BH works magic. A true artisan!




Cheers,

RR

I just started working with damascus recently and the guy that supplies me with material (a good friend) got me started. He told me how fun it would be, and it is.

1. It's soft and works really well.
2. Some patterns have a certain way the the design comes out when a billet is carved into a blade (I have a huge dagger I've been working in for some time and since the blade shape is uniform on each side of the centerline, the pattern of the damascus is like that too, in that the left side of the blade mirrors the right side...and it looks just amazing.
3. When you work the steel by 'stockl reduction' you can hardly see the patten...but after you grind and file away all the stuff you don't want and sand it smooth and then buff it...and after you temper and heat treat it...it's time for magic! You etch it with acid and out comes that pattern again. The steel turns grey or black and the nickle is bright...so the pattern just shines.
4. You can easily put a differential temper on the damascus using an oxy-fuel torch so the edge is hard and the spine is soft and absorbs shock...in a way like a Katana, but using a different process.
5. There are lots of outlets that carry it and it's really cheap. NOT! But it IS very cool!


I've got half a dozen big (for me) damascus projects 'in process' right now...and I've just been waiting for decent weather to do the heat treating via the torch thing. It's be soon, very soon. Then I'll post up some very interesting photos. Three of the projects I've done (2 being damascus) are knife and pipe combos (that I've already posted here somewhere...in DIY maybe) that are, to me anyway, fairly nice items. Literally, it's what I do...all day, every day...get up in the morning and look forward to the day, go to bed at night thinkin' about what I need to do the next day...totally absorbing. Being 'retired' it's a dream come true. And since I work in an outdoor shop which has a solid wall on only one side (yes, I work out there every day...Winters included) with one little heater (yeah, welll, it's parka and pac boots in the Winter) I've got a pipe stuck in my mouth just about the whole time...sippin' away. If I could do this for twenty more years...it'd be way to short.

That sounds like a great retirement. I have to pace my self because anything I pick up I just want to dive into. Hope you have another 40 years to do it. On a side note have you checked out the instructables website black horse?

Did you ever see the "MythBusters" episode about duct tape?


Classic