W Damascus Project

Not long after returning from the Hope, Arkansas where I attended the Introduction to Knifemaking class put on by the American Bladesmithing Society, I decided to try my hand at 'W' Damascus.  As you can see from earlier entries, Damascus steel is what I am keenly interested in.  The billet used for this knife was a 18 x 32.  I started with 9 layers of alternating 15n20 and 1095 carbonsteel, forgewelded and folded to make 18 layers, then turned on its edge and folded and welded 5 times for 32 layers resulting in the 18 x 32 billet.  I used the cut and fold technique which is very fast for forge welding, but I think it would work better with a press rather than a power hammer.  I then cut wedges from the billet, reheated to forgewelding temperature and straightened/flattened the billet to reveal the 'W' pattern on both sides.  

Once I had the bar completed I proceeded to forge a knife, but at the time, I was a little unhappy with a couple of flaws in the damascus.  Recently, I decided that I wanted to see the pattern in the form of a finished knife, so I spent a considerable amount of time on the grinder to remove flaws in the steel and get a smooth and pleasing to the eye knife shape and surface.

The result it the W damascus knife (you can see the full knife in the recently completed projects area on the knives page, or in the portfolio area).

I'm going to try doing some more 'W' damascus projects soon, sinve a good 'W' technique is required to eventually produce feather damascus.  It might be a long time in process, but the pattern speaks for itself!