Hundreds of modern steels are suitable for compiling a package; I will name only a small number. The chemical composition is suitable for shx15, shx4, shx20sg, shx15sg, 65g, 50xfa, 60s2xfa, 70g, 70s2ha, 5xnm, 5xgm, 5x2mnf, 6xvg, 5xnv, 9xs, xvg, y8, y10, y12, y13a, etc. In terms of forging and hardening temperatures, Shx15, U8 and 65g are ideal for each other. The temperature for welding them is approximately 1100 degrees, the forging temperature is 900-1000 degrees, the hardening temperature is 850 degrees. All of these steels comply with the “three rules” and are easy to find in everyday life.
When used in equal proportions, these steels produce Damascus steel with a carbon content of 0.8%. To make a package, we will forge these steels into plates of equal dimensions, approximately 15*5*1 cm. Let's put them together into a 6-layer package: y8 - wx15 - 65g - y8 - wx15 - 65g. To prevent the package from falling apart at the corners, we will grab it with electric welding and weld a handle from a piece of reinforcement 50-60 cm long from the end. The package is ready for welding. Now let’s place it in a heated forge and bring it to a temperature of 850-900 degrees, this is a red-orange color. Let's pull the bag out of the forge by the handle and place it on its edge so that all layers of steel stand vertically. Place a handful of borax on top of the bag. The borax should melt and flow right through the bag. If the borax does not leak, you need to add more. If the borax has not all melted, you need to hold the bag of borax in the forge over the coal until the borax melts. Then you need to rotate the package 90 degrees so that all layers of metal are horizontal relative to the ground. In this state, the borax should boil between the layers of steel for several minutes. This is necessary so that the borax dissolves all the slag and scale on the metal that forms when the metal is heated in the forge. Then we take out the package heated to orange color, this is approximately 900-950 degrees Celsius. We place the package under the hammer and hammer it with gentle blows from one edge to the other. With this action we squeeze out the liquid borax with all the toxins. It is not advisable to forge over the entire surface of the package; borax may remain inside the package, which will subsequently lead to “lack of penetration.” After all the borax is squeezed out of the package, the package is not yet welded. We simply brought together the layers of metal cleared of slag and now there is no air access to the metal being welded. This whole process must be carried out very carefully and preferably with safety glasses. Hot borax splashes out of the bag several meters in different directions and this is very dangerous. Place the bag in the forge again and heat it up to a welding temperature of about 1100 degrees, white incandescent color. The color of the package should resemble the color of the hot sun. While the package is heated to welding temperature, it must be constantly monitored and constantly turned in the forge so as not to burn out. As soon as the metal glows like a sparkler, this is a burnout. The package is ready welding is visible when the bag is evenly heated to white heat, there are no dark spots on it and sparks just begin to bounce off of it. The package, ready for welding, is removed from the forge and hammered along its entire length. In the future, you need to stretch the package into a strip by forging. Strip drawing should be carried out at a heating temperature lower than the welding temperature, approximately 950-1000 degrees - yellow heat. When forging a package “on edge” at a temperature of 950-1000 degrees, you will immediately see whether there is a lack of fusion; in place of the “lack of fusion,” the layers will separate. Lack of penetration is not so bad; borax is added again to the place where the layers have separated and the welding process is repeated. Burnout is terrible. At the site of the burn, the steel can no longer be treated. After the package is pulled out into a strip, it can be cut hot or simply cut with a grinder into, say, three equal parts. These parts are put back into a bag and the welding process is repeated. So from 6 layers you will get a package of 18 layers, then from 54, etc. The pattern resulting from this forging process is called "wild damask pattern." To obtain a clear contrasting wild pattern, you need to collect approximately 300-500 layers in the package. During the forging process, only about 2 kg of the finished product will remain from our 3.5 kg package; the rest of the metal burned out during the forging process. To improve the quality of Damascus steel, the last drawing of the package into a strip should be carried out at a temperature of 850-900 degrees, red-orange color of heat. This allows you to achieve a fine-grained steel structure. It is best to harden Damascus steel in used machine oil. After hardening, the pattern on the steel becomes even stronger. Damascus steel cannot be hardened in water; it can simply break there. Japanese blacksmiths harden their swords in water, but they coat them with fire clay before hardening. After quenching in oil, Damascus will have a hardness of approximately 60-64 Rockwell units. To relieve internal stress in Damascus steel, it must be released. This is done by heating the steel twice to a temperature of 180-200 degrees for 1 hour. This process can be carried out even at home in the kitchen in the oven. The pattern on the steel is revealed by etching it in a 5% solution of nitric acid or ferric chloride. Each master selects the concentration of ferric chloride for himself. You need to start learning how to make Damascus steel with “wild Damascus”, and from there you can move on to making more complex patterns. Another tip for those who heat the package in a coal forge. It is advisable to use coke as fuel; it clogs the grates less and produces more heat. It is advisable to heat the package itself in the upper layers of coal or even on top of coal. In these layers, air passing from bottom to top remains practically without oxygen. All oxygen burns out passing through the coal, and in the upper layers of coal it is highly enriched with carbon dioxide. As a result, in the upper layers of coal the metal is almost not oxidized and is partially carbonized and reduced.
In today's article we will look at the technology for making a good, strong knife from Damascus steel. The knife is created in the traditional style, that is, by forging. Here you will need a forge, an anvil, a hammer and a lot of patience.
The peculiarity of Damascus steel is that during its production different types of metal are mixed by forging. First, the plates are prepared, then welded, heated, and then the workpiece is twisted to mix all types of metal.
Due to the fact that a knife can pose a threat to health, it should not be given to people with unstable mental health.
Materials and tools for making a knife:
From materials:
- steel plates of at least two grades (it is advisable to use steel with a high carbon content, then it can be well hardened. The author used two types of steel, 1095 and 15n20);
- flux (you will need borax, you can buy it at a hardware store);
- a long rod (needed so that the workpiece can be welded for heating in the oven);
- any wood of your choice;
- epoxy glue (preferably one that dries quickly);
- brass rivets;
- linseed oil or other wood impregnation;
- vegetable oil for steel hardening;
- ferric chloride.
From the tools:
- an anvil (preferably a real large anvil. As a last resort, a piece of rail, a sledgehammer, etc.);
- hammer (the author used it with a cross-head weighing 1.3 kg);
- welding (it is convenient for welding plates to each other and attaching reinforcement, but if not, you can use wire);
- a forge for forging (it must have a fairly high temperature so that the sheets melt together);
- belt sander (you can also use a file, but it will take a lot of effort and patience);
- oven (or other device for heating metal for the purpose of tempering);
- drilling machine or drill;
- a vice (very helpful in the process.
Knife making process:
Step one. We collect blanks
At this stage, the author prepares blanks. It is necessary to cut the plates to the required length, for the author this is 7.6x1.2 cm. It is important to take into account that the larger the workpiece, the more difficult it will be to forge a knife from it. Pre-welding areas must be thoroughly cleaned of rust and scale. The plates are stacked with alternating metals.
Finally, a piece of reinforcement needs to be welded to the workpiece so that it can be placed in the oven. Of course, instead of welding the fittings, the workpiece can be pulled out using pliers with long handles.
Step two. We send the workpiece to the oven
Now the workpiece undergoes the first heating and first forging. The author made a homemade horn from a gas cylinder. The interior is lined with refractory cement and koalin wool. Since the forge is small in size, it can easily heat up to the required temperatures.
The metal must be heated to a cherry-red color; after removal, it must be immediately sprinkled with borax to remove scale and prevent interaction with oxygen. You should especially try to pour borax between the slots of the plates, so the metal will mix well and be as homogeneous as possible. This procedure must be carried out several times, removing scale if necessary.
Next, the workpiece is heated to the forging temperature, according to the author, this is in the region of 1260-1315 o C. The metal should become bright yellow or orange. Before removing the workpiece, you need to make sure that you already have an anvil and a hammer at hand, since the metal cools down and there is no time to waste.
As a result, by forging the workpiece is stretched so that it can be bent.
Step three. Steel stirring
In this step, the workpiece is heated and forged many times; the more times this is done, the better the metal is mixed. First, the workpiece must be forged in such a way that its length becomes twice as long as it was. You need to stretch the metal as evenly as possible. Next, a notch is made in the middle using a chisel, and the workpiece is folded in half. After this, it is heated again and forged until the two plates are homogeneous. In total, the author folded the metal 4 times, resulting in 112 layers.
When bonding multiple layers, it is important to always use borax and clean off any scale.
The formula for calculating layers is: initial quantity * 2 to the power of the number of folds, that is, 7 * 2^4 = 112).
Finally, the workpiece is again heated to forging temperature, inserted edgewise into the anvil groove and twisted into a spiral. Then this spiral needs to be forged again into a rectangular shape. Finally, you can ensure that the layers are uniform by sanding one or more edges of the workpiece.
Step four. Forging the main profile
At this stage, the author forms the main profile of the knife by forging. At this stage, you can also set the bevels of the knife, so that later you will have to work less with a grinder or file, which in the latter case is very sad.
Step five. Grinding the profile
If you don't have a sander, this step will take a lot of time and effort. Here you will need a file and a grinder.
Towards the end of grinding, you need to drill holes in the workpiece to attach the handle. Here you will also need to refine some details with a 400-grit file. You also need to do the initial sharpening of the knife, but you don’t need to make it sharp, since it can warp during hardening.
Step six. Metal hardening
Hardening is a very important moment in the manufacture of a knife. The strength of the future blade depends on it, and if the technology is violated, the workpiece can be easily damaged. The first step is to release the steel as much as possible. This is done so that the metal does not lead during hardening and the blade does not warp. The metal is tempered by heating it several times to a temperature at which the steel will no longer be attracted by the magnet. In total, there should be from three to five such heatings. The steel should cool gradually in the open air.
After this, the steel can be hardened. It is heated once again to a critical temperature and then lowered into warm oil. High carbon steel does not need to be quenched in water, as it cools the metal too quickly and it breaks down.
After hardening, the steel must be tempered so that it does not become brittle. To do this, the workpiece is placed in an oven at a temperature of 205 degrees and heated for an hour. Then it needs to be allowed to cool gradually.
Step seven. Blade etching
When etched, the blade receives a characteristic pattern. This whole thing happens chemically without the use of electricity. Ferric chloride must be prepared according to the instructions, for the author it is three parts water and one part ferric chloride. Holding lasts only 3-5 minutes.
There are many opinions about Damascus steel. Someone claims that her recipe is lost. And when you say that it’s Damascus steel, they look at you with a smile and leave. Others haven’t heard much about it at all, and ask ridiculous questions: “What is this drawn with?” or “Why isn’t the blade polished?”
Of course, in fairness, it should be noted that from year to year there are fewer and fewer ignorant people (especially in the city of Moscow). Once a person uses a knife made of high-quality Damascus once, he will never purchase a knife made of any other steel.
In terms of cutting properties, high-quality Damascus steel is several times superior to other grades of steel (be it 65X13, 440C, 95X18). Its only drawback is that it rusts. Therefore, she needs constant care. I worked with a knife - wiped it dry, greased it with neutral oil or grease and put it away. If rusty spots suddenly appear on the steel, they need to be removed with very fine sandpaper and oil, or better yet, kerosene. In principle, caring for such a knife is no more than caring for a gun with non-chrome-plated bores. All the troubles are compensated by excellent cutting properties (which cannot be compared with any stainless steel: both domestic and imported). Let’s look at the secret of the cutting properties of Damascus steel. Firstly, in manufacturing technology. Damascus is made as follows. It is obtained as a result of a long technological process, performed only by hand. The basis is taken from several types of steel (both hard and soft), which are assembled in a certain sequence to form a package (We do not name steel grades, because the secret of good Damascus steel lies precisely in the correct selection and proportions of various metals). A prerequisite is that more hard steels are used than soft ones. The steel package is placed in the forge and heated to forging temperature. After this, special additives are applied to prevent the formation of oxides that prevent plates of different types from welding together. Next, the package is punched several times with a hammer and sent to the forge to be warmed up for welding. As soon as the package is warmed up, it settles under the hammer, then it is sent back to the forge and warmed up for subsequent pulling. When the plate is welded and shaped to size, it is heated again and chopped into the required number of plates, which are cleaned of oxide and assembled into a package. The whole process is repeated all over again. The number of repetitions of the process is proportional to the quality of the product, respectively the order. After the welding process, and there can be from three to ten, the plate is unforged to the required blade size. Then the steel is normalized and the workpiece goes into further work. Steel obtained in this way is characterized by increased strength, excellent cutting properties and beauty. Damascus Russian Bulat LLC has 400 layers of metal or more. As a result of the process, a unique pattern appears, as unique as a fingerprint.
Sometimes at exhibitions you hear that a purchased Damascus steel knife quickly became dull. The answer is simple. Either a person bought “Damascus” (i.e., stainless steel 65X13, 95X18 etched in a special way), or he purchased Damascus welded from soft metals. It is much easier and faster to weld such metal. Visually distinguishing it from high-quality Damascus is almost impossible. Soft damascus was previously used to make guns, because... For these purposes, viscosity was required and the cutting properties of the metal were not needed. A knife made of soft Damascus (no matter how beautiful its design may be!) cuts worse than any knife made of stainless steel. When trying to harden such a knife, no matter how hard you try, it is often no harder than 48 units. H.R.C. A knife from the Russian Bulat company has a hardness of at least 60 units. HRC (usually 62-64 HRC units). Some believe that a knife at 64 units. HRC is made brittle.
This is fairly applicable to homogeneous steels (U10, 95X18), but does not apply in any way to correctly forged Damascus. This, of course, does not mean that a knife with a hardness of 64 units. HRC can be bent into a ring! But with limited contact with bones (when cutting an animal), as well as with small chopping blows, this combination of hardness and elasticity is quite sufficient. A good knife steel should not only be hard, but also elastic. Let’s answer the question: “How does a knife become dull?” This happens in two ways. If you look at the cutting edge of a dull knife under a microscope, you can consider two situations:
The cutting edge is bent. (This indicates that the steel is too soft);
The cutting edge has broken off. (This indicates that the steel is too hard.)
While hunting I had to observe the work of a knife made of 95X18 steel. The owner assured that he bought the knife for decent money from one of the famous craftsmen (During the sale, the knife was praised: hardness 70 HRC units, steel taken from a spaceship debris, laser sharpening, etc.). But when the hunt has come to an end, the elk is captured, the owner of the “wonderful knife” approaches the huntsman and offers to work with the knife. After about five minutes, the huntsman politely returns the knife and advises us to buy something better (they say, such a knife is only suitable for cutting lard and sausage!). The owner is offended and tries to butcher the animal himself.
He is surprised to notice that the knife slides and does not cut... And the reason is the following. The knife was truly hardened to extreme hardness. Steel 95X18 is not particularly flexible anyway, but when hardened to more than 60 units. HRC generally loses all elasticity. In this case, when starting work, the cutting edge simply broke off. Moreover, this is not noticeable visually. When I try to sharpen the knife again, everything repeats. Often the cutting edge breaks off during the sharpening process, so a paradox arises: you sharpen the blade, the blade wears off, but the knife is still dull!
The situation is different with mild steel. For example, 40X13. When such a knife becomes dull, the cutting edge bends. It is possible to cut with such a knife if you keep a stone with you for editing - you work a little, shuffle on the stone, work again, shuffle again. This is undoubtedly better than the first case!
The optimal grade of stainless steel is 65X13. Although it is far from quality Damascus. This grade of steel is often called medical steel. For people raised in the Soviet Union, the terms “medical”, “military”, “space” have a magical effect. 65X13 is a good steel for knives. But the term “medical” is difficult to apply to it. Firstly, scalpels from steel 65X13 began to be manufactured only in the late 80s, and before that carbon steels U8, U10 coated with chromium were used.
Secondly, the tasks of a surgeon, who makes very minor incisions during the operation, and a hunter, butchering an elk or a bear, are completely different. In addition, a medical scalpel is not reused during operations (scalpels with disposable removable blades soon appeared). Therefore, the term “medical” steel does not obligate anyone to anything. Although we have been using this steel for inexpensive models for a long time.
Let's return to Damascus steel knives. These knives, manufactured by the Russian Bulat company, were tested by hunters in various parts of the country. 99% give a positive assessment of the knife’s performance. 1% are people who use a knife for other purposes. (For example, there was a gentleman who tried to cut a tractor valve with a knife, another, heavily drunk, threw a knife at a tree, etc.). According to reviews from various hunters, two moose in a row were skinned and butchered with a knife without additional sharpening; five small boars; large cleaver; several beavers. Maslennikov V.S. I personally tried to remove the skin of two moose with a knife from one sharpening point (the knife continued to cut after that!). If you look under magnification at the cutting edge of a Damascus knife after cutting an elk, you will see a micro-saw. It happened due to the fact that the soft steels were slightly crumpled, while the hard ones remained sharp due to the additional viscosity acquired during the forging process. Therefore, when we look at the cutting edge of a knife after prolonged work, the blade shines in places and it seems that the knife has become dull, but when we start cutting, it turns out that the knife cuts no worse than a new one! Even when a Damascus knife becomes completely dull, it is enough to carefully sharpen it with a sharpening stone to restore its cutting properties. This is where the effect of straightening the soft parts of the cutting edge comes into play. After long work, in the winter hut or at a hunting base, the knife needs to be wiped, the cutting edge should be adjusted on a good stone, lubricated with oil and put in a case.
The question that interests many is “Which is better: damascus or damask steel?” What is damascus and what is damask steel? Steel prepared from plates through a forge welding process is commonly called “Damascus.” Steel, melted in a crucible and cooled in a special way, is usually called “damask steel”. There is also an intermediate technology where cast plates are mixed with other steels through forge welding. From a consumer point of view, good damask and good damask steel are one and the same. The same hardness, the same micro-saw effect, also easy to sharpen... Bad damascus and bad damask steel are identical: neither one nor the other will cut! To avoid buying a bad knife, you need to purchase a knife from a reputable company with a quality guarantee.
Now there are many different individual entrepreneurs and new companies that have recently been producing knives. Previously, the organizers of these companies were engaged in everything except metalworking; and have absolutely no understanding of metals. They don’t have the necessary production base, they don’t make blades, but buy them wherever it’s cheaper…. When buying a knife from such companies, it is difficult to hope that it will serve for a long time (although there are no rules without exceptions). Although the prices of many individual entrepreneurs for Damascus knives are quite low (from 900 rubles to 1500 rubles). When purchasing a knife, you should remember that if you follow the technological process, a Damascus steel knife will cost from 2000 rubles. up to 3500 rub. Tempted by cheaper knives, you risk remembering the proverb: “The miser pays twice!” Cast damask steel is somewhat more expensive to manufacture than damascus. Question: “Why does one Damascus knife from the same company cost 3,000 rubles, and another $300?” Expensive knives use end-damascus. What is this, “end Damascus blade”?
Take two, three or four plates of damascus with different patterns, layers and properties. They are welded together along the height of the blade and follow the contour of the cutting edge. What does this give?
This adds beauty to the product (due to beautifully selected three or four patterns);
Allows you to place very hard Damascus with a large amount of hard metal on the cutting edge; soft Damascus is used on the butt of the blade (the same one from which gun barrels were made). Thanks to the combination of these damasks, the strength of the knife increases. The cutting properties of such a blade (albeit not much) increase.
The main effect of end damask is beauty and unique handiwork. The best specialist in end-damascus in Russia is Mr. Arkhangelsky and his daughter Maria. Their prices, of course, are much higher. One more question has to be answered: “How many layers does your damask contain?” We determined for ourselves the optimal price-quality ratio - 400 layers. Even a specialist cannot visually determine the number of layers. As a rule, blacksmiths know how many layers they have forged. A record is kept for each batch of Damascus…. You hear from buyers at the exhibition: “Your Damascus has 400 layers, but your neighbors have 600 layers!” It’s important to remember: it depends on what you layer. You can forge Damascus with 600 layers of nails and it will be worse than Damascus, which has 200 layers of good metal. And one more thing. When forging above 400 layers, it is necessary to change the production process (it is necessary to additionally saturate the metal with carbon, since carbon burns out during the heating process), which significantly increases the cost of the workpiece (and, accordingly, the knife). If a knife with 1000 layers is forged in the same way as with 400 layers, then no matter what metal you take, it will look like metal from tin cans. But if you take this seriously, following the technology, then a knife made of 1000-1500-layer Damascus will be better than a 400-layer one, but its cost should be at least $200.
People often ask: “Which damask is better: with a longitudinal pattern or with a transverse twist?” From a consumer point of view it doesn't matter. Just like mosaic damasks. Only some types of end damascus may differ in working qualities. Often, mosaic damasks are inferior in cutting properties to regular ones. Because Often, in pursuit of a design, little attention is paid to the cutting properties of the metal.
A question often asked at exhibitions: “Does your knife cut nails?” Of course, it’s not very clear why people would chop nails with a knife?! Maybe they are connected with this occupation due to the nature of their work or have mental disabilities... But we will still try to answer this question. Let's say right away that cutting nails is not such a big problem! Knife made of any steel with a hardness of 50 units. HRC will cut a nail on the working part. You just need to change it slightly structurally: the thickness of the blade in the cutting part should be at least 1 mm (thicker is better), and the sharpening angle is at least 45 degrees (thicker is better). Order such a knife and you will be able to chop all the nails you want! Remember that the hardness of a nail is much lower than the hardness of a knife (even from mediocre steel); it’s all about the design of the blade. For Damascus steel, when cutting nails, the thickness of the working part can be made less than 1 mm (up to 0.6 mm), the angle can also be smaller. There are knives that cut paper, then cut the nail (by hitting the butt with a hammer) and then the knife can cut the paper again (though a little worse). In general, if you want to check the quality of the blade on a nail, it is not necessary to cut it. It is enough to plan the nail or make small notches on it. Any knife made of good Damascus steel can easily withstand this operation. We do not take into account knives with a very thin working part from 0.1 m and thinner (for example, fillet knives and an “Uzbek” knife). And yet, we do not recommend doing such experiments with knives, because... We believe that this is not why an adult buys a knife.
Of course, if in an extreme situation you have to use a knife to cut nails, cable or thick wire, that’s a different question. There is no need to do this unless necessary. There are other tools for this (for example: chisels, metal cutters), which are much cheaper than a good knife. With such constant experiments, especially if the objects being cut turn out to be red-hot, your knife will still break. Our company produces knives for hunters, fishermen, tourists, and for lovers of long hikes. The knife can open cans without any problems, it can easily cut the carcass of a large animal (moose, bear) without sharpening; when planing wood, it holds an edge for several days in a row. They can process several tens of kilograms of fish. It is for these purposes that the Russian Bulat company produces knives. If the knife is used for its intended purpose, the company provides a 10-year guarantee on the blade! Since our company is already 13 years old, and during this time there have been practically no complaints about blades from our Damascus. If a person buys a knife for cutting nails, throwing at wood and all kinds of experiments, then it is better to turn to some other company. True, as practice shows, if a person plans to break a knife, he will still break it, no matter where and no matter what steel the knife is made of! But this is already a sign of insanity.
We wish all readers of this article good shopping and successful hunting!
The material was prepared by V.S. Maslennikov, General Director of Russian Bulat LLC.
Famous Damascus steel. What qualities did these amazing blades have? What is the secret of ancient technology? Damascus for its time was a revolutionary breakthrough in the creation of high-strength metal and new technology. The legendary swords that cut the silk scarf had extraordinary sharpness. Isn't this a myth? The twenty-first century forge is the realm of traditional technology. The principle of creation has not changed for centuries. The main elements of this production: open fire, hammer, anvil, blacksmith skill. A sign of new times in the blacksmith profession is the raw materials. In the old days, artisans mined ore themselves, then processed it into metal. Modern blacksmiths, as a rule, operate steel with alloying additives. These impurities give the metal its individual characteristics.
The superiority of Damascus steel over all other alloys is a common myth. Scientists believe that this is a figment of the imagination of writers of the early nineteenth century. In historical novels of that time, Damascus blades had miraculous properties. They cut through like butter. Historians and metal scientists refute these legends. Ancient Damascus would hardly be able to withstand modern steel. However, it was somewhat simpler in chemical composition and the steels that were used in it were not so interesting. The “Damascus” that today’s craftsmen create is, as a rule, the use of initially high-strength steels with good characteristics.
Nevertheless, the “Damascus” of its time was indeed distinguished by its high strength and flexibility. This combination made Damascus steel an excellent weapon. The secret is in a special alloy.
In its pure form, iron is a very soft metal and is not suitable. Therefore, people use alloys - compounds of iron with other chemical elements. An essential component of these compounds is carbon. It gives the alloy hardness. For example, usually in a nail, carbon contains hundredths of a percent (0.06-0.16%) of the total metal. And in railway rails it is from 0.5 to 0.7%. Iron alloys containing less than 2.14% carbon are called steel. After special heat treatment, it acquires another important quality - elasticity.
The main secret of the Damascus production technology is a multi-layer blank, which consists of alloys with different carbon contents. Damascus steel is one of the first composite, that is, composite, materials in history. “Damascus” is a welding technology that involves diffusion bringing together layers of two, three or more steels by pressure. The main part of the package, which consists of carbon-rich steels, gives Damascus special hardness. The source of elasticity of the future product is alloying additives and iron. Thus, alternating layers of metal with very high and very low carbon content gave the new material: hardness, elasticity and impact strength (resistance to impact loads).
Traces of this cocktail can be seen with the naked eye. The characteristic pattern on the Damascus blade is an optical effect of uneven distribution of carbon. “Damascus” has its own unique “face”, its own design, its own beauty in iron. Homogeneous material, even in color, is not so interesting. As a rule, it is painted, or to create some kind of image.
The high qualities of a particular Damascus steel blade are established at the initial stage. There is no perfect recipe for creating a “package”. The selection of source materials, their proportions, the principle of combination, in ancient times, any of the elements of this process, was the secret of the master, the foundation of the superiority of his weapons.
Made of Damascus steel - a source of pride for any hunter. Thanks to manufacturing technology, such a tool cuts the hardest natural materials and fabrics. It holds an edge well. However, the product of these masters is rarely used for its intended purpose. The main function of their steel works is decorative.
greetings to all brain artisans! After almost a year of “communication” with a hammer and anvil, I finally acquired the necessary experience and tools to create forged crafts, such as a small "Damascus" knife from this brain articles.
And I started, by the way, with a small sledgehammer as an anvil, which I hit with a small hammer.
Now we will talk about creating a small, forged, not carved, knife with your own hands using a homemade forge, anvil, hammer and determination. I don’t pretend to be a professional, and this is certainly not the only way to obtain welded Damascus; this is the story of how I managed to make it.
Damascus steel today is called welded Damascus, obtained from welded metal plates of various brainsteel, subsequently forged and twisted. It's like molding different colors of plasticine together and twisting it to create a wavy pattern. After forging, such a workpiece is subjected to etching, in which the dissimilar metals of the workpiece are eroded unevenly, thereby creating a beautiful contrast. The original Damascus steel is obtained in a different, very specific way (although it looks similar to modern Damascus), and few people know how to create it; this fact has given Damascus a reputation as a metal supposedly endowed with magical powers. And the reason for this “power”, similar to samurai swords, is a process that makes it possible to obtain a more homogeneous, and therefore with the desired qualities, steel, which cannot be achieved in other ways, and makes it possible to include low-quality and high/low carbon steel in the workpiece. Which results in a much better quality blade.
ATTENTION!! A knife can be dangerous, please do not give it to people with mental disorders!!!
Step 1: Materials and Tools
- steel plates of two or more grades (preferably high carbon) that will contrast with each other, I took high carbon 1095 steel and 15n20 steel, with a small nickel content, which will add brightness and contrast after etching
- flux (borax, which can be purchased at a hardware store)
- a piece of reinforcement, a long rod (will be welded to the workpiece as a handle)
- wood of your choice for the knife handle
- epoxy resin (hardening in 5 minutes is ideal)
- brass rivets
- composition for processing the wood of the handle, I used linseed oil
– metal hardening oil (vegetable)
- ferric chloride
- an anvil (preferably a real steel anvil, although if you don’t have one, some other durable objects will do: a piece of rail, a sledgehammer, a large metal blank, an old bollard mooring post, or just a large strong, hard and flat surface. Remember how it all started with strikes with a stone on a large stone)
— hammer (I used a weight of 1.3 kg, with a transverse striker)
- pliers
- welding (optional, but advisable for welding the plates to each other and welding the handle, if you don’t have welding, you can tightly wrap the plates with wire)
— a forge (capable of heating the workpiece to the temperatures required for forging, which is very important for high-quality fusion of the plates with each other, more on this later)
- a belt sander or file with a lot of patience
- oven or other hardening method
- drill or drilling machine
- vice (very useful thing)
Step 2: Assembling the workpiece
Steel plates are cut to the required size brain size, mine for example 7.6x1.2cm; Moreover, the larger the workpiece, the more difficult it is to shape it with a hammer. Before welding them in a stack, the plates are cleaned from all sides of rust and scale. Next, the plates are stacked, alternating steel grades, so my workpiece consisted of 7 plates, three of which were grade 15n20, and four of which were grade 1095.
The plates, aligned relative to each other, are welded together (don't pay too much attention to my seam), and then a handle is welded to the stack to make it easier to handle the workpiece during forging. There is nothing wrong, especially after the stack of plates have been welded, in using only pliers. I forged my own anyway.
Step 3: First Forging of the Stack
A little about my forge: it was made with your own hands from an empty (I bought a new one on purpose as a precaution) gas cylinder, lined inside with a 5cm layer of kaolin wool and fireproof cement. It is heated by a Ron-Reil type burner, about which there are many good brain articles. The forge itself is not particularly large and can be heated to the required temperature without any problems.
So, the workpiece from the plates is heated to a cherry-red color; the heat for this does not need to be very strong. Heated billet homemade products sprinkled with borax, which immediately begins to melt and must be allowed to seep between the plates. This will remove scale and prevent oxidation by preventing oxygen from contacting the metal. This action will ensure the purity of the workpiece metal.
Then the workpiece is heated again in the forge and the procedure is repeated a couple more times, not forgetting to clean the scale if necessary. And after this, the workpiece is heated to forging temperature, I can’t say exactly how much, but I believe it’s somewhere in the region of 1260-1315 degrees Celsius. At this temperature, the workpiece will have a very bright yellow-orange color, similar to moderate daylight.
To avoid wasting time, make sure that the anvil and hammer are at hand and there is enough free working space.
Then the workpiece is quickly placed on the anvil and with light, soft blows, evenly over the entire area, the forging of the plates begins. Next, the workpiece is again placed in the forge and heated to forging temperature, and then forged with blows of medium force.
And after this, the workpiece is stretched so that it can be bent.
Step 4: Folding the workpiece
It's time to increase the number brain layers in the workpiece. To do this, the workpiece is forged to a length twice the original length, but it is important to stretch it evenly and not just stretch it. In the middle of the stretched workpiece, a transverse recess of 3/4 or 4/5 thickness is made using a notch, chisel or other suitable method, along which the workpiece is then folded in half on the edge of the anvil, turned over and forged along the entire length, making sure that the halves do not moved relative to each other along the lateral edges.
Then the heating/forging process from the previous step is repeated: flux, heat, cool, heat, forge, forge. The procedure for increasing the number of layers is repeated until the required number of these layers, so I folded it 4 times and got 112 layers. (If you want more layers, please, then the pattern will be smaller. The formula for calculating the layers is as follows: initial number * 2 to the power of the number of folds, that is, 7 * 2^4 = 112).
Next, the workpiece is heated to forging temperature homemade products placed in the groove of the anvil, twisted well, and then it is again given a rectangular shape. But before twisting, the workpiece is punched in the corners so that its shape becomes more rounded, because when twisting and reverse forging into a rectangular workpiece, inclusions and impurities can form from the resulting folds if the temperature of the workpiece is lower than the forging temperature.
After that brain training it is forged again (I repeated it several times), and cooled, and to make sure that the forging is uniform, I cleaned one of the ends of the workpiece. During the forging itself, especially at the first stage, it is important to keep the temperature of the workpiece high and be careful, otherwise you can tear the layers away from each other (this is also called delamination, which is not at all good).
Step 5: Model and Rough Profiling
Now you need to imagine the profile of the future knife and roughly forge it from the blank. The more accurately you can forge the profile and bevel, the less you will have to bother with grinding (on a machine or with a file). There is a lot on this topic brain articles more experienced blacksmiths, so I won't go into detail. The bottom line is that the workpiece behaves approximately like plasticine; when it is heated, it is necessary to punch it in the desired direction.
Step 6: Sanding the Profile
The final shaping of the profile is carried out with a grinder and a file. Stock up on tea, because most likely this will take a lot of time, unless of course you have a grinder brain machine.
Step 7: Sanding, sanding, sanding...and thinking about the meaning of life
Step 8: Finished profile
After the profile crafts formed, it still needs to be finalized with a file with a finer grain, I used 400s. The edge of the blade is sharpened almost, but not completely; it is necessary to leave it slightly unsharpened so that during hardening the edge material does not deform. After this, holes for rivets are drilled in the knife handle and wooden dies for this handle are prepared.
Step 9: Exciting Moment
Hardening.
It will either “make” your blade or destroy it. It is important to concentrate and be careful, otherwise you can deform and destroy the blade. The method I used is not the most thorough method brain training, but it was the only one available to me with the tools I had, and the oil was the best I could get.
Before hardening, the blade must be normalized. This will relieve stresses built up during forging and twisting and reduce the likelihood of warping during hardening. This normalization is done by heating the blade above its critical temperature (when it is no longer magnetized, so it is useful to have a magnet on hand) and cooling it in air. The process is repeated three to five times, so I did this 5 times. In addition, this action will help you practice removing the blade from the forge, because no hesitations are allowed during hardening. This action is shown in the photo with my dangling knife. What’s also cool about this part is that as it cools, oxidation occurs, which begins to reveal the pattern of the steel.
Quenching: The blade is again heated above the critical temperature, and then quickly removed and placed, first with the tip, in warm vegetable oil (for such brands brainsteel like mine). To heat the oil itself, you can simply heat something metal and throw it into a container with oil; for example, I used a crutch for sleepers. Stir the oil, this way you will get a more even hardening. If your steel is high carbon, then do not use water to harden it, it will only ruin the blade because water cools too quickly, which is not suitable for high carbon steel.
WITH under the tree Now it should be treated like glass, because if the blade has been tempered correctly, it is so fragile that it can break if dropped.
After this comes the turn of vacation.
Step 10: Tempering the Metal
Tempering is the process of imparting some hardness to a blade to increase its life and strength. This is achieved by heating the blade at a certain controlled temperature. Vacation brain games I spent in the oven for an hour at 205 degrees Celsius. “Bake” until “ready” appears on the display.
Step 11: Etching
I apologize in advance for the lack of photos of this and the next steps, but the process is quite simple. Ferric chloride is prepared according to the instructions supplied with it. brain instructions, and then the blade is kept in it for as long as indicated in the same instructions. In my case, it's 3 parts water to 1 part ferric chloride, and let it sit for 3-5 minutes. The process is truly exciting, and the result looks like Batman's knife.
Step 12: Handle and Sharpening
Again, there are many techniques and instructions on how to how to do knife handle and sharpen it, so I can do without brain details. Let me just say that for my crafts I chose cherry dies, which I glued to the knife handle using epoxy glue and secured with two brass rivets. I sanded it with 400 grit and coated it with linseed oil.
For sharpening, I do not use any special, labor-intensive method, but mostly use a regular whetstone.
Step 13: Time to pat yourself on the back, the knife is ready...
This is my finished knife, about 15cm long. People might think it's quite funny, but I have no idea how this fancy pattern came about.
Thank you for brain attention, I hope this is useful to someone!
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