Got an order for a knife and was told to do something unique. So I found a couple of old chainsaw chains, an old file, and forge welded it in to a knife.
if you can find a chain drive transfer case the chain in it makes some cool damascus.
@stormyeffects4795
3 жыл бұрын
To make cat Damascus: 1. Open a tin of cat food 2. Select 2 of more different colored cats 3. Rub peanut butter or wet food on the cats 4. Watch as they morph together licking all of the food off of each other Alternate method: Skip to step 2. 3. Shave selected cats 4. Mix all fur colors together 5. Make sweaters out of the fur 6. Apply Damascus cat sweaters to the now hairless cats
@shepardsforgeh2031
7 жыл бұрын
forged in fire here you come brother!!!!
@HoJForge
7 жыл бұрын
Ha, that would be fun, but I don't see it happening any time soon. What those guys whip out in three hours, takes me 20 or 30 hours. Maybe when I get a little quicker at it all.
@231flash
8 жыл бұрын
Rusty of Rusty Glove Box channel is a knife maker and made a small power hammer that's pretty cool. Not to hard to make.
@HoJForge
8 жыл бұрын
+231flash Cool, I'll check it out.
@NKG416
8 жыл бұрын
This kills me little bit inside because 2 different chainsaw billet thickness are not the same (pls ignore my whinning)
@msblades5382
7 жыл бұрын
HoJ Have you ever tryed a canister weld damascus in a similar small canister multi canister type forging deal? thanks, Martin M
@HoJForge
7 жыл бұрын
I have not tried a canister weld yet. Its on my to do list for some day down the road, but I'm having plenty of fun just messing around with trying to get different patterns by how I put together my billets. I think they are also, generally, more successful under a press, which is not something I own, as of yet... I'm thinking it might be worth investing in one in the next year or so... I just don't know enough about canister welding, and haven't taken the time to purchase the powdered steel or anything, so I don't think I'll be trying it any time real soon... but some day
@adamnichols476
8 жыл бұрын
how much fuel does the forge use?
@HoJForge
8 жыл бұрын
I use anthracite coal, which is not really the best for blacksmithing, but I've gotten used to it, and can get it locally for the least amount of $ and a 40 pound bag will last me for about 8-10 hours of forging time. Bituminous coal is what most smiths would recommend for forging work, and in my area, even at its cheapest, would still be three times as much. With proper fire control, I can get bituminous to last a little longer, but not three times longer. Bituminous is easier to work with, in some regards, but again, I just can't justify the extra costs. A lot of smiths like propane, but I've only messed around with it at other people's forges, so never really got a feel for how fast they went through it. A lot of the propane usage would be determined on how many burners you're running, how well your forge chamber is insulated, and how much pressure you're running the burners at.
@adamnichols476
8 жыл бұрын
Ahh, I read your other comment that you used a hair dryer to blow the air, which makes sense to me why it looks like a propane fire lol.
@workwithnature
7 жыл бұрын
I got to say you sure try out lots of stuff and you do it very well. The going to the market was fun to watch. Just did my first forge welding and pulled it of on the third attempt using wd40 as a flux, have a video of it if you are interested. Any idea of any other fluxes other than borax that will also clean the the gunk out of chains and the like similar to borax? The wd40 would not clean it up me thinks.
@matthewyoskovich8498
5 жыл бұрын
Work With Nature Funny enough, I just did a forge weld with a chain where I soaked the chain in borax and water for about 2 days then resoaked in borax and WD-40 after a mild heat. It seams to have taken well so far.
@msblades5382
7 жыл бұрын
You could get a air operated 20 ton press bottle jack and mod it to use as a press this is what I am going to try it will save some cheddar ya know... Martin
@HoJForge
7 жыл бұрын
I've sort of looked in to that. I run in to the issue of not having a big enough air compressor to run much of anything. I only have the one that I use for airbrushing. It churns out a decent amount of CFM for a few quick bursts from my impact wrench for when I'm working on my Jeeps, but there is no way it would hold up to an air operated press. So, I'd have to invest in something larger... and if I'm going to do that, I would want to get something really large, which would mean running 220v power to the garage... all of that, just for the purpose of a press that wouldn't be ideal, and I would want to upgrade immediately, just doesn't make sense for me. I found a small company that makes a pretty decent 120v forge press that I think I can get delivered to my house for under $4000. So, when I do the math... The compressor I'd want would be in the $1500 range... plus a few hundred for all of the supplies to run the electricity... then a couple hundred for the bottle jack press... I'm already half way to the cost of the actual forge press. Save up for another 6 or 8 months and then I can just get the one I want. I'm not saying that it isn't a great option for saving some money, but when it comes to tools, I tend to lean towards buying the "right" tool first. I've burned myself a lot by buying something that I thought would work for a while, and then still having to go buy the right one afterwards. That's just sort of where I am in my own personal situation. If I already had a decent air compressor... or already had a press frame that I could just add an air operated jack to, then I'd probably be singing a different tune.
@kagstand09
6 жыл бұрын
Just wanted to say of all the Damascus vids I’ve been watching, yours helped me the most. I haven’t got a successful weld just yet but I’m getting there. I broke down and bought some 1095 and 15n20 hoping this will be the one. Seems like no matter how much I heat it up and beat on it, it delaminates. Anyway just wanted to thank you for the info you put out there for the lil guy like me without all the fancy equipment. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone make Damascus without a power hammer except you my friend.
@HoJForge
6 жыл бұрын
Its certainly not common. Are you using coal or propane?
@kagstand09
6 жыл бұрын
I’m using Anthracite coal in a Brake drum forge with a Blow dryer for a blower. Lol. Sound familiar???
@kagstand09
6 жыл бұрын
Borax for flux as well. Do you think maybe I just need to let it heat up more? I noted in one of your Damascus vids to not put too much heat to it though.
@HoJForge
6 жыл бұрын
Perfect. Then I can probably help you figure it out. I'm not that knowledgeable about forge welding in propane. So, first and foremost, does your forge get hot enough to melt steel? You don't want it melting, but it needs to be damn close. If its a similar set us as mine, then I will assume that you've gotten steel hot enough to get the sparklers coming off it. That's the point the iron is melting off of it and the carbon, now released in to the world, just burns up. The carbon is what is sparking. For a welding heat, the ideal temp is 1 degree before that first sparkler flies, so you're right there at the temp that the iron wants to melt. In reality, you've got a little leeway. A few degree cooler will work, which is why a propane forge, running properly, can get it hot enough, and a few degree hotter, might give you a couple of sparklers from the surface, but nothing so serious that you'll be compromising your steel. I would suggest practicing on mild steel. For mild steel, getting the sparklers is just fine, but as you play around with different temperatures, you'll learn how cold you can go and still get a successful weld. What you don't want to do, even with the mild steel, is get it so hot that the steel just burns away. You want your billet to resemble a stick of butter that looks like its melting on a bright sunny day. That's the best way I can describe it. If its not at a yellow heat, then you need to get it hotter.
@kagstand09
6 жыл бұрын
Yes it does get hot enough to melt steel and I have seen the sparks coming off the steel before but come to think of it, I have not been seeing that when trying the pattern welding. More heat. Got it. Thanks again man! I got a good feeling about this next attempt.
@231flash
8 жыл бұрын
Whenever I take scrap into Grand Pas Garage I always walk around and drag something home.
@HoJForge
8 жыл бұрын
+231flash They're good people. He took one look at what I had grabbed... the chainsaw chains, and old band saw blade, and some old pallet strapping, and told me he couldn't charge me for that "junk". lol. I wish I had more time to wander around. I'll have to stop by again some morning when I have a couple of hours. Its a treasure trove.
@231flash
8 жыл бұрын
+HEAPofJEEP That's the problem ,I find more crap. He always tell me not to worry about it or he takes it off my weight I brought in.
@drason69
7 жыл бұрын
Maybe it just me, but I thought it would be very ironic, not to mention sweet, to use chainsaw files in the centre of it all...ok, it wouldn't be San mai, but it would make a cool pattern weld
@adamnichols476
8 жыл бұрын
So awesome.
@charlesnorris4345
8 жыл бұрын
Combine your forging and love of jeeps. Forge a knife made from a 4.0 or 4.2 timing chain or maybe an NP231 chain. Nice knife BTW.
@Friidom2
8 жыл бұрын
Those billets look wicked deadly. That would make a hell of a mace all in itself. lol
@HoJForge
8 жыл бұрын
+Friis Forge The woman who commissioned this is the one who actually gave me the idea of the chains, but sending me pictures of chain knives where a bunch of the chain was left as the handle. I thought about trying that, but wasn't sure if the chainsaw cutting teeth would make gripping it a painful proposition. Maybe it would work, but I'm learning as I go, making a lot of this up as I forge ahead, so decided to play it safe and just forge a knife like I've been doing. Can't tell you how many times I've tried something, then a couple of days later come across a video from channels like yours, and realize there is a way to do something that is 100 times easier and faster than what I just muddled through. I've got the knife thing coming along pretty good, but my general blacksmith skills are horrid! I'm almost embarrassed to use the tongs I made in my videos, but thankfully, I never zoom in enough for everyone to see how ugly they really are. LOL.
@marcosantos8149
7 жыл бұрын
parabéns ,show .Obrigado pela dica essa semana vou fazer meu primeiro Damasco .
@msblades5382
7 жыл бұрын
You've probably been asked this before but how long have you been at this hobby for..?
@HoJForge
7 жыл бұрын
I've been making knives for a couple of years, but only seriously for a little over a year. Before that, I was just goofing around, making things that I gave away as gifts, or using Jeep parts in the damascus billets to give to my buddies that I go Jeeping with. After I got my first commission, I decided I had better start to actually learn more about the process and it has been a constant learning process since then. I don't see myself as ever becoming a "professional"... whatever that means... but I certainly want to provide a product that is equivalent in function to what a professional maker would produce. I've still got a long ways to go for the fit and finish, but I truly believe I am turning out decent quality knives at this point. I'm at the stage where I want to try new things (New to me), like bolsters... I still haven't done a knife with bolsters... well, besides the integrated one, but that was more for fun than anything I plan to recreate. There's a whole world of handle material that I haven't tried, and turning out a knife that is both functional, and truly beautiful is my ultimate goal. Maybe when I reach that level, I'll start seeing myself as more of a "real" knife maker. For now, its all still just a hobby that makes me a few bucks from time to time. In some ways I am trying to be a little more serious about the business side of it all... I did just design the new website, and would like to get enough knives done to fill up the sales page... but with only doing this as a hobby, I just don't have the free time to devote to it. Right now I've got two commissions waiting, while I'm finishing up my current commission. It will be another three or four weeks before I will be done with all of these, and then maybe I can start to make some knives to put up on the web page... but who knows... more commissions may come in before then. Just taking it one day at time, and as long as I'm still having as much fun as I am, then I consider it all a win. AND... all of that is on top of me trying to keep enough other product on the tables at the craft shows that I'm doing. Because I was so focused on making knives at the start, I never honed a lot of the other smithing skills. That's why I decided to do the craft shows. Nothing teaches you more about consistency then trying to turn out half a dozen hooks that all have to look like they belong with each other... or bottle openers... or whatever else. The key for me is fun. If its still fun to fire up the forge, then I'm doing it right... if I reach a point where it isn't fun, or I'm dreading going out to the forge, then I take a night or two off and focus on other things... reading about other people's experiences, and trying to pick up on what they learned, so when I go back to the forge a few days later, I have new goals to shoot for. My current goal, and its actually one of my more difficult challenges, is doing things forged to finish. I'm really trying to cut down on spending so much time at the grinder or having to clean up flaws or mistake that I should have dealt with in the forging. Its training my eyes to see things that I would otherwise have overlooked in the past. Wow... that was a flipping long answer to such a short question. lol
@n-amcontrol9353
8 жыл бұрын
How many chainsaw chains you used 2?
@HoJForge
8 жыл бұрын
Used two for this knife. One for each side of the san mai billet. Since then, I've done the same thing with a single chain. Just had to stretch it out further to make it big enough to fold around the center piece. If you've got a good, high carbon chain to start with though, you don't even need to san mai it. Plenty of good knives have been made with just the chain. I get my chains from the scrap yard though, so I never know what brand they are, so no way to research what steels they are made from. In that case, its just safer to make sure you have a decent, high carbon, cutting edge by doing the san mai knife with it.
@n-amcontrol9353
8 жыл бұрын
Thanks a lot for the info and keep up the great job!
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