Forging Damascus Steel Hydraulic Press or Power Hammer

Jim Adams Customs

Jim Adams Customs

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I am trying to put together my shop. I want to make my own Damascus. That is what pulled me into the journey of knife making and new career.
I am thinking about using a hydraulic press to make Damascus. My neighbors are pulling for hydraulic press too, they just don't know it. This is whole new direction than I was thinking with the power hammer. Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions.

Thank you for all the thoughts on the sander. I am going with the KMG.
 
Idealy you would want a hammer and a press. The hammer keeps your heats to a minimum. It will take more heats to draw out your billet with a press. The press is can be used for patterning and straightening your billets. If you go with a 25 or 50 lb hammer the neighbors shouldn't complain to much.
 
There are several things to consider. I have both, a Jeff Carlisle Imagination XPress, and a Little Giant 100# mechanical hammer.

A press works the material differently than a hammer does.

If you're only wanting to make damascus on a production level, then I think a beefy rolling mill would be a solid option. You can roll the material into exact thicknesses and have minimal clean-up for finished billets.

A press has the advantage when working thicker materials. With all the dies I have made, I can effectively work material down to 3/8" on the press with very little issue. It's when you go thinner than that the heat in the material wants to dissipate quickly into the dies.

That's where a hammer really shines, as it will allow the heat the stay in the material and be worked more.

If you get a big hammer, then you can work those big billets easily as well, but then you're looking at big money.

If you have a lower budget, and for all around versatility, I would recommend the press.

If you have a bigger budget, then a large mechanical or air hammer would be an excellent investment.
 
You leave enough material on the floor in the form of scale anyway. if you use a press to take stock much below 1/2 inch thick, you are going to leave even mo' on da flo'. I have a Carlisle press and will soon be having Sid Sudemeier rebuild a 25 lb LG for me. One other potential issue with a press is the need for lots of different types of dies to do basic stuff. Unless you have a funky set of sideways drawing dies like Nick The Anal Retentive Bladesmith Wheeler has, you are going to have a bit of trouble trying to forge your stock out wider on the standard drawing and flatting dies. Easy stuff for even a small power hammer. But like Nick said, a press will make quick work of getting good sized round stock down to an easily workable 1/2 inch or so thickness fairly quickly.
 
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I have both a press and hammer. I would not give up either. My press is 50ton and the hammer is 100# Beaudry. I can make a bar of round flat in no time with the press and about 2x longer with the hammer. I do have a few dies for the press but not too many. The biggest advantage of the press is working large damascus billets. Unless you have a huge power hammer it would be difficult to work the big billets esp the mosaics. As Nick pointed out they work the steel differently. If I HAD to choose one I would probably go with the press.
 
I have a 30 ton press and I love it, I have also used a power hammer, but as already been stated a press is great for large billets. I have been working 12-14 lb billets on a regular basis. I have 5 or 6 sets of dies and I use them all. A roliing mill is a good idea to pair with a press, although I have little difficulty in reaching thicnesses down to 1/4" I built one a few years ago and I am very happy i did.
Thanks,
Del
 
delbert ealy said:
I have a 30 ton press and I love it, I have also used a power hammer, but as already been stated a press is great for large billets. I have been working 12-14 lb billets on a regular basis. I have 5 or 6 sets of dies and I use them all. A roliing mill is a good idea to pair with a press, although I have little difficulty in reaching thicnesses down to 1/4" I built one a few years ago and I am very happy i did.
Thanks,
Del
Click to expand...
With a 12-14 pound billets, you probably don't have to worry about getting a piece of barstock wide enough to make a big bowie:D
 
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