I'm lighten' up the forge.

Conan_568 · Post by **Conan_568** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 4:50 pm

This weekend my son Connor is borrowing his video production teacher's camera and he's going to film me making damascus steel, from the first weld right up to the finished knife.
He's real good at filming and editing and I should end up with a great film out of the deal as well as enough steel to do me for a few years.

I sure hope none of this crap flies out and hits the lens.

don marable · Post by **don marable** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 6:57 pm

Conan:

I can't imagine what in the hell you are doing, but man oh man does it look cool. (not in the temperature sence of the word)

Don

Conan_568 · Post by **Conan_568** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 7:58 pm

don

I'm making the steel for these.
I start out with a 7 layer stack and don't stop until I'm at around 400 layers.

montana charlie · Post by **montana charlie** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 8:09 pm

...thought you were makin' a square light bulb...

Conan_568 · Post by **Conan_568** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 11:09 pm

Not a very efficient light bulb I'm afraid.
You could heat your house for a month with the heat I use.

Oregon Bill · Post by **Oregon Bill** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 1:50 am

Conan: I'm just a file-wrecker with a Tim Lively-style charcoal washtub forge and Champion hand-cranked blower, so seeing a trip-hammer in action is pretty exciting. Tell us more about your shop and techniques,

Conan_568 · Post by **Conan_568** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 2:11 am

Oregon Bill
"Tell us more about your shop and techniques,"

I'll do better than that Bill.
I'll post a link to some clips when the film is done.
I don't know for sure, but I think Connor will have me describe each part of the process as I go.

I saw a clip of Tim Lively making a knife by hand, and I thought it was great.
I really liked how the knife turned out too.

Conan_568 · Post by **Conan_568** » Tue May 01, 2007 12:50 pm

Well I did the first weld series in my new shop on the weekend.
Everything went well, and I have to repeat the process 3 more times to reach 448 layers of steel.
These pics were taken out of the movie my son Connor is making for a film festival.
The first pic is of me welding a 7 layer stack of 203-E and 1095 steel together, and the second pic is of the freshly welded bar.

mdeland · Post by **mdeland** » Tue May 01, 2007 1:00 pm

Neat stuff Conan, and thanks for sharing this most interesting post. What do you use for a forge and fuel?

Conan_568 · Post by **Conan_568** » Tue May 01, 2007 1:21 pm

I use a propane forge that I made from a log truck trailer reach and some pipe fittings.
I guess I should have grabbed a couple of pics of it off of the film.
I'm sure it gets to well over 2500 degrees and it sounds like a jet engine when I'm pumping 15 psi through it.
The great thing about this forge is that I can totally control the atmosphere inside.
Too much oxygen and the steel will scale off like crazy, so I use a reducing, and slightly carburizing gas air mixture.
It saves a bit of steel and it may even add a bit of carbon to the steel.
I used to burn coal, but even though we have a mine up the road, the coal is utter crap, and the next closest supplier is a days travel away, it’s a pita to get.

Conan_568 · Post by **Conan_568** » Tue May 01, 2007 4:10 pm

This is the shortest of the 3 stacks of steel I welded up last Saturday.

I heat it red, flux it then put in back in the forge.

I heat it to welding temperature.

I weld the stack together.

The stack is now a solid bar, which I lengthened out ground clean , then cut it in 4 pieces and restacked it.
I'll do the same thing 3 more times, and end up with 448 layers.

I can post more pics when I pattern the steel and forge the bowie.

Kelley O. Roos · Post by **Kelley O. Roos** » Tue May 01, 2007 6:07 pm

How much time does it take for the process of welding and folding 448 times

Kelley O.

buffalocannon · Post by **buffalocannon** » Tue May 01, 2007 6:08 pm

Conan, I'm impressed. You seem to have a worthwhile skill there. Not many of us can say that in the 21st Century. I believe that many of us have gotten soft.

Conan_568 · Post by **Conan_568** » Tue May 01, 2007 6:59 pm

Kelly, I've done it in a day single folding like the Japanese smiths do, but this way makes nicer steel, no slag inclusions.

It's 448 layers of steel, but I only cut and reweld 3 times because each time quadruples the amount of layers, ie 7 layers at start then, 28, 112, and finally 448 layers
I could do it in a week if I go steady.
I hope to get enough out of one bar for about 10 hunters, and maybe 5 big blades out of the other bar.

buffalocannon

Soft yeah I'm surprised I got through it without pulling anything, it's been almost 10 years since I've done it.

mdeland · Post by **mdeland** » Tue May 01, 2007 9:39 pm

Man, wished I could put on my goggles , ear plugs, welding skins and watch you all day. I like the forge. Looks like you have a squirrel cage fan and is that the propane coming in from the pipe ahead of the fan from the bottom? How did you set up the refractory in the tube part of the forge? I dearly love this stuff Conan and sure appreciate the time you took to share it!