All About Pocket Knives

My wife worked for a major chicken producer for 30 plus years and they sold her a box full of their butchering steel knives that were sharpened down to the point of being unusable for next to nothing. I also have some cobalt welding rod, and gobs of carbon steel from tools and knives to work with. My idea is to beat a mixture of the cobalt for the cutting edge, folded carbon steel and stainless for the body of the blade, cut, shape and make some fixed blades with some of the exotic scale material that I have. Big project , but since I retired, have nothing but time.
The knives are from Chigo cutlery, with the etch of 61S-BL on the blades. pic follows.

I think I would rent (from Smart Flix) or buy a couple of Damascus making DVD's before starting or taking some lessons with a Smith. One good DVD is Basic Damascus with Ed Caffrey, ABS Mastersmith at http://www.ccinstructionalvideos.com/ca ... mascus.htm Not all steels are compatible with each other and will not stay welded together. They can beak apart and become useless quite easily. A popular mix and one to begin with is 1080 (or 1084 or 10xx series steel - high carbon greater than .75) and 15N20. This mix is used because of the compatibility of the 2 steels. Both are 10xx steels 1080 is .80% carbon and 15N20 is a tool steel like 1075 (a 10xx steel) with 2% nickel added. Some advanced carbon steels like what Brad Vice makes at Alabama Damascus is 52100, 5160, 203E, and 15N20. Great steel but not for a beginner.
Delbert Ealy make a great Damascus from L-6, 15N20, and pure nickel. Sometimes he uses meteorites in his billets. here are some of the patterns he makes http://www.ealyknives.com/damascus_steel.htm
Typically carbon steels are used together without stainless because Stainless requires much higher welding temperatures that would destroy carbon steel welds.

Making stainless steel Damascus is a whole nother ball of wax and not too many makers can make Damascus from stainless steel well. I have seen a single stainless steel billet on many occasions selling for over $300.00. Most good stainless Damascus has a core - like D2 (high chromium content tool steel), such as Mike Norris makes and sells some at Jantz. Mike Norris makes some of the best stainless Damascus around and uses 19C27 Sanvik and 302 stainless around a D2 core. Here is a site about Damascus steel http://damascus.free.fr/f_liens/sitea.htm

Actually today's Damascus is more accurately called pattern welded steel as the Damascus of old was made from wootz (India) and through trade routes ended up in Damascus, Syria for making swords. There are a few wootz makers today. Start out by looking up wootz and Pattern Welded Steel or use the term Damascus. Use Wikipedia to get the results from the same source. You can influence the search on Google by entering wootz wiki and Damascus wiki to reach the same source easily.

Anyway - you have a lot of time to learn about metallurgy and what will work together and why it works. Most Pattern welded steel is made today with 25 to 30 ton hydraulic presses and the use of air hammers.

There are also a lot of good books out there. ONE thing successful Damascus makers have in common is that there is never a mystery steel - they know exactly what they are working with. Good Luck, with time, effort and education you can do it.

I'm not familiar with 61S-BL, even a little bit - can't even find it, in my limited reference. But what Hukk said is the straight scoop. Stnls damascus is seldom worth the time, effort, or expense.

Not even hinting at discouraging your effort - you might very well find a method to beat 'em all. Just make haste, slowly. Be sure to keep us informed,

JR

I guess I have to share this guy's work. His work is exceptional and should be regarded as such. Mosaic Damascus is where the smith has learned to manipulate the steel into patterns that he controls and has learned to predict the look of the final product.

http://www.johanknives.com

When a guy gets $400.00 and more for just a blade, I would have to guess that he is mastering his craft. It probably took a decade or more to manipulate steel like this. This work is exceptional and the fastest way to learn is to pay to go to a lesson at a smiths shop. There is also a school or classes in Arkansas - I believe. The classes are taught by Master Smiths.

Yessir, Hukk...

Although I've never attended the classes, I'm pretty familiar with the program. The classes are held in Washington, Ark. Supposedly the site where James Black created the real "Bowie" knife, from meteorite. Washington is just a rock-chunk from Hope, Ark. The program was initiated by Bill Moran, and has been sponsored by Texarkana Junior College, for years.

The lessons are all first-class teaching, from Master Smiths, from all over the US. Classes are held almost monthly, depending on the schedules of the Smiths, and cover most ever aspect of creating the forged blade, and custom bladesmithing. Note: the classes aren't cheap, but well worth the price of admission. Everything is "hands-on", with the students building their own blades, under the tutelage of the instructors.

If any of our group is interested in attending, you can Google the Texarkana J.C. and get info, or I'll be happy to help you "connect" with classes/schedules. It's not a typical classroom setting, and many, many friendships have been initiated there. If you're interested, and physically able to swing a hammer, I highly recommend it. (My opinon, and a buck.50 will buy a cup of coffee).

JR