Made my first damascus

S

Sbranch

Joined
Feb 7, 2015
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made my first billet today. Nothing too fancy, just a 7 layer of 15n20 and 1084.

No press so made it by hand. After grinding the sides down it looks like it took just fine.
My problem is now having to have to draw it down. Used rounding hammer, guillotine tool, horn of anvil, and cross pein. Drawing 1” square down is tough, double tough.

Would a straight pein be any more efficient? I don’t mind swinging, but would rather work smarter.
 
A straight peen may be, but would hard to tell without seeing your whole setup. My preferred method for drawing out that size or larger by hand is to use a 4# sledge and use the large radius rounded corner on my anvil as the fuller (lately I've been experimenting with the rounding head of my sledge and think that may be a little faster). However, this method does require a heavy anvil that doesn't move.

When drawing out larger material, I prefer hitting slower with a heavier hammer than faster with a lighter hammer.
 
99% of drawing is doing it at the right heat. You need to be below welding heat … but not much below it. Start at a good yellow-orange color ( 2100F). Stick it back in the forge when it stops moving under the hammer. It will still seem bright red (1700F), but it is too hard to forge well. Properly heated steel draws out almost like forging a stick of butter.

A good trick is to make a drawing hardie. Take a 4" piece of round bar of steel (any type). Take a piece of square stock that fits your hardie hole. Weld them into a "T". Drop this in the hardie and forge the billet on it with a #4 hand maul/sledge, or a 3# blacksmth's hammer. It will really speed up drawing out a billet.
 
Thanks. That should help.
My setup is kinda simple. I burner forge I made from a small air tank, 75# big face anvil, 2X4 stump, guillotine tool, and a butt load of hammers. Kind of a toolaholic.
 
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