WIP Wire (cable) Damascus

Tom Lewis

Tom Lewis

Joined
Feb 24, 2000
Messages
1,862
I remember seeing a picture of a Wire Damascus blade in a magazine or the Knife annual maybe 35-40 years ago. I thought at that time that if I could ever make something like that I would feel like I had reached the top of the mountain so to speak.
Back then there was no internet, no u-tube, no DVD's, very few books.
I got some 1" cable and using 20 mule team borax and a hand hammer began to experiment in my coal forge.
In 1991 I attended a ABS Damascus class in Washington Arkansas and learned how to forge weld.
A friend of mine owned the local Mine Supply store and got me 20 or 30 feet of 1 1/4" wire rope.
I recently used up all of that wire rope and looked for more. My friend no longer owned the Mine Supply store and they were not interested in getting me a small amount of wire rope.
There was a post here about a source for wire rope. The company was US Cargo Control. I found some "Bright Wire Rope EIPS IWRC-6x37 class-1 1/2". The minimum order was 25 feet but with 26 feet I got free shipping. Including tax it cost $16.27 a foot. The wire rope came in less than a week.
I used my abrasive weel chop saw to cut the wire rope up.
To forge, I used a 5" piece.
When the wire rope is cut up it tends to untwist. I put a hose clamp on the cable and weld the ends up.
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Next I weld a handle on the cable.
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The cable has lots of oil and grease in it. To clean it I put it in a bucket of kerosene and leave overnight.
With the gas forge going I take the cable from the kerosene and put it in the forge. The kerosene and grease will burn off.
Then when the cable starts turning red I take it out and apply flux.
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This is what I use. This flux soaks in the cable and makes a good weld.
When the cable gets to welding heat and I want the cable to be hot all the way through I take it to my hydraulic press.
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I use a flat die on top and a V die on the bottom. Working quickly I rotate the billet while pressing down with the top die.
The billet looks like this.
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Next I flux and re-heat the billet. Then I take it to my 100lb Little Giant Power hammer. In one heat I flatten the billet. This one came out 14"x1 3/4" x3/16 to 1/4".
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More later.
 
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This is how I forge the wire billet with the power hammer.
#1, I hit A a few times, flip over and hit C a few times. This leaves the billet looking like #2.
Then #3, hit D several times, flip and hit B several times and repeat hitting D and B until the billet looks like #4.
I think this gives a more solid finished billet.
 
I do it by hand, usually with 1" cable:
Weld up the ends (hose clamps really help!) and weld on a handle rod. The rod should have a short (3-4") 90° bend in the end you hold.
Soak in kerosene overnight or longer to clean up. (don't use gasoline as is often recommended!) Scrub out with a wire brush.

Heat to dull red, wire brush with a steel brush, and flux well

Heat to cherry red, brush and flux again

Heat to yellow, flux again, put end in a vise, and twist tight. Do this as quickly as possible. If you have a helper, have him twist the free end with a pipe wrench while you hold onto the handle rod. I rest the handle rod across the anvil with the billet sticking off the other side. This gives me more stability. (The 90° bend in the end of the rod gives you a better grip.) stop twisting and put back in the forge as soon as it drops to bright red.
Heat until yellow-white, flux sparingly, and start forging while rolling the cable in the direction to tighten it as you hammer.
Brush and flux lightly and put back as soon as it drops to bright red
Pull out when yellow again and start compacting opposite sides like Tom posted above. Use flux sparingly from here on. Brush quickly after each heat. Don't let it drop below cherry red.
Once compacted it will sound like a block of steel under the hammer. If you are hearing "thunk" it isn't solid.
Keep re-heating and compacting until it is fully solid before drawing out or you will find non-welds in your billet when grinding.

The best tip is not to let the billet drop below cherry red until you are done. Scale forms below that temp.

If you have to stop, let the billet cool and soak overnight in pickle (Sodium Bisulfate solution, AKA Ph Down and water) to dissolve all the scale. Use one cup per quart of water for a three to four hour soak, and 1 cup per two quarts for an overnight soak.

If (more of a when in your first billets) you find a non-weld in your billet as you forge it out all is not lost. TIG weld the spot shut and continue forging. If you want to use filler rod, use a strand of the cable.
 
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I used the stock removal method with this billet and also a second one that I made. I use a worn 36 grit blaze belt to grind the profile out.
Then I scribe even lines around the blade using this home made scribing device.
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Using a 36 grit blaze belt I taper the tang and grind the bevels. I leave plenty of room to grind post heat treat.
For the heat treat, the wire rope is EIPS which means extra improved plough share (steel). From my research that is either 1075 or 1084 steel. Thats good to know because I am working with a known steel. also according to Dr. Larrin Thomas' heat treating book both 1075 and 1084 get the same heat treatment.
1475 degrees for 10 minutes and quench in Parks 50. Temper at 400 degrees for two hours and temper twice.
A word about warps. When the blade is pulled out of the temper oil there is a short time where if it comes out warped it can be straightened. I use a three point jig like this.
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Next finishing the blade.
 
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i did all of my cable as Stacy said.. twisting it tight then forging it down..
always got good welds, nice bars that way.. as you drew them out you can hot cut
and stack it back onto itself.. then forge it out to shape ....
 
Now for finishing the blade. If someone two years ago would have told me this would work, I would not have believed them.
This is how I do it and any one is free to try it or reject it.
One reason I am going into detail is when I first started making knives in the late 1970's there was an established knifemaker in town, but he would give me NO help whatsoever. Because of that I have always tried to help others.
I have tried a lot of different grits and this is what works best for me right now.
I use a new 36 grit Blaze belt to taper tangs. When the belt starts to loose its cut I then use it to grind the groove down the tang before the tang is tapered. When the belt starts to loose it's cut I then use it to grind bevels.
I take the heat treated blade and with the 36 grit belt shape it to maybe 98% of it's final shape. (When the 36 grit belt starts to loose it's cut I then use it to profile blades.)
Then I use a 110 grit Blaze belt to get rid of the 36 grit scratches. I don't try to shape or thin the blade, I just try to remove the previous scratches. The Blaze belts last a long time.
Then I go to a 220 Klingspor belt. I grind on a 12" wheel and grind horizontally but also turn the blade at a 45 degree angle. This helps me see the previous scratches.
Then I go to a 22 Norax and do the same thing.
I finish with a 16 Norax belt.
This will not work if previous scratches are not removed. Making the large jumps in grit makes it easy for me to see the previous scratches. I have lots of light so I can really see the blade.
I probably could start etching at this point but I like to be sure and get all the scratches out so I hand sand before I etch.
Next, hand sanding.
 
OK, now it's time for the hand sanding. I use Rhynowet sandpaper on sanding blocks that I have made.
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I finish grinding on a 10 inch wheel so I trace the outline of the wheel on a 2x4 cut it out and glue a strip of leather on it. I cut the strips of sandpaper with a paper cutter.
Since I have finished grinding with a 16 norax I can start hand sanding with 800 grit. I do not use any lubricant. I do use more sandpaper this way but I feel I can better see where the blade needs to be sanded. It goes very fast. Today I hand sanded a 3 1/2" blade with 800 and 1200 grit and it took a total of a little over 6 minutes for whole blade.
I have a light shining at an angle so I can see where the blade needs to be sanded. After the 800 grit I finish with 1200 grit.
Now comes the etching.
I use muratic acid straight from the bottle. Muratic acid is bad stuff. I use it outside and am careful not to breath it's fumes.
In my experience wire Damascus takes longer to etch than pattern welded Damascus.
It's tempting to stop before the blade is fully etched, but this is what will make or break the final product.
I have the muratic acid in PVC tubes.
Since I have not used any oil with my hand sanding I just wipe the blade with a paper towel and place in the acid.
How fast the acid etches depends on how fresh the acid is and it's temperature. I store the acid outside and often heat the jug in a pan of water to warm it up. 80 or 90 degrees works well.
I leave the blade in the acid 5 minutes. I have a 5 gallon bucket of water next to the acid and a 5 gallon bucket of water several feet away.
Wearing rubber gloves and with 1/4 of a sheet of 800 grit sandpaper take the blade out of the acid, dip it in the first bucket and then move to the second bucket. Using the 800 grit sandpaper I quickly sand the acid residue off the blade. Then I dip it in water to clean it off and then back in the acid.
I repeat this till I am satisfied with the etch. I use the same piece of sandpaper each time.
The last blade I did took about ten cycles.
When the blade etch looks good to me I take it to the sink and spray it with Windex. The I sprinkle Baking Soda on the blade and spray more windex. Then I wash the windex and baking soda off the blade. Then under warm running water I use the same by now worn out 800 grit sandpaper to go over the blade and remove any acid residue.
Then I wash the blade, dry it off and blue it.
I use Birch Wood Casey Super Blue. I apply it with a wool dober like one would use to dye leather. I leave the bluing on for one minute.
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Then its back to the sink and under running water I use the same piece of 800 grit sandpaper to remove the top layer of bluing.
Then I wash it off, dry it and apply W-D 40.
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Excellent WIP! I have 3, 12" pieces of cable sitting in Kerosene I need to start working on! I want to make a stainless tray to put in the forge so the flux doesn't kill my refractory first.
 
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