Take Down Fighter Work In Progress

[joshsmith]

Recently a customer that I was preparing to build a knife for asked that I consider doing a work in progress thread. Since I had never done one I thought I would go for it.

This is going to be a take-down fighter with a Damascus blade and frame handle.

However this WIP thread is going to be a little different. Usually these WIP threads go flawlessly because the maker has the luxury of editing out the screw ups or changes that he ran into. I think we as makers like to typically show our best to the public and bury the bad. Many of the great knives you see had nearly fatal errors happen during the process but due to the talent of many makers they are able to deal with it and move on to create a great knife. Sometimes the problems are too great and you have to start over.

At times these problems are due to maker error and at other times it's due to unforeseen circumstances. At some point in this WIP there is going to be a major malfunction. I had considered showing the WIP without the major problem and editing out the nightmare that became part of this knife, but that wouldn't show you the true story. So here goes, a brutally honest WIP!

I hope you enjoy it.

Josh

First my customer emailed me a drawing of a blade design he liked. I almost never accept drawings from customers to follow because I either don't like the drawing or I don't feel I will be able to meet the customers fairly tale blade they have in their head. But in this case I liked the blade and knew this customer had a solid idea of what it would look like in a knife.

Next I took his blade and created a drawing of a handle that I thought he would like. I tried to incorporate a couple ideas that I've been wanting to do. This is a concept drawing and subject to change a bit while the knife is in progress. I am still working on my drawing skills and at times I feel a small change is necessary as the knife is actually coming together.

After sending pictures of three different sets of fossil mammoth ivory this customer chose this set of ivory. He asked though that I do the best I can to remove as little color as possible from the ivory as I could while constructing the knife.

Now it's time to make the Damascus......

 

[Erik Fritz]

This is gonna be great Josh thank you for giving us some insight into your procces. On another note even Mastersmiths screw things up?

 

[RogerP]

I know I'm going to enjoy this.

Roger

 

[joshsmith]

I would like to know what your thoughts are on pictures. I have racked up a ton of pictures doing this WIP. Would you prefer a to the point WIP or one stacked with pics?

 

[JParanee]

Really like the shape of the blade. Roger is right this is going to be good

 

[RogerP]

I would like to know what your thoughts are on pictures. I have racked up a ton of pictures doing this WIP. Would you prefer a to the point WIP or one stacked with pics?

The more pics the better for me. I thought Burt's WIP on the damascus camp knife was one of the best ever because it was one of the most comprehensive / detailed ever. Of course, that's an easy preference for me to express - I'm not the one posting the pics and commentary. That's a fair bit of work.

Roger

 

[cdent]

Hi Josh, please go ahead and stack it if you would.

Thanks much, Craig

 

[Keith Montgomery]

It's always better with lots of photos.

 

[BrianThie]

Josh, I am looking forward to this. I appreciate lots of photos -- especially ones covering the mechanics of the process.

In the end, I love seeing an exploded view of all the parts.

Thank you in advance for doing this.

Brian

 

[Kevin Jones]

More photos the better. :thumbup:
Really looking forward to seeing the mechanics of the handle.
I have observed your take-downs are as clean on the inside as the outside.

 

[Bruce Bump]

This is gonna be good. Lots of pictures and be sure to show us some screw-ups. hehe

 

[Doug C]

Thanks for taking the time to do this, Josh.
As Joe mentioned, great blade shape and the slightly raised clip really exemplifies your attention to the small details.
Can't wait to see the damascus.
The ivory looks stellar!

The more pics the better.

Doug

 

[joshsmith]

Though I would like to take credit for the blade design it was in fact my customers design. The reason I decided to make it was because it was in fact a good design. The funny thing was it was identical to a blade I had already made except this one was about 1/4" longer. I reduced this drawing a hair and it fit my other pattern perfectly. Kind of funny that we had similar taste in blade shapes.

More pics coming soon!

 

[bobbywett]

Josh,

Thanks for starting this thread, I will be looking forward to updates as the tutorial goes along.

Bob

 

[joshsmith]

The Damascus pattern that I had in my mind for this blade was a ladder patterned W's but with a twist. I wanted to try and have the top half of the blade be a real bold W's pattern and the bottom half be a tighter pattern. So here is how I set it up. Notice how the bottom half of the billet has much more 1080 layers and the top half is heavy on 15n20.

To start with I am using 3/16" thick layers of 1080, the dark layers, and .070 thick 15N20 layers all 1 1/2" wide.

This stack has 23 layers in it. Many makers count their layers wrong. This stack actually has 38 pieces of steel stacked up but when a layer is doubled you only count it once. For example if you were to stack 10 layers of 1080 together, and 10 layers of 15n20 you would only have two layers. Once it is forge welded the like materials weld into one layer.

I now align the layers on my bench as close as I can and C clamp them together.

The layers are then stood up on end so they can be clamped in my vise. At this point I am going to weld the layers together.

Here the billet has had both ends welded up and a couple small welds on the sides to prevent the out side layers from raising up when placed in the forge. The heat from the forge can cause those outside layers to buckle.

Now I weld a rebar handle on the billet so I can take the billet in and out of the forge. Let's get it hot!

Now you can see the billet has just been placed in the forge. You can see a second handle as well. That is a billet that Rick Dunkerley is working on. He came to my house on this day because his forge shop was not set up after moving. Funny thing is it's been that way for three years. I think he likes my rolling mill, and the free propane!

It's getting hotter.

Once the billet has started getting some color in it I pull it out and flux it. When it's hot the flux sticks to the billet nicely. This flux will help clean the surfaces of the steel and prevent oxidizing from the atmosphere. That way the steel will have clean surfaces to forge weld to.

 

[joshsmith]

Once the billet has heated to a welding temperature I take it out and place it in my hydraulic press. I squeeze the billet on its first weld between to long flat welding dies. This evenly distributes the pressure throughout the entire billet.

I then turn the billet on a 90 and fold it down a bit further. With less die pressing the steel it allows me to squeeze it a bit harder.

Notice the scale on the side of the billet. You can actually see the layers of steel.

At this point I change my dies to a more aggressive die that allows me to draw the billet out quicker. I failed to take pictures of this but at this point it a lot of back and forth drawing the billet out.

This bar of steel was forged out to 1 5/8" square by 14". Notice the layers in the end of the bar.

Now to make W's I am going to forge the bar on a bias or re-square it. I start this process by forging it back to square on a 45 degree angle.

Notice how the layers are now going left to right but they are going corner to corner. I hope you can see that and follow it.

The bar was then forged down flat. But the layers are not going side to side any more. They are going up and down. But in the process of forged it down from that re-squared bar the layers buckled. This is the beginning of a "W".

This bar is now 26" long 1 3/4" wide and 3/4" thick. I will now chop the handle off and grind the black scale off the bar.

Picture of my chop saw outside my shop.

Here is the ground bar. The part that is not ground will be the outside layer when I re-stack it. I grind the scale off to be certain no scale will be trapped inside the billet when I forge it back together.

When the end of the bar is chopped off I dip it in a mixture of water and ferric chloride. The ferric etches the steel revealing the layers.

 

[joshsmith]

The bar is then chopped into 5-5" pieces and stacked back together. However I must be sure to orientate each bar correctly so I keep the heavy 1080 layers on one side and the 15n20 on the other.

The layers have now been stacked up and welded back together.

 

[RogerP]

Seeing how these damascus patterns are formed step by step is of particular interest to me.

Roger

 

[joshsmith]

Here is the new stack back in the forge. The same process is now repeated over. This billet will be fluxed, heated to welding temp, and then drawn out to my desired length.

Here is the new bar all drawn out. This bar is now 20"x2"x3/4" Again I will cut the handle off, grind the billet and re-stack.

You can very slightly see the layers in the end of the bars. I apologize for the poor picture. Again though I am re-stacking it with light on one side and dark on the other.

Here's the billet now all stacked back up with a hungry hot forge ready and waiting.

Billet headed into the forge.

Now it is time to draw this billet out and prepare it for patterning. At this point I have prepared myself with exact dimensions of what I will need for each piece on the knife. For example I know I need steel for the blade, guard, spacers, escutcheons, and butt cap.

 

[Erik Fritz]

This is looking good josh. thank you for shareing. Is that anvil top polished?