San Mai

Greenberg Woods

Greenberg Woods

Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
2,695
Hey again guys. I have some 15N20 and some W2, and I was really hoping to make some San Mai. I have done forge welds before, but in searching for tutorials/ general info all i have found is a bunch of nerds yelling about how Japanese swords are so much better. Does anyone have a good video or link to some hints for making good San Mai? Thanks for your help guys, hope you have a good day

Ben
 
If you've forge welded before, you should be covered, at-least as far as making it stick.


Take 2 pieces of 15n20, put them on the outside of 1 piece of w2. Tack or tie them together somehow, and then forge weld them.


The tricky part about san mai is keeping the core even when drawing the billet out, and having the correct ratios of outside layer to inside layer, depending on how you make knives, that you don't grind all the outsides away. As far as keeping the core centered, it really depends on your equipment, and what size pieces you're trying to make.


Without more specifics, I'm not sure what else I can offer. If you're doing this by hand I recommend simply starting with small pieces and making a piece small enough for a small blade, making sure to evenly alternate sides when forging.
 
Hey Hellspawn I haven't seen much on san mai construction out there either. If you don't mind, document it and post some photos. It seems easy enough to make when compared to even simple damascus, but as Javan mentioned I think the hard part is going to be keeping it even so it is some what symmetrical when you grind it. I imagine a press would make it much easier to achieve this!
 
Yes, im doing this by hand. unfortunately all my steel is 2 by 1/8 inch. I do have a band saw and a plasma torch so cutting them into skinner pieces shouldent present an issue. One thing I was wondering, Most of what i make is kitchen knives, So they tend to have pretty tall blades. Some makers have advised me use widths of 1-1.5 inches so i guess I would have to forge it out.

The other question would be, can i start to forge the bevel? would bringing out that bevel compromise the centering of the core or would that be acceptable.
Thanks for your response.
 
For a first sanmai I would stick to 1", and not too long a billet. You might want to skip forging the bevels as well, at least until you're sure you're keeping your core steel in the center. Forge both sides equally-especially when you're drawing he distal taper, or you'll have a heck of a time getting the core centered.
View attachment 537409View attachment 537409
This one is 1075 and hitachi blue #2, distal tapered with all bevels done on the grinder.
 
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