I bought a power hammer!!!

[paul76]

I’m right there with you too Jerry, I’m just working on basic forging skills for now. Still have yet to try forge welding, so I’m still quite a ways off from Damascus unless I buy already made materials, and even then it’s outside my skills for now. But eventually this will come in handy.

 

[Bruno]

The biggest advice I can give anyone: just try. Sure, in the beginning there will be some failures, and that will suck, but the best way to learn is by doing and it's really not rocket science. As with most things, beginning is the biggest hurdle. Once you've begun, you'll get better.

 

[Gasman]

So, Forge welding is having the stack of pieces spot welded together and sticking them in the forge to melt together. Right? What about the spot weld that is holding them. What happens to it? I'm thinking a razor with perfectly straight lines would look cool. Bet that would be hard to make too.

 

[Bruno]

Almost. The layers don't melt together on their own. The need to be forced togethet using a hammer or press. And it you use a hammer, they won't be absolutely parallel because every hammer stroke is different from the next one.

Where you spot welded the steel you need to remove it. Usually this means cutting off an inch on each side.

 

[Mike Blue]

Bruno, that depends. I've found that if I just scab weld a little bit, and keep all the welds to the outside of the billet when folding, most of the welding wire will scale away, or I'll grind it away cleaning the materials between welds, by the time I'm done forging the billet.

If you plan well enough, it's not usually a problem.

With my rolling mill, I can produce laminated steel that you can follow a layer all the way from one side to the other. It's almost boring it's so smooth. All you need is the right tool.

 

[32t]

"All you need is the right tool."

 

[Bruno]

True. I once visited Gudy (the tattooed guy with the ear inserts who was also at Hank's this year) in his shop and his rolling mill works really well. But not a cheap piece of equipment.
He told me the benefit is it is easy and quick, but the downside is the layers are so smooth it's actually boring
He told me he forges his billet partly with the hammer to get life in the layers, and then uses the rolling mill to take it to thickness.

That said, I think these days he buys stainless damascus from another maker because pocket knives are his bread and butter, and the pocket knife market is starting to be dominated by stainless.

 

[Bruno]

How things change...
I just sold my hammer. I got back what I had in it, more or less. So from that pov it ended well enough.
It is going to a smith in the Ardennes who also makes damascus knives. He wanted a little hammer for light work, alongside his 85 kilo DeMoor which is a monster. We just reached an agreement over the phone.

I am sad to see it go, but it is for the best. I am not using it, and the situation with my neighbors makes it difficult to use it anyway. And with that in mind it is good to get my money back out of it. If I leave it standing idle for year it's not going to increase in value.

 

[Bruno]

Here is the smith who bought my hammer, taking it apart and fixing it.
Tbh I couldn't have done what he did because I don't have the equipment and also I wouldn't really have known where to start.

 

[geezer]

Thank you!
It is a wonderful thing to see a young person with such awesome skills and having the equipment that surrounds him! The renewed Hammer shall last for another century and the young man will pass alll on to the next worthy candidate.
Congratulations for a a well done effect upon our world!
Sincerely
Geezer.

 

[Bruno]

Looking at the video I feel regret that now I cannot use it anymore. But realistically, I would not have been able to do what he did, and it would have sat here for another couple of years.

 

[verndahl]

did you sell it because you now have the press or because it needed work?

 

[Bruno]

I built the press as an alternative and to be able to work bigger billets, and because the situation with the noise wasn't ideal for my neighbors.

 

[RezDog]

He has a pretty cool shop. It looks like he has a lot of rebuilt vintage equipment, and know how to use it. I thought it was a super cool video and I appreciated the subtitles. I’m glad you shared the link.