Hocus pocus damascus

Bruno

Administrator
Staff member
What I can't wrap my head around is where those spots of tool steel are coming from.
I was pretty certain that those were 3 pieces of damascus and no scrap tool steel stubs were attached.
The only thing I can think of is that the middle piece itself was a san mai with tool steel core, and it wasn't too precisely made.
It was from before I had a press so the un-even ness makes sense.
 

Bruno

Administrator
Staff member
I just checked. I know what happened. If you look at the damascus near the black tool steel bits, you see that it is kinda fuzzy, like it was electrified? those is crushed W damascus. This was from a san mai with an O2 core and Crushed W sides. I remember making that billet and I know I twisted it. The ends of a twist are always bad because near the vise, the material does not twist properly because it cools down quickly.

I thought the center in this knife was a plain damascus twist, but it was an end of the special damascus and that is why it turned out like this.
 

32t

Active Member
Although I can appreciate the repetitive patterns that are equal they don't have that unique appeal to me. I like the random stuff because no one will ever have the same thing again.

Sort of reminds me of my mothers cooking. She is a great cook and looks at what is on hand for ingredients and makes something out of it.

One time she made a hot dish that my son was all excited about and he asked for the recipe. We laughed and said you can get a general idea and possibly get close but you will never have that exact meal again! LOL
 

Mike Blue

Member
I call that "shop floor surprise." It's a metal version of head cheese. It used to happen when I'd have a visitor who watched me make billets. The cutoffs got scattered and they'd run around collecting them. "Are you going to throw those away?" Well, yes, they are....(interrupted) "I'll take them! Then the weird patterns began to show up. I use a mild steel for the short stub tangs and it always got mixed into the pattern.

I learned that in Howard Clark's shop. I always thought he was nuts for throwing out perfectly good steel.

Al Dippold takes all sorts of different "leftovers" and squeezes them together and calls those patterns "maximum distortion."
 

Bruno

Administrator
Staff member
Sort of reminds me of my mothers cooking. She is a great cook and looks at what is on hand for ingredients and makes something out of it.
That's how I roll :)
I like making soups, stew and stir fry dishes. I work with what I have or what I remembered to buy, and then add whatever spices or things seem like a good idea at the time.

I start with a general idea, and then it goes like 'there's some mushrooms left that need eating. Might as well add that. Maybe throw in an extra boullion cube, oh wow I still have some chives in the fridge. you know, a couple spoons of hot sauce might make this interesting, etc...'
 

Bruno

Administrator
Staff member
I call that "shop floor surprise." It's a metal version of head cheese. It used to happen when I'd have a visitor who watched me make billets. The cutoffs got scattered and they'd run around collecting them. "Are you going to throw those away?" Well, yes, they are....(interrupted) "I'll take them! Then the weird patterns began to show up. I use a mild steel for the short stub tangs and it always got mixed into the pattern.

I learned that in Howard Clark's shop. I always thought he was nuts for throwing out perfectly good steel.

Al Dippold takes all sorts of different "leftovers" and squeezes them together and calls those patterns "maximum distortion."
Until recently, I tried to use as much of the billet as I could because making more was a lot of work. With the press I am much more likely to make the end cuts longer. I think I'll have to just collect them as I go and do more of this. It kinda looks interesting.
 

32t

Active Member
Until recently, I tried to use as much of the billet as I could because making more was a lot of work. With the press I am much more likely to make the end cuts longer. I think I'll have to just collect them as I go and do more of this. It kinda looks interesting.
This post hits home for me.

I have about half of the billet left I made at a workshop at Mike Blue's.

2 razors and 2 kitchen knifes made from it so far. One end cut still sits on the shelf and the other is still attached.

Thank you Mike for the teaching and Bruno for understanding why a chunk of metal can be special!

1251
 

Bruno

Administrator
Staff member
Bring them to Charlie's and in the meantime think about what you want to add. This time i come without a plan except having fun and doing some forging. With Charlie's hammer running we shpuld be able to make something interesting in the time we have.
 

32t

Active Member
No not yet.:(

I did find a nice elm burl this weekend that might be useful for that if I can't make a bowl from it.
 

32t

Active Member
It is the practice piece that I got from you. Not a very good picture but I think that the tang is bent to low so it would stick out the bottom of a handle I would like to try.

1301
 

Bruno

Administrator
Staff member
AhThat was done intentionally because I always angle the handle down just a bit and also the butt end tends to be a bit bigger.
Even so it's not a big issue. Do you have a torch available? Ideally one with a hot flame in a tight cone.
What I do when I want to adjust a tang is wrap the bolster of the blade tightly with a strip of cloth that is soaked with cold water.
Then I use a torch to heat up the part where I want it to bend. Keep the flame pointed away from the blade. You want to try and heat only the tang.

When the tang is glowing red, stick it between the clamps of a vise or a piece of pipe or something. No need to clamp it just. Just stick it in so that you can gently angle the tang in a different direction. As soon as the required adjustment is made, cool in water.
 
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