Wheeler's Steel * Stuck in the metal with you

Awesome, awesome thread, Nick!!!! Yeah, and the knife ain’t too bad either!! ;) :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
 
But....but...what now....? :confused:
Is this it? :(
Where can we possibly go from here?:grumpy:

Ok, guess I'll turn out the lights on my way out. :(


;)
 
Nick, I was wondering... you want to let this lay, as in "Lay lay, n.
1. That which lies or is laid or is conceived of as having
been laid or placed in its position; a row; a stratum; a
layer; as, a lay of stone or wood. --Addison.
[1913 Webster]"? Was asking because I didn't ask some questions before... felt it would get in the way of the focus.

Coin's in the air... your call.

Mike
 
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Nick, This is the most informative WIP EVER. Lorien congratulations on an awesome piece.

Only 110 more looks for the big 50K
 
Thanks guys :)

Mike- fire away. I probably won't have the answers (I know you're very meticulous about your approach to things) but I can probably come up with a good story/lie. ;) Just josh'n.... :D

BTW Mr. Gregory- I have ADD, not dyslexia!!! Trying to reverse the ever golden 63 for the win won't work!!! :grumpy: ;) :p :D
 
Good... =] ... and thanks, Nick.

Page #1, post #6... the start of the billet forging. I figure you used borax for the initial weld but don't know that.

Post #11... Later on in the billet layering, you are dry welding. Why not borax (or kerosene)?

You talked about wanting a lot of distortion in a random billet for a lot of form change and chatoyance/shimmer. Is there anything about stacking after initial weld that promotes that? Other things that promote it?

Mike
 
i have learned many things from this thread.

the largest lesson is that i might just have to accept that i will never be that good.

but i keep pluggin', anyway.

BTW, i like the fact that you leave meat in your tangs.
 
Mike- I think the short answer is that I am always experimenting and trying to see what works best for me.

You are right, I used borax on the first weld. I have a tank with a gallon of kerosene in it, and I soak the initial stack in it. I will sprinkle a little bit of anhydrous borax on the billet before sticking it in the forge.

Now mind you, that's with 1084 that's been ground clean on a 60X belt. I know several guys that go right in the forge with 1084, mill scale and all. I used to do it that way, but every once in awhile was getting the dreaded black lines somewhere in a billet. As much as I hate standing in front of the grinder removing mill scale, I figure it's a small amount of time in the grand scheme of things.

Anyway, I have heard of a lot of guys only using kerosene. My buddy Mike Quesenberry called me up one day to talk to me about how well it was working for him. I tried it the other night with a small billet (initial weld, billet was about 10 layers) and it seems to have worked BEAUTIFULLY.

The dry welding has just proven to be a fool proof way to get a super solid weld for me. With the welder set at a low voltage and high wire speed, you can weld around a billet VERY fast.

I am also experimenting with soaking the re-stacked billet in kerosene. If I can get solid welds with only soaking the billet in the kerosene tank prior to putting it in the forge, then that will save a lot more time.

As far as distortion, I will intentionally "mess up" the billet a little here and there, i.e. forge it a little out of square, then knock it back to square, use different dies for some of the drawing process. The biggest factor in this blade was hand hammering it a lot. There are a lot of shimmery spots that I can directly relate to where I hit the blade with a drawing hammer.

In a perfect world a guy would end up with a random pattern billet that looks like a stack of alternating black/white sheets of paper... but I couldn't forge one that clean if my life depended on it. So I just add to the distortion on a random pattern. Also, a press works the billet more from the inside out. If you just squeeze a billet down as fas as you can, then cut the end, clean, and etch, you'll notice the center layers are thinner than the outside layers, and that has an impact on the final pattern too.


Hope that clears things up a bit Mike :)

Matt and Chuck- Angi almost bought me a shirt the other day that read, "I have ADD, which means I have attention defi.... LOOK A SQUIRREL!!!" ;) :D
 
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Very nicely done Nick. I've enjoyed following this WIP immensely. You're an unusual combination of engineer and artisan that I think is really cool.
 
WOW, what a thread! Ive read through it a couple times now and have it bookmarked. this should deff. be a sticky.
I have learned so much from this thread that this weekend I started my first hidden tang.
 
Nice picture of the process... looking back at the thread pictures, I can see what you describe in the steel. Thanks, Nick... =]

I've messed with the kerosene just a little bit... once... and it worked. Was ground billet pieces and I put a very little borax on the edges after the initial weld and soaked it well (like John White's approach). Did the other half of the same billet with borax all the way. I think I'm going to have to get pieces of both to a finished, etched stage to find differences, if any.

I've been using sodium bisulphite to remove forge scale. Takes "mill scale" off well and quickly... sometimes needs brushing through the soaking time to get all, well and truly, if it's more than mill scale. Still, I think sandblasting (30-60 grit) works easier than anything (scale, or rust, or whatever), but I don't have the tool.

I'll see what else I can come up with for questions...

Mike
 
Hey, Nick...

Page #12... Post #226... squaring front of handle block.

Earlier, you were talking about the 1-degree bevel 9" disc and it being so close to flat as to be the same thing (my interpretation). Squaring the handle block on a 12" disc without (I'm guessing) a 1-degree bevel. Would the 1-degree 9" disc not work for this?

Mike
 
Nathan- Thanks for that... that really made my day :)

Mike- I suppose you could, but I haven't done a handle in quite a few years where I didn't sand the face of the material on the granite surface plate. And I don't like using my 9" disc for that type of thing anyway, because I don't have a table for it. Even though I have a foot pedal for the 9" disc... it would be hard to hold the block to it without a table. I'm sure it can be done.... I just don't. ;)
 
NickWheeler said:
Mike- I suppose you could, but I haven't done a handle in quite a few years where I didn't sand the face of the material on the granite surface plate. And I don't like using my 9" disc for that type of thing anyway, because I don't have a table for it. Even though I have a foot pedal for the 9" disc... it would be hard to hold the block to it without a table. I'm sure it can be done.... I just don't. ;)
Click to expand...

Should have used my words better, Nick... would the 1-degree disc get the handle face flat enough?

Mike
 
I really don't know Mike, I haven't ever tried doing it that way. In theory, I think it would, but without any real experience I can't say for sure. If anybody else has tried it, I'd be interested in hearing their thoughts on it.
 
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