

-Eric
 
So PHC what type forge will you be using?? Are you gong to do this all by hand or do you have a power hammer or press?? Good on ya for going for the damascus. I hope you have a little forging experience but have fun with it. Now let's see some hot steel.

BTW, How sure are you that the saw blade is 15N20. Most large circular saw blades with ground teeth were actually L6, a higher alloy steel. A bit harder to work than 15n20 but still very doable. I like L6 better actually for edge holding ability. If it seems a bit stiff under the hammer compared to 1095 it is probably L6.
 
I didn't mean sales on the forum, i meant orders from people locally who bought my knives. The brunt of this bowie will be done at my mentors smithy because my Forge is a NC Tool whisper mama with a temperamental back pressure issue that likes to spit and sputter after about 30 minutes. As for anvil i own a small 80lb mankel, i bought it in a lot deal from a guy who sold all his smithing and grinding equipment after his brother passed away. the anvil i will be shaping on is a peter wright, cant recall the weight but she rings like a church bell on sunday when you get in the zone. But for time reasons and just the steep learning curve i'm using an air over hydraulic press made from a 20 ton bottle jack hooked up to foot switch. I believe im just going with borax for flux. I can link you to my page once i get all my photos uploaded and my work can be seen there. I just dont want to be putting photos of any knife other than what is said in the title, i appreciate the comments and hope you enjoy this little endeavor as much as i am.
 
AC- I was kind of wondering when i found it at a scrap yard that it was l6 but after numerous spark tests and several peoples opinon, we determined it was in fact 15n20. As for smithing experience, i have attended a hammer-in as well as spent countless hours standing in front of a fire hammering with my mentor and other local smiths.
 
Great that you have some smithing behind you. We see so many on this forum that have never swung a hammer before and want to make Damascus. I took a look at some of your other posts and found you have a pretty nice set-up or at least available tools. Keep us updated.
 
Will do! Currently playing on a cad/cam simulator designing the end cap screw. I really don't have the equipment to forge a piece to machine into one. So i might just grab a variety of steels from the shelf on my way to work and start turning and see what i come up with. Thanks again, will try to have more smithing area setup photos soon.
 
The billet is sandwiched up and ends tack welded together, alas i have to to return to this project at a later time. Huge job opportunity arose this summer to work with a long time friend of mine on an industrial maintenance crew as the companies lead CNC guy. Plus i have a trip to PA planned this weekend and i will be away from my shop for 3 weeks while i will be doing an internship with my uncle who is known in the porsche performance engine industry as a pioneer. Hope to see you guys soon and with more pictures of the knife in progress. Many thanks for all the comments
-Phillip
 
Spanish Notch, This bowie has now become an order for one of my buddies, so he wanted me to put a spanish notch in it.
 
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