"W" Pattern Damascus WIP my way

[JGguns]

Unreal Mike! Looks fantastic! Thanks so much for bringing us along my friend!

 

[A C Richards]

Good job Mike. Can't wait to see one finished up with this stuff.

 

[Mike Turner]

So, when you forge a blade will you forge it oriented as it sets in your hand, tip towards your fingers and tang at palm?
About what size knife will that piece make?

Very impressive and thanks for sharing.

Chris you are correct, The tip will be forged out towards the side nearest my finger tips and there is no reason you could not forge it out the other way either, just depends on which way you want the W's to run. I prefer them running with the length of the blade not across the blade. Here is a sketch I did to help out Chris, as you can see from the drawing you can have the "W's" go either way.

And size all depends on what you are forging. The blade I have to forge from this piece needs to be 5/32" X 1 3/4" X 5 1/2" long for a folder blade for a folder the customer has is having made for him by another maker.




Thanks Redmech, JGguns, and Chuck. Well Chuck I will be forging a blade for myself out of this billet so keep your eyes peeled .

 

[A C Richards]

Waiting patiently, NOT

 

[Mike Turner]

So now we are going to move this WIP into rough forging a blade from this same billet.

So first thing we do is cut a slab from the billet, I am guessing I will need a slab about 5/16".

And now I weld on a piece of small rebar just to make this easier to handle.

I then make sure to grind any weld that maybe sticking over the face of the billet, I don't want to forge it into the face of the billet.

So I take a heat and forge this out some, with this pattern you need to work it slow and easy. If you get careless and forge to fast and let it get to cold it will tear apart. We started with a piece that was 2" wide by about 3 1/4" and is now forged down to 1 3/4" by nearly 4 3/4".

Second heat we get well over our 5 1/4" length that we needed and we have it about a heavy 3/16".

Well that is enough for tonight, tomorrow I will make a template from the drawing that was sent to me and forge this to shape so stay tuned.

 

[Mike Turner]

And we continue I will be adding a lot of photos and some will not need narration but if you need clarification on something please ask questions.

OK so we have been sent a drawing by the folder maker that will be making this blade into a knife for the customer and I have made a paper template from it and marked it on my anvil face so I can refer to it while I am forging to see how things are looking. Remember this is a rough forging and I am not the knifemaker and do not wish to tread on his work, the only reason we are doing a rough forging is to get the pattern to chase the profile of the knife. With the "W's" this looks like fire chasing the profile and this is what the customer wanted specifically.

So here we go lets heat this bad boy up and get pounding.

Forging the tip in and I am looking to see how it is shaping up in this photo.

As you forge the tip in the metal displaces and bulges the face so we need to keep checking this and also need to be careful not create a cold shunt or create what I like to call fish lips on the point of the tip.

Checking the tip profile to the sketch and it looks good.

Stay tuned more coming.

 

[Mike Turner]

Now we need to forge in some of the curves.

One thing you really need to be aware of is scale so we brush the blade so we do not pound scale into it and keep the anvil face clean as well.

Back to forging.

And now we turn our attention to the tang area of the blade and forge in the step down.

Checking to the sketch to see how we are doing.

I move the blade just slightly off the sketch so I can see the sketch profile so I can keep working the profile of the blade closer to that of the sketch.

We have this forged close enough to shape and now checking to make sure it is straight before I do a couple thermal cycles and then place in vermiculite over night.

A little straightening.

So I turn the temp down on the forge and let it stabilize at a couple different temps, I shoot for about 1700º and about 1600º and let air cool on my anvil in still air then I go one more time at the lower temp and bury in Vermiculite over night to slow cool.

Well be sure to stop in tomorrow we will be surface grinding this and putting a little etch on it, then off to the customer.

 

[Brian Ayres]

Sweet!!!

That sure is some pretty work Mike.

And no, no press or power hammer... Yet....But, I am bring home 2- 7.5hp motors this week. I should build a press....

I like seeing damascus forged to shape. I can't wait to see how the pattern flows on the blade.

 

[Mike Turner]

Thanks Brian.


So now I get the bar out of the vermiculite to start surface grinding.

Lets make some sparks .

Stay tuned a MONEY shot is coming.

 

[JGguns]

What a awesome thread this has been. Thanks so much for taking the time to make this Mike! Can't wait for the money shot!

 

[Mike Turner]

Well time for the money shot, this was hard to capture since I only gave it a quick dip in the hot tub so I had to take 2 shots to show most of the blade.

Any question or comments feel free to ask and thanks for watching.

 

[JGguns]

That is beutiful Mike. Excellent work.

 

[redmech]

Mike, if you get a pic from the maker, when he has it completed, I sure would like to see it. This has been a real eye opener with the amount of work that can go into certain types of Damascus work.

RD

 

[RyanW]

Great work as always Mike! thanks for sharing, and I also would love to see the finished Blade when the Maker gets her done!

 

[Mike Turner]

Thanks guys, RD and Ryan I will see if the maker will share a finished pic to pass on. If so I will post it here.

 

[A C Richards]

Very Nice Mike. Would be nice to see the finished product.

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

Great WIP!

 

[Mike Turner]

Thanks Chuck and Daniel.

 

[Ed Braun]

Mike, buddy, Thank You. I think out of a lot of people you know how late I stay up some nights reading, studying, and, hell, forging--And I can't thank you enough for those nights bouncing stuff back and forth, but this? Pictures are worth a thousand words, and you put a million things into perspective.
I've not seen a recurve ridge swedge folder before, and the way the pattern follows according to your forging is going to give the finished piece a great set of lines.
Fantastic--don't keep us waiting long with more pics.

 

[peppen108]

That is impressive!