Making Damascus from a Chainsaw Blade?

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mgysgthath

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Dec 15, 2009
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I had a spare chainsaw blade laying around and my new forge is fired up and I was trying my hand at forge welding (first time). The welds seemed pretty solid where it welded, but I found it hard to keep the chain all together, it tends to open up when you hit it and since it's thin it cools in those areas and makes cold shuts. The main core of the tiny little billet was pretty good, and I ground it off on my grinder and soaked it in vinegar for a couple hours.. showed a bit of pattern which is pretty cool.

It was more proof of concept for me (just making a forge weld), and I know it wasn't the easiest thing to start with. I will be cleaning up and stacking some 1080/15n20 and trying that hopefully this weekend.

So is there some trick to keeping it all together, do I need to build and fill a "can" full of chainsaw chain and do it like mosaic damascus?
 
I've never used chainsaw chain but I made some knives with bicycle chain a few years back and I started by wrapping the pile of chain as tight as I could with a ton of bailing wire. That seemed to help keep everything together during the initial heats. After each heat I would wrap the billet again to keep it as tight as I could. I think I ended up re-wrapping each billet about three times before it was solid enough to not need the wire anymore.
 
I seem to remember a thread where someone used a motorcycle chain. I am fairly sure they put it in a can though with a piece of 10xx as a core.
 
RR1920: How do you be so insulting, it's not motorcycle chain, it's Harley Davidson chain. Do you actually think someone would want a knife made from Kawasaki chain, hehe?

Mgysgthath: Did you arc/mig weld the chain together before you forge welded it? That should keep it in shape better than without.
 
Zaph, I just read the first few words and thought "Oh crap, what did I post" lol.

I think it was a drive chain from an old Indian motorcycle from Indian George. Pretty sure it was Bruce Bump that was doing it. harley, heh...
 
There is some marketing in it being "Harley" chain.


You will have no real way of knowing if it was industrial roller chain or motorcycle drive chain.

The modern high performance Jap sports bikes have internal lubrication and o ring seals.
You want to avoid those for chain Damascus.
 
Mgysgthath,

I make quite a bit of chain damascus, I use several different methods depending on what I am looking for in the final product.

1 method is wet welding: what I do is pile up a few chains back and forth. I keep the length to about 6" long. I mig weld the ends together and wire the middle in several places to keep it together as I weld it. I like to stack it fairly tall this gives me enough reduction I can forge out voids with out having to fold the billet. As I weld it from the far end I cut the wire wraps off as I get near them as not to weld them in. Also use lots of flux and heat often and work small sections.

The other method I use is in a can, Generally these I start out a box 2" X 4" to 6" tall X 6" long. I take several chains usually around 5 long ones. First thing to do is clean them if they are greasy. I use a brush and a parts degreaser and scrub the grunge off, if they are clean but have some oil those are OK. I then cut them up in 6" pieces. I then take my square tube and cut opposite corners to open it up to create two "L's" I take one of those "L's" and lean the top back about 1/4". I line my can with cardboard then stack the chain up add cardboard to the other "L" and place it on top and then carefully clamp it down tight. I use my hydraulic press and crush it down as much as I can while I have welding clamps on it. This causes the "L's" to bypass and gives you a place to weld the can shut on the two sides. I then cut and weld an end cap on one end. After that I fill the can with powder steel, you will want to tap the can to vibrate the powder down till it will not take anymore. then weld the other end cap on and weld it under the hydraulic press using squaring dies. Once it feels solid I set it aside to cool so I can remove the can and then forge to what ever dimensions I need.

I just did a can and photographed the process to make a WIP of it and the bar will be going to fellow forum member but will need to wait for him before we start the WIP.

Hope that helps if you need anymore help shoot me a PM or email be glad to help.
 
Thanks all, I appreciate the tips. Especially Mike, that's given me some new ideas. I've only got one chain left so I won't be trying right away, but that definitely gives me a better chance. Question, what does the cardboard do, and it ends up inside the can?
 
I use the cardboard to eat the oxygen up in the can and it also helps to prevent the billet from welding to the can. I will dig up some photos and post them for you.
 
I know the ? was more of a tips ? but if your wanting a good supply of chainsaw chain try your local saw shop or outdoor equipment shop that repairs saws. i pick up about 50 "worn out" chains every month or so from a local shop that they used to thow away. Now they happily save them for me. hope this helps
 
Thanks Mike I thought that might be why, but I didn't think it would prevent it sticking to the sides of the can. I was also going to ask if you ground away the can after or something, but that makes it a lot easier I bet :)

That's a good idea talarock.. I run a computer store and I do a lot of service work for a local (fairly big) shop that does a lot of chainsaw sales and repairs, so that might just work out really well :)
 
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