Forum new guy from Montana.

M

montana guy

Joined
Dec 18, 2009
Messages
472
Thought I would say hi to everyone. New to the forum, new to knife making, not new to working with steel. I am an AWS Certified welder and I am kinda kicking myself for not taking this up sooner. Just took up knife making as a hobby and I am hooked. I am learning to make Damascus steel and so far I have had good luck with it. Have not had any bonding issues or weakness issues either...yet. I am on the first knife I will finish, made a few other blades to get the feel for the process. I have to sit down and figure out how many folds i have in the blade I am working on, I know it is a ton of them. I am trying to learn how to control the pattern that comes out of the process. It's not easy I figured out. I do have a pretty cool pattern on this blade I think and I will post pics of it if my wife ever finds my camera...put it somewhere for safe keeping and can't find it.

I have many things to learn, and this along with many many other sources will help in my gaining knowledge on the knife making process. I am currently working on getting a perfect mirror finish on it before I etch(acid bath, got a friend who makes knives, that's what he calls it) it so where the etch is not looks like a mirror. I am using 1500 grit mirror finish wet but it is not even good enough, can still see very small lines from the paper. One day I would like to make knives like those of Van Barnett. I am a LONG LONG ways from that but I will get there in time. If you do not know of him just Google him and you'll see how good I want to get.

But anyway thought I would say hi and I look forward to seeing what you all make, getting tips on the processes involved and everything else I can learn.
 
Hi ______________ (Montana Guy),

Welcome to BF the home of ample amounts of lots of BS. You know I meant bladesmithing and black smithing, right?

If you don't know about this hammer-in in Montana you might want to, http://www.joshsmithknives.com/Big_Sky_Hammer_In.htm. Maybe they'll be doing it again. At least it might be a good connection to check out.

All the best, Phil
 
hi ya new guy im kelly wiens from sask canada . I hope you fill out your profile and let us know your name you never know someone may live just down the road and give you some hot tips on pounding damascus. Im a rookie and really like this site I started exactly one year ago on the 15th of dec 2008 . So far ive made 75 knives some alot nicer than others but what ive learned is now fit and finish is very important and sand the livin hell out of all the steel to remove scratches . Oh ya hang a lucky rabbits foot in your shop , I havent got stitches since I did it. lmao kellyw
 
Hi, and welcome from another Montana guy. What part of the state are you from. Its a bit of a big place as you know. My shop is in Lewistown. If you are close we should get together sometime. Jim
 
Welcome to the forums.
Filling out your profile will allow other Montana smiths, and the forum in general, to know more about you and perhaps offer you some hands on assistance.

It is great that you are doing so well on your first attempts.

On the sanding and polishing of damascus, there are two things you might want to consider.
One is that the layer count will determine the activity of the pattern. Too few layers and the pattern is blah...too many and the pattern diminishes into a wood grain effect. Most makers who are manipulating the pattern ( twisting, ladder pattern, feather, etc.) don't go beyond the 200-500 range. If you are doing Japanese style blades, where the folding can reach as many as one million layers ( but usually is 1000-100,000) the pattern ( called hada) is subtle and therefore not intended to be dominant. A wonderful pattern is to twist the billet at about 200 layers ( five folds on a 7 layer billet, eight folds on a mono-steel), then continue to fold and draw for five more folds. This gives you about 3000 layer steel that will look like fine grained wood. Five more folds will give you about 100,000 layers ( layer counts rounded off to make explanation easier).

Two is the surface finish (polish) required to show the pattern. Normally, patterned damascus is not finished to a mirror surface. It is often nearly impossible to make it so, and the surface will be etched, thus removing the mirror surface, anyway. Sanding to 800-1000 is sufficient before the etch. Never machine polish/buff damascus, as it blurs the pattern. For this type of etching ferric chloride diluted in concentration ranging from 3:1 to 5:1 is used. Etch a bit, rinse and examine, etch more, rinse,... stop when you think it is there ( you can always etch more) . Always neutralize the steel well after etching is done. Windex, ammonia, or TSP will stop the Ferric Chloride action. Just washing it off won't do it. Later on you will find tiny spots showing up .

The exception to the finishing mentioned above is if the blade is very high layer count damascus, or Japanese style steel. If there are thousands of layers, the steel is often hand finished to a bright, often mirror, finish. Grits up to 8000 are not uncommon for this, with hand rubbing using finer compounds beyond that. The etching on these type of blades is done in a much more subtle manner than the acid bath used for patterned damascus. Very weak acid strength is used and rubbed on the blade with gloved hands. 50:1 ferric chloride, 100:1 hydrochloric acid, lemon juice, and vinegar are the normal type of etchants used to do this. Once the "grain" of the steel shows, the etchant is washed off and neutralized. On some of these blades, the pattern is barely visible, and requires turning the blade in the light to suddenly show the effect. On others, it stands out boldly as a fine wood burl grain ( mokume hada).

Stacy
 
Hi and welcome to the forums Montana guy. I spent six years up there in the late 80s.(Butte and Billings) I always did love that country.

Bennie
 
welcome!

i just moved out of montana in october. moved from bainville.... yea i know you never heard of it :)

jake
 
Thanks for the warm welcome and the very detailed advise bladsmth. I was kinda short on time last night and again today so I will fill out the profile hopefully later today. My name is Ronnie and I live in Butte, lived in Kalispell for a long time also. Been in Montana since 1991 and don't see myself ever leaving, love it here. I would love to meet other knife makers here in Montana and other places. Time is always an issue unfortunately, never enough of it, got 4 kids all pretty young so they keep me pretty busy but its fun.
 
I live south of Hamilton Montana. My brother lives in Kalispell. Welcome to the forums.:thumbup:
 
I am in Helena and have been taking classes from Willard Patrick via U of M at the airport in the A&P classroom. New classes starting January 26th, Tuesdays and Thursdays for 4-5 weeks. Lots of fun, great guys and gals in the classes. Have made 7-8 knives so far, some I am pretty proud of. Someone said there are 5o makers in the Helena area.
 
Hey
sounds like you got more practical metallurgy knowledge than most new members, and even allot of older ones this should be very easy for you. I'm jealous
 
Nebulae said:
Hey
sounds like you got more practical metallurgy knowledge than most new members, and even allot of older ones this should be very easy for you. I'm jealous
Click to expand...

Thanks, I might more know than some, not saying I do, but I still have so much to learn. From just life experience I know that having general knowledge is much different than years of applying it. My welding and machining experience do help, machining more than the welding when it comes to knife making I have learned, but that would be the only place I would say I might have an upper hand on some. So I would not be jealous if I where you, I am still very new to knife making. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top