[TheForge] Re: Powder Damascus

[Roger Degner]

Basically how it works is you have a steel container say a piece of thin
wall 3 X 3 tube.  Cut off a piece 3" long and weld a plate inside one end
and cut another plate to fit the other end.
Now using thin nickel sheet cut pieces just a little shorter than the inside
of your container with the lid inside not welded to the outside.  The reason
for both end caps to be inside is there is a less likely chance of the welds
and container coming apart and hot powdered steel flying around the shop.
Weld a short piece of 3/4 round to the outside of the lid for your tongs to
hold during the welding process.
With the nickel stock glue up a design of choice similar to a  line drawing,
a flower, space ship, hammer ect.  If you are using more than one type of
powder you need to build the design to seperate the two posders totaly to
keep them from mixing
Jim passed around sand design books where you pour layers of powder into a
container and stuck a pencil or similar rod through the layers
pushing/pulling the powder into the next layer making a design.  Sometimes
you see sand bottles at craft fairs thatt have been done this way.
Once the design is glued up place it inside the container and using small
funnels pour the powder into the right places until the can is full.  Spray
some WD40 in to burn out the O2 and mig in the top.
Now place can into the forge and get an even welding heat.  I think Jim said
let soak at least 30 min as the powder does not transfer heat llike solid
steel.
Both used a hydralic press for the initial weld
Once the piece is welded draw it down to a longer smaller piece.  Now you
hopefully have a solid bar with the design all the way through the bar but
you have to look at the end to see it.  This can be sliced off for bolsters
ear rings ect.  If you want the design on the side like a knife blade you
need to saw in from both sides and unfold like an accordian.
In the time it took me to write this and confuse you more someone could of
watched the video which is avalible at www.umbaonline.org .  If you order
today it could be delivered by Christmas and the first one only cost $7
delivered and the more you order the cheaper they get.  There are just over
100 disks in a complete set which is over 500 hours long.  So much for
todays SPAM
Roger Degner

> > Most use thin nickel sheet as the powder separator although Jim said
> > just standard paper card stock would work it just leaves a fuzzier line
> > between the two types of steel due to carbon migration.
> > Both used super glue to make the pattern for the design
>
> I don't quite get that.  Guess I'm going to have to get somebody to
> explain the details to me or get the videos.
>
> Thanks for the enlightenment.
>
> - Mike
>
> --