New to knife making. Have a steel question.

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blue_drummer

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Apr 9, 2010
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I am very new to the knife making world. Currently the knife making I am doing is stock removal but I would like to eventually get into forging. I have some roller chain I was thinking about making into Damascus but I don't know enough about steels to even know if it would work. The steel in the chain is 1050 and 1547. Could this be made into a usable knife?

Thanks in advance.
 
Forging damascus is a large step above forging a knife. Forging chain damascus is another large step above that.

The chain you have will MAYBE work, but there are a lot of steps along the way. You don't just take the chain and make a bar out of it. You will need a big forge, power hammer, hydraulic press, welding equipment, and a lot of skills.
 
Ariel Salaverria of Argentina is an amazingly creative maker and has made damascus out of anything you could imagine ,roller chain, bearings , etc. BUT he is far from being an amateur !!!
Yoy've got lots to learn.
 
no offence mean Gents, but to play devils advocate here... why not? I have done a fair bit of travelling in my day, and have seen damascus made in some pretty rudimentary shops... from what i can tell, long before power hammers, hydraulic presses and modern welding equipment. I believe the process actually originates from somewhere in the middle ages as far back as 400 BC, in Damascus Syria (hence the name) That being the case, I would imagine they were folding many different types of steel/iron together to form their product, and can't imagine with what we know about the process today, that with a bit of research a man with the proper motivation couldn't pull this off in his heated garage... thoughts?
 
rustyrazor said:
no offence mean Gents, but to play devils advocate here... why not? thoughts?
Click to expand...

Curious if you've ever tried it or just seen it?

It's kinda like, I mowed with a riding lawn mower once (only association with a combustion engine), and my buddy needs his Ferrari engine rebuilt tonight so I thought I'd head over and knock it out for him, I've got a pliers, adjustable wrench and a engine hoist, what do you think?
 
Assuming he does pull it off, then after all that back breaking work he has a bar of dubious quality with a low carbon content :(
 
It's probably a good idea to get some known good 1084 from Aldo (njsteelbaron.com) and practice forging with that for a while, it will make a great knife and is fairly simple to heat treat effectively. Damascus, assuming simple layered billets, can be done with a hammer and simple forge etc, but it's best you get some forging under your belt first, and read up on damascus in the meantime. There are some DVDs out there on the subject as well.
 
I think when I have an opprotunity I will give it a shot. All I will have wasted will be my time. Beating on hot steel with a hammer will be fun no matter what the outcome.

My main question was if the 1050 and 1547 are decent steels to make a knife out of. It sounds like they are not.
 
At least it's a bit of a work out! I'm sure it can't hurt to give it a try weather it turns out or not
 
Have at it, but a little research would show that it is a different process than just hammering it together.
I look forward to your photos.
 
bladsmth - I know that you are correct in what you are saying. After all, you have much more experience in this. The reason I want to still do it is more the experience. If I am going to become any sort of a knife maker I need to experience what it all has to offer. I will learn from all advice, positive or negative. Thank you all for your advice I greatly appreciate it.
 
Blue Drummer, Where in Oregon are you from?????

First I have made Chain Saw chain damascus by hand. It worked one time after 3 tries and then never since. But I became very picky and hate any type of inclusion or could shut. Can it be done?? yes but it is a lot of work and very difficult by hand. You need to try some more simple forge welding first. But have at it and let us know what happens.
 
It can be don and with very little knowledge and a lot of persistance and probably luck too. I know this from experience. when i first started making knives the first knife I made was from a file. the second knife I made was from chain saw chain. this was done without a forge but in a wood stove with air blowing into it to get up to what I perceived as welding heat. My anvil was a twenty pound sledge hammer buried into a block of doug fir and I used a three pound drilling hammer to pound with. twenty mule team borax for flux. since I didn't know it was not possible I got a nice solid little bar of damascusand forged a small hunter out of it hardened in auto trans fluid and used the crap out of it for three years. No it didn't get fully hard but it was hard enough to be seviceable. So I say go for it Blue man.
 
Were bouts in Oregon you from? If you be close it might result in an invite:rolleyes: If not there are other smiths that might be willing to help you out.
 
blue_drummer said:
bladsmth - I know that you are correct in what you are saying. After all, you have much more experience in this. The reason I want to still do it is more the experience. If I am going to become any sort of a knife maker I need to experience what it all has to offer. I will learn from all advice, positive or negative. Thank you all for your advice I greatly appreciate it.
Click to expand...

No one is saying you shouldn't try but we're trying to get you to gain experience with something that there is a MUCH better chance Of a successful outcome why put in all that time when there is a very good likelihood of failure, not sure how that's helpful, spend 10$ on a known steel and learn with something that will most likely produce a positive result.
 
Okay, rather than starting with declaratives, I'll toss in a few interrogatives.

What kind of forge do you have (or are you planning on building one)? How will you regulate the temperature and evenness of heating for larger pieces?

What kind of welding tools do you have? How experienced are you in using them?

What kind of tools do you have for working hot metal?

What protective gear do you have for use in welding and forging?

How well does your current insurance protect you in the event you accidentally set the shop or house on fire?

Have you told your family that you're about to start playing with fire? Did they offer any insights as to how they feel about it?
 
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