San mai - wavy lines

[weo]

Would it be possible to use the power hammer for this?

Yes

Could I make some sort of tool using round stock, and let the power hammer do the hammering?

Yes

Or would this be a bad idea?

Depends on your welding skills

How deep should the scallops be ground?

For ladder patterns, I go about 1/3 the way through the billet on each side, and I'd imagine it's be about the same for this, but I'll defer to those who have used this method for san-mai. Don't forget, you will be doing more grinding of the bevels after forging the billet to shape.

 

[kuraki]

Just remember if you grind scallops and draw flat, you will be stretching your scallop width and spacing out.

If you forge your scallops in, and grind the ridges off, you maintain the spacing and width you've forged in.

Either way you have to be careful to keep the core centered.

If I were you I would make a round bar spring swage that mimics Tom's press dies, for use in your hammer assuming it has enough control for you to make finesse hits.

Forge your billet to near finished thickness, forge in scallops, straighten billet without disturbing the scallops too much, grind your blade.

Keep in mind it's harder to keep scallop tips near the finished edge without either forging your bevels or without tapering scallops in a way that matches your finished bevel.

 

[Stromberg Knives]

Hey guys!

Here's a status update. I begun the testing as per the discussion in this thread. And for testing purposes I made a new small knife pattern, to avoid unnecessary waste of material during testing.

On this one I ground some scallops and then drew it out on the power hammer. I believe I understand the mechanics behind it now, and how to tweak the squiggliness of the line.

 

[Ken H>]

I like it. How many scallops did you grind in and how far apart were they? How thick was the billet when grinding, then how thick after drawing out? How deep? Just thru the outer cladding, not into the core? You didn't happen to take photo after grinding but before drawing billet?

 

[weo]

I like it too. Is that core also 1095?

 

[Stromberg Knives]

I like it. How many scallops did you grind in and how far apart were they? How thick was the billet when grinding, then how thick after drawing out? How deep? Just thru the outer cladding, not into the core? You didn't happen to take photo after grinding but before drawing billet?

Thank you!

Here's a picture of the billet. I ground a couple of wide scallops to get a feel for how they would impact the outcome. I didn't want to go too deep for the first try, they're about half the thickness of the cladding.

To minimize material waste I made a small billet, it's 4" x 2" and about 0.4" thick. I drew it out to about twice the length and half the thickness. In hindsight it's pretty obvious that only two of the scallops are used/visible in the final result, since the half the billet/blank is the tang.

And here's a one of the other side of the blade.

 

[Ken H>]

I like it! I guess I had in mind the grooves going from about 2/3rd way up blade, and tapered with deep part at edge while other end tapering to zero thickness as the groove approached the 2/3 mark, or more toward spine.

I plan to do something like that on my next San Mai - but that won't be until it cools down a bit. It's HOT here on Gulf Coast.

 

[Stromberg Knives]

I like it too. Is that core also 1095?

Yep, it's 420/1095/420. And I really like this combination. The forge weld great, the 420 is easy enough to grind and finish - and the 1095 will get pretty dark and give great contrast.

 

[weo]

and the 1095 will get pretty dark and give great contrast

I was thinking that might be O1. Are you doing anything besides a standard acid etch?

 

[Kevin Kf knives]

Thank you!

Here's a picture of the billet. I ground a couple of wide scallops to get a feel for how they would impact the outcome. I didn't want to go too deep for the first try, they're about half the thickness of the cladding.

To minimize material waste I made a small billet, it's 4" x 2" and about 0.4" thick. I drew it out to about twice the length and half the thickness. In hindsight it's pretty obvious that only two of the scallops are used/visible in the final result, since the half the billet/blank is the tang.

And here's a one of the other side of the blade.

Pretty awesome dude.

 

[Stromberg Knives]

I was thinking that might be O1. Are you doing anything besides a standard acid etch?

Not really.

The FeCl is diluted 2:1 with distilled water. I go in short periods at a time and do a lot of gentle scrubbing with 0000 steel wool.

 

[Rancho5]

I’m nowhere near the skills and talent you possess, but as someone who appreciates art and design, both of those knives are simply stunning. I’m gobsmacked...just incredible. Well done sir.

 

[Stromberg Knives]

I’m nowhere near the skills and talent you possess, but as someone who appreciates art and design, both of those knives are simply stunning. I’m gobsmacked...just incredible. Well done sir.

Thank you very much for the kind words. Much appreciated!