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Flux,,,where/what/how

T

timfish

Joined
Jun 4, 2022
Messages
75
I'm gonna try my hand at some forge welding,,,maybe sanmai or something,,,please if you can answer a couple questions
1-is it necessary?
2-can I make it at home or where can I buy it?
 
I don't bother with it with san mai. I just mig weld the edges, heat it up, and hammer it. If you have a welder, you can avoid the mess in your forge, otherwise you can just use borax....works pretty good. If you start with san mai, just pay attention to keeping your core centered. San mai is much more difficult to pull of than Damascus imo.
 
One other quick tip to help you avoid the problems I've run into. Many people starting out don't give much thought to the thickness of their layers and just use the same thickness for all three layers. I think it works better to start with your core about half the thickness of your cladding. once your welds are set, grind your cladding clean so you don't beat the forge scale deep into the steel you plan on using in your knife. Then at least partially forge in your bevels, this should keep your transition line from getting to close to your spine. Good luck with it....
 
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