Just asking how bad it would be to make cable damaskus

I don't think challenging yourself is ever a negative thing. I started my pattern welding endeavors with general forge welding, started playing with coin mikume, and now I have a press and forge weld all kinds of things... I feel like a sandbagger now, but working smarter rather than harder is the name of the game at this point in time...
 
SinePari thanks. I know the smarter than harder reality well at the moment. I am working old school with old planer blades and have 10 to make and deliver by December 22nd. Plus work two jobs and spend time with my family. 😆😤😩😲 busy me.
 
[video=youtube_share;WOR_-glrz7U]http://youtu.be/WOR_-glrz7U?list=UUbjqXVQnd3XB-3JY0OM3f5w[/video]

^ I really like this video. He gives a great walkthrough with some very informative tips... Even if you're only successful at small section take two of them and sammich a planer blade between them... I love the san mai patterns that result after it's drawn out... just gorgeous stuff!
 
Thank you. I have plenty of scrap ie broken flawed blades to use to put in the center.😆👏👍👍👌
 
How are you planning to forge weld? I had understood from your other posts that you don't have a forge.
 
At the moment it is being built. I have a problem of planning things out completely and all variables accounted for before I start a project Lastbrunneng. I have aculated some parts and pieces just saving up to get the last parts. And I also am specific about what I post and what I talk about.
 
I own 3 knives from a custom maker who I was lucky enough to get him to make 3 very rare 6 cable twisted together, out of telephone guide wire knives. The pattern looks like rice and the blade is very thin, but impossible to break or even bend. It retains an edge like no knife I have ever seen. The gentleman learned to make these out of necessity in his native land of Mexico. I know no knife maker who holds a candle to his skills. However he does not support this site and I will not discuss him here, as I feel only paying folks should be discussed here. No free plugs, Kevin works too hard to take advantage of him. You can Google Cable knives and locate many guys. I asked the gentleman to join and like many he opted out of the drama, sad as many top pros are keeping away due to a perceived hostile environment. Sad because the site could really gain some excellent makers and Kevin could, as any of us use the funds. Kevin is one more special guy, who deserves our full support. And it would be great to have the very best sharing here. Cable Damascus is a great steel. Again IMO.
 
Thanks treeshaker. I do see his pov on things for sure. I'm just a beginner who knows how to try to not get cut or grind off skin and still fails at that. I have determined that there are some on here who are blunt and slightly gruff when some kid thinks he can attempt to make a knife and ask them for some feed back. But there are others on here who are honest and just offer pointers and suggest what has worked for them. What is a bit interesting though is there is drama over things on here due to the amount of grown men on this site there really shouldnt be any need for the drama. Fk it D.I.L.I.G.A.F. Is their choice to be that way. This post has twisted the wrong way and I am digressing over bs so, am going back to the topic of my post and if I get booted for my previous rant so be it. I want to learn to do more than just grind a piece of metal and sand it smooth then bake it and sand again to put some wood,plastic,bone,antler,composite handle on it. I asked for input on what it would be like or how complex it is to forge weld cable. I know how to gmaw,smaw and braize two skills I dont have yet are tig and forge weld so, IF SOME ONE ELSE CAN OFFER HELP AS TO WHAT I NEED TO BE PREPARED FOR ASIDE FROM ALOT OF HEAT,HAMMERING, AND TIME CONSUMED BY WAITING FOR THE STEEL TO COME TO TEMP SPEAK UP. DON'T PICK AT THE LITTLE WHAT IF'S OTHERWISE PISS OFF IF YOU DONT WANT TO HELP DONT FN COMMENT!
 
Wayne Goddard lives in Eugene and is probably one of the greatest teachers of cable Damascus around I would get ahold of him and see if he will teach you.
 
wall e said:
Thanks treeshaker. I do see his pov on things for sure. I'm just a beginner who knows how to try to not get cut or grind off skin and still fails at that. I have determined that there are some on here who are blunt and slightly gruff when some kid thinks he can attempt to make a knife and ask them for some feed back. But there are others on here who are honest and just offer pointers and suggest what has worked for them. What is a bit interesting though is there is drama over things on here due to the amount of grown men on this site there really shouldnt be any need for the drama. Fk it D.I.L.I.G.A.F. Is their choice to be that way. This post has twisted the wrong way and I am digressing over bs so, am going back to the topic of my post and if I get booted for my previous rant so be it. I want to learn to do more than just grind a piece of metal and sand it smooth then bake it and sand again to put some wood,plastic,bone,antler,composite handle on it. I asked for input on what it would be like or how complex it is to forge weld cable. I know how to gmaw,smaw and braize two skills I dont have yet are tig and forge weld so, IF SOME ONE ELSE CAN OFFER HELP AS TO WHAT I NEED TO BE PREPARED FOR ASIDE FROM ALOT OF HEAT,HAMMERING, AND TIME CONSUMED BY WAITING FOR THE STEEL TO COME TO TEMP SPEAK UP. DON'T PICK AT THE LITTLE WHAT IF'S OTHERWISE PISS OFF IF YOU DONT WANT TO HELP DONT FN COMMENT!
Click to expand...

Use your welder to your advantage here. I would suggest welding the frayed ends of the cable because they tend to be the area most troublesome when it comes to the forge weld. I would go through the initial steps in the video (twisting the braid tighter). I'd thread it into a stainless steel pipe of similar size, then weld the ends shut, get it to welding heat, and beat the snot out of it.

Ariel Salaverria has a great tutorial regarding the above technique... http://www.aescustomknives.com/docs/tutorial10.htm


The important parts of the process that you need to be most concerned using a hammer and anvil are; keeping the rope taught and keeping contaminants out of the weld. Cable tends to want to unwind during forging, so keeping it tight and enclosed aids in lessening it's desire to wander and unwind, it also cya's the contamination issue. Another possible advantage would be using boric acid as a flux instead of borax, I've had a lot of success with it welding at lower temps.

The above mentioned is probably the least frustrating means of accomplishing a successful end result.

Ariel's tutorial is great, his knives speak volumes when it comes to his mastery of cable damascus....
 
Thanks SinePari.
I fully see the point of the pipe containing the cable and preventing fray, but doesnt it also keep the contaminants inside also?
Boric acid preferable to borax, am guessing am additive or too makes the borax lesser of a quality flux. Now the fun begins, squeezing time in. 😆
 
wall e said:
Thanks SinePari.
I fully see the point of the pipe containing the cable and preventing fray, but doesnt it also keep the contaminants inside also?
Boric acid preferable to borax, am guessing am additive or too makes the borax lesser of a quality flux. Now the fun begins, squeezing time in. ��
Click to expand...

In a perfect world, you'd have fresh wire rope to use. The first couple of steps of applying borax heating and twisting taught the major contaminants like dirt rust and nastiness creeps out of the rope... When you twist it, you'll see all kinds of garbage come out with the scale... Brush that crap off! That's that nastiness I'm talking about.... Idea is you work the contaminant out of the rope with those first couple steps.

Flux is just an agent that eliminates oxygen from the intended weld. It also corrosive at high temps and gets a lot of garbage contaminants out of the intended weld. There are many forms of flux that work just as well as, if not better than 20 mule team stuff... Some can even forge weld without it..
 
SinePari I have several friends who are loggers and said they could get me 2 or 3 ft pieces easily every few weeks to days. Another friend is a scraptruck driver and can get sections also I just have to let him know. I have a .90 cable 3ft long on my covered back patio next to the house all shiney and pretty just waiting on my broke self to finish my forge. Lol
 
wall e said:
SinePari I have several friends who are loggers and said they could get me 2 or 3 ft pieces easily every few weeks to days. Another friend is a scraptruck driver and can get sections also I just have to let him know. I have a .90 cable 3ft long on my covered back patio next to the house all shiney and pretty just waiting on my broke self to finish my forge. Lol
Click to expand...

Make sure that the core of the rope is steel, as some wire rope has fibercore... If you have scrapper and logger friends, you're sitting pretty when it comes to material. See if your logger friends will save you some broken chainsaw chain for your forging... That stuff puts out some awesome patterns when worked as a blade steel...

Keep us posted.
 
Will do. My neighbor is a timber faller so theres the potential for broken chain at least wore out
 
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