Laminating Our Own Stock?

[Omega Leather Works]

So I have some nice 1095 stock that i have been wanting to use. The problem is that the stock is rather thin (dont remember off hand how thin). I have profiled out a nice large full tang fighter but the thickness is innopropriate for the job. Is it possible to 'laminate' some stainless or something (I saw some neat carbon fiber lam steel in one of my books the other day) I guess my biggest concerns would be how laminated steel is formed together and how in the world you heat treat them??

Obviously buying 1/4" 1095 would be the easiest route but it would be neat to author a san mai type blade myself.

 

[Dan Seaver]

Yes it is but I would avoid using stainless, its much more difficult to weld than a simpler alloy steel. Also I'm guessing you would be using 1/16" thick material for the outer layers which would make it more difficult since steel this thin cools very fast.

It also sounds like you've never done forging so starting off with forge welding would be setting yourself up for failure. I would suggest using the steel as is.

 

[MSCantrell]

Is it possible to 'laminate' some stainless

Possible, yes.
But very, very, very tricky. It's tricky enough that lots of highly knowledgeable smiths (I'm thinking of blacksmiths here rather than bladesmiths) who have been forge-welding steel for decades will tell you it's impossible. It's not impossible. Burt Foster is notable for doing it all the time. But it sure ain't easy. Forget it.

or something (I saw some neat carbon fiber lam steel

Now this is a COMPLETELY different proposition. Now what you're talking about is gluing rather than welding. This you can do. You heat treat the steel first, before you doing any grinding. Then you glue up your steel sandwich, and then you grind it.
What I hear from the guys who have done it is that G10 is your best choice, carbon fiber second best, and nothing else really works well at all.
This idea, go for it. The welding, no sir.

Mike :thumbup:

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Awesome! The G10 sounds like a good idea. You guys are right about my experiance level too. Some G10 weave would look cool I guess... I wonder how much stiffness this would add and if it would make it strong enough for use in a proper large knife...