Making Damascus Steel 2010, from Stack to Steel HD.

[adeptustechnicanus]

Mind making a video showing us how you do the initial welding of the individual layers?

[Conan568]

@adeptustechnicanus

These stacks started out at 7 layers.

[MdotWelblech]

@Conan568 I enjoyed watching. Damascus steel turns out so beautiful. The math is beyond me, though. I can't get from 7 to 112.

[GitarStu]

Awesome! The camera hates it though!!

[DMK3261]

5:25 thumbs up if u said "Oh that hammer is from Dead Island!"

[Conan568]

@DMK3261

They do get around.

[CubeSquid]

SO, if you don't have a trip hammer like that, should you just hit the steel to be welded really hard with a sledgehammer?

[Conan568]

@CubeSquid

You don't need to hit it hard to set the weld, it's after the weld is done that you hiter' hard.

[doonhamer252]

living my dream!

thanks

[Conan568]

@doonhamer252

Thanks for watching.

[666skelter]

cool. i like your forge. espessialy your hammer

[Conan568]

@666skelter

Soon I'll be firing it up.

[Roadkill07]

That was cool! Thanks for the video!

[Conan568]

@Roadkill07 I'm glad you liked it.

[CubeSquid]

Thank you! One last thing, would you possibly know the exact name of those steels you mentioned (like 1095, for example)?

[Conan568]

@CubeSquid

You nailed it, 1095 is the one to use.

[CubeSquid]

What steels do you use. I'm a novice blacksmith looking for the right steels to use in damascus steel billet.

[Conan568]

@CubeSquid

Use spring steel an a low carbon alloy.

And soak the stack well on the first weld to make sure the center is hot enough.

[ilikemoney8]

how the steel looks like with 15 or more folds?

[Conan568]

@ilikemoney8

It wouldn't look too good because the layers would be so thin it wouldn't produce a good pattern.

I used to take all of my bars to 448 layers, but found that too tight for smaller knives and now I stop at 336 layers.

[mercsan117]

Why are you NOT my father?

[Conan568]

@mercsan117

I didn't travel much back then, and never met your Mom.

[nsfr1206]

Hey Conan do you ever make damascus steel in thick pieces? I would like some pieces 3/4 inch round and 5.5 inches long.

[Conan568]

@nsfr1206

I don't have any Damascus left, and have to make more before I do any knives.

Check ebay, but avoid the steel made in India.

[123patriotsfan]

didn't your mom tell you not to play with fire??

[Conan568]

@123patriotsfan

Yep.

[nsfr1206]

Conan I would like to talk to you about making a product.

[Conan568]

@nsfr1206

Thank you for your interest, but I'm not accepting orders until I make more steel.

Contact me after I post my next Damascus video if you like.

[nsfr1206]

@Conan568 Do you have a website?

[Endure2theEnnd]

im new to knife making.I have a question you may be able to answer. i made a knife from annealed D2 stock,used a waterjet for the rough design,and finished with a grinder. it is completed and sharpened. Do i need to heat treat it? if so...how?

[Conan568]

@Endure2theEnnd

You need to send that steel away to heat treat it properly.

[Endure2theEnnd]

@Conan568 any suggestions on that?

[dogbone222]

does damascus define what type of steel it is or is it how its shaped into a weapon

[Conan568]

@dogbone222

It's 2 types of steel, crucible or patterned welded Damascus.

[dogbone222]

@Conan568 and was pattern welded what you did?

[Conan568]

@dogbone222

That's right.

[dogbone222]

@Conan568 rgr. heard damascus steel was the best. wanna make a napolionic type sabre and a katana

[Conan568]

@dogbone222

Good luck.

[pyro0115]

@Conan568 you seem like you have alot of experience mabey you can help me. a few days ago i made my first block of damascus steel out of 3 peices of eaquil carbon content steel everyting went perfectly but after the block cooled it was too hard to even use a file on feels like it was tempered i annealed it no difference . my only guess is that it absorbed extra carbon but i dont know if how or why ps i used a coal forge.

[Conan568]

@pyro0115

It didn't anneal that's all.

Build a fire and let it slow cool overnight.

And mix low carbon steel into the billet.

[daleduru]

Isn't it dangerous leaving your arms exposed like that? I see sparks flying everywhere.

[Conan568]

@daleduru

It's not bad like a mild sun-burn.

[NiteStar131]

Thank you for the video, great shop you have and I wish I had a hammer half that good. My Grandfather and his before him always hammered until they had a bar that was 3/4th's of an inch thick then twisted it then folded it again and hammered it all back in shape to give a water type pattern to the metal, do you do that as well or is it sufficient to just keep it flat? Reason I am asking is I am about to pick up this as a hobby now that I am old  LOL I just loved watching my Grandfather work

[mrmysery1984]

Hand hammer all that, then ill be impressed.

[Conan568]

@mrmysery1984

I think you have me confused with someone else.

I'm not out to impress anyone.

[miteeoak]

@mrmysery1984 Nice video dude. I'd kill for that power hammer.

[thedigitalsorcerer]

Is that borax your dipping the steel in there, in front of the hammer?

[Conan568]

@thedigitalsorcerer

Yes, but not the stuff you buy in a store, I use pure anhydrous borax.

[monrofay]

here's a idea if ya plan on talknig turn the hammer thing off so the pounding doesn't muffle out everything you say !?!!!

[Conan568]

@monrofay

I had it on for effect and to warm up the machine.

[chris96xj]

is your forge hammer on a concrete floor becouse when you pour the coals to that thing it shakes tha camera that what 20ft away that little thing must got some juice to it

[Conan568]

@chris96xj

The concrete under that hammer is about a foot thick with rebar, but it's not isolated so it does shake when I strike hard.

[Kris0203]

Hey man, your videos are awesome, keep making them! :)

[Conan568]

@Kris0203

Thanks, I'm just now building a professional size coal and coke forge.

I will be filming the forging of a large camp knife in it soon.

[MPSecare]

!!DING!!

*Your blacksmith skill has reached 500000000*

[Conan568]

@MPSecare

I used to make iron daggers.

Then I took an arrow to the knee and....

[dakotherathunter]

@Conan568 you sir are awesome, not only because of your insane blacksmithing skills but also for that epic comment about taking an arrow in the knee. I wish I can become as good blacksmith as you are in time.

[Conan568]

@dakotherathunter

Thanks.

There's a lot of people taking arrows to their knees lately it seems.

My side-kick Lydia, took one to the ass the other day.

I pulled the arrow out, gave her some poison potion and she'll be just fine.

If you have access to coal char-coal or even wood you can get into smithing yourself.

You can use a blow dryer as a blower for you forge, and any thick piece of iron can be used as an anvil.

Go for it.

[jezzafox]

genius, that steel is worth its weight in gold with all the work you put into it

[Conan568]

@jezzafox

Thanks.

I'm in the process of building a coal forge around a Vulcan fire-pot.

I'll be able to weld up huge stacks of steel with the fire it will make.

And it should make for some great videos.

[wolfbass46]

Bad Ass Man....VERY Nice Job!!! It is good to see Craftsman such as your self out there doing it right. Dig it. What did that Bar become and how long did the actual process take to do?

Thank You.

[Conan568]

@wolfbass46

Thank you.

I used the bar for fittings because it was a low layer bar.

It took about 3 hours to do this.

[wolfbass46]

@Conan568 Thank you, again, Excellent stuff, I look forward to viewing more of your Videos and creations.

[Summonspaceqex200]

Are you a proffesional blacksmith?

[Conan568]

@Summonspaceqex200

No I'm a Bladesmith, but I do know many of the Blacksmithing techniques..

I can forge a blade very fast and accurate but that is my specialty.

[starchild9000]

@Conan568 never too late to learn.

looks like a living headache, do you not use ear protection?

[TheSouthsidestrangle]

to continue from my last post, i want to stress the katana context because i understand that in this technique it's to weld the layers together

[Conan568]

@TheSouthsidestrangle

The folding was used to take the impurity's out of the billet and the patterns this produced was a by-product of the process.

Now we do it to get the pattern.

[TheSouthsidestrangle]

@Conan568 righto, thank you very much

[Conan568]

@TheSouthsidestrangle

You're welcome.

The Ancient's started pattern development soon after this process was discovered and the Viking's mastered the art of complex patterns and sword.

The Viking's could teach the Japanese a thing or two, and visa versa.

[TheSouthsidestrangle]

@Conan568 i do have another question if you don't mind

[TheSouthsidestrangle]

I'm wondering if anyone can answer a quandary of mine. I suppose the context im thinking of katanas, but what i want to know is the purpose of folding the steel over and over? Naturally i imagine it's for strength but one video i've seen (amoung many i've been watching) indicates it's to get impurities out of the billet. That one video has had me thinking about this over and over so any imput would be much appreciated, providing you have practical knowlege and aren't relying on vids like me tyvm

[Aqualiteking]

Man you got a great setup of equipment. I almost can't believe your not wearing hearing protection.

[Conan568]

@Aqualiteking

It's not too bad when you don't hit too hard with the flat side of the dies.

[NatureManGuy]

i envy your equipment sir.

[Conan568]

@NatureManGuy Thanks I got some great deals on it too.

[Marshallvs80]

Bono is a smithy?

[Conan568]

@Marshallvs80

I'd say Bono is more into Rock and not Metal.

[kristian2858]

nice i love metal bar

[MIGUELch8]

ey can i make damascus with only one kind of steel like a file.

[Conan568]

@MIGUELch8

You could fold it and weld it, but you'd end up with a file at the end.

You need two dissimilar alloys for a pattern to show after the acid bath.

[MIGUELch8]

@Conan568 what do you mean by acid bath?

[Conan568]

@MIGUELch8

You have to etch the steel in acid to get a pattern to show.

[MIGUELch8]

@Conan568 thanks and one last question ,in your opinion are files good material for knife making?and check out my forge.

[Conan568]

@MIGUELch8

Files are good for smaller knives but use leaf springs for big chopping blades.

[DerLaCroix1]

Thank you, Conan - a really well made video. (and great forging)

[Conan568]

@DerLaCroix1

Glad you liked it.

[DerLaCroix1]

@SynoDesign Ancient Europe disagrees. It was the first method of making really useful steel (That's why it was priced) - and disappeared in the 800s, when ore refining was improved and produced steel of higher carbon content.

[DerLaCroix1]

@ Raven You have to account for that the outer layer is welded onto itself, so it goes missing -> 4 -8(7)

IF you are a pedant, then it continues 7-14(13)-26(25)-50(49) - 98(97), etc. but I guess no one counts it that precisely.

[Raven9619]

8 folds should have yielded 128 layers...Unless your starting point was 7 layers (stacked/welded) and then folded 5 times...this would give you 112 layers

[Conan568]

@Raven9619

Yep, I started with 7 layers.

[MIGUELch8]

what is that machine that you are using called?

[Conan568]

@MIGUELch8

It's a Struker 88 lb ram forging hammer, but they're sold under another brand now.

[MIGUELch8]

@Conan568 thanks

[KragAxe]

Nice work and good job on the video as well, thanks for popsting it! I'd love to have a hammer that size.

[Conan568]

@KragAxe

Thanks, that hammer is perfect for me.

[blackgriffinxx]

look up Battle Angel Alita , Damascus blade and James Cameron get to work and stock up on that Damascus Steel  cha-ching no joke

[Conan568]

@blackgriffinxx

I have 4 years to do it.

[SHTFSurvivalist]

I can only imagine home long that would take without that pneumatic hammer. No wonder damascus steel was so prized in ancient times.

[Conan568]

@SHTFSurvivalist

They had lots of big slaves back then to strike for the Smith's.

The Viking's even had big water powered hammers.

[SHTFSurvivalist]

@Conan568 Cool, I never knew that about the water powered hammers.

[SynoDesign]

@SHTFSurvivalist it wasnt around in ancient times

it first came about in the 1500-1600's japan and england

[TCDF22]

Ok. You've made the bar, now produce an 8" chef knife and send it to me free of charge.

[Conan568]

@TCDF22

If you can pull some strings and make my lotto ticket the winner, you're on.

[bajsmannensparty]

01:24 looks just like the engineer from tf2!

[Conan568]

Keep your eye open for the tools you need and give it a try.

[killerkane19k]

awesome video, just starting to get into this forging and knife making. your vid has definetly made me want to stop watching vids and get after it. any ideas on how a greenhorn can get into forging?

[express375]

The air hammer is shaking the camera! Must go right through you.

I've seen this done on a hydraulic press.Looked like a much more 'relaxing' method

[Conan568]

@express375

Yeah it can hit pretty hard alright.

[doonhamer252]

I remember as a kid the smitddy would sprinkle silica sand? on to the hot metal, when fire welding. is this the same thing?

[Conan568]

@doonhamer252

Almost.

The Japanese use clay and ash.

[MrAvalanche2004]

So many sparks... Scar tissue .... Great equipment...

[Conan568]

@MrAvalanche2004

It's all good, lol.

[mynameismatt2010]

You should teach a class! Make money  while at the same time getting free labor!

[Conan568]

@mynameismatt2010

Sure.

[ziltoidthegreat]

how many hours would something like that take without that automatic hammer thing?

[Conan568]

@ziltoidthegreat

Maybe 8 hours.

[TioYoh]

That's awesome :D i wish i could craft some blades =D

[Conan568]

@TioYoh

Give it a try.

[88spd]

you look like kim coates from sons of anarchy 

[Conan568]

We reached1,000,000 views today.

Thanks for watching .

[mrgreebly]

great to see a craftsman at work and hugs to rocky JRs ftw!

[IGotAPagina]

Awesome.

[Conan568]

@IGotAPagina

Thanks, it's quite a light show alright.

[okwoode]

you are tony stark

[Conan568]

@okwoode

Lol.

[Braveskin]

Those first few strikes after a weld heat are incredible.

[Conan568]

@Braveskin

Yeah the sparks DO fly, don't they.

[MasterCaesar]

How do you obtain 112 layers? I can't figure it, since I assume you start with a single layer and you double the layers every time you fold the piece of steel. Then it can only be 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128 layers and so fort. Fold the piece 10 times and you have 1024 layers. If you start with 2 different kind of steel it would be the same (2, 4, 8 etc). Starting with 3 layers would give 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, 192 layers....

Where do the 112 layers come from?

[Conan568]

@MasterCaesar

I misspoke on this video, I should have said 7, 14, 28. 56, and finally 112 layers.

[kght222]

@Conan568 how did you get 7? the best i know about this is that you are folding a chunk of steel, how do you get 7 layers from a single chunk of iron/steel. (i can think of a couple ways but would like to see your answer.

[Conan568]

@kght222

I start out with 7 layers because to get a pattern you need to mix different steels together like high carbon and low carbon steel.

The more times you fold it, the finer the pattern.

[kght222]

crap shouldn't seem like i'm calling out like that i'll tell, i think you lost a layer at the second fold, or you used a couple already layered chunks and welded em together (a 3 and a 4). but that's pretty much how anyway, i get it now, i think, you probably make allot of these, so you prepare steel for putting something that is ordered together, then once you know what it is, you know how much of your stock you need to produce the blade. anyway if that has anything to do with why 7 layers....

[jaseanddi]

Conan how long have you been forging, is it a hobby or is this your main work, how long does it normally take most capable people to become competent, is that a gas furnace????, great stuff :)

[Conan568]

@jaseanddi

I've been doing this since the late 80s as a hobby, and it depends on the person how long it takes.

My forge runs on propane gas, and I have 2 X 100 lb tanks teed to supply the large amount of propane needed to forge weld.

[jaseanddi]

@Conan568 , thank you, any tips on getting started, books, dvds etc, cheers 4 replying, jason

[Conan568]

@jaseanddi

Google the book called "The Complete Bladesmith" and buy it if you want to make knives.

[jaseanddi]

excellent stuff, must be some moneys worth in that bad ass hammer, good for the hearing aswell :)

[Conan568]

@jaseanddi

I got that hammer for half price so it wasn't too bad.

[bbcisrubbish]

This is what you call a real man's work. None of your pen pushing mamby pambys.

[Conan568]

@bbcisrubbish

And it's almost time to do it again too.

[biometal28]

The camera shaking when your auto hammer strikes shows how much power these things can have, it makes for a good video effect too.

[Conan568]

@biometal28

It's difficult to isolate the camera from the hammer.



[CaliforniaCarpenter7]

Badass.

[Conan568]

@CaliforniaCarpenter7 Lol.

[IIDASHII]

Thank you for this! Not only for putting up the vid, but for taking the time to edit it well and keep it concise. We novice through intermediate blacksmiths need more of this. =)

[Conan568]

@IIDASHII

I'm glad it helps, my next video will show how I make my blade steel rather than just steel for fittings etc.

[13Jimbo37]

what do u use when you fold it over? do u need flux or something?^^

[SuperSafiero]

just a question how long did this take you?

[Conan568]

@SuperSafiero

It took a few hours.

[josephd27]

great SHTF knowledge to know. nice video sir

[Conan568]

@josephd27

Thanks.

[EltonJThe]

Beautiful welding, thanks for the video.

[Conan568]

@EltonJThe

Thanks for watching.

[MartinHuijzer]

I love your mancave!

[Conan568]

@MartinHuijzer

Thanks, it just needs better lighting.

[blacksmither537]

well I appologize sir did not see these videos very nice I give a thumbs up sir!

[Conan568]

@blacksmither537

Thanks, I'll be welding up some more Damascus soon if it cools down a bit.

I'll post that video as well.

[lobsterg]

theres a noise ordinance where i live, so how loud is forging if i wanted to get into it?

[Conan568]

@lobsterg

You'd probably get away with a hydraulic press but not an air or trip hammer

[PipeGamer]

PLEASE make a new video.. also Can I name my next son after you?

[Conan568]

@PipeGamer

Coming soon.

I should be releasing several.

[axa88888888]

"52 layers"

i suppose a smithy might not need proficiency in numbers...

[Conan568]

@axa88888888

Yeah I misspoke it should have been 56 layers.

I realized it right after too.

[Juze21a]

Nice job man ur a badass i will subscribe right away

[Conan568]

@Juze21a

Thanks.

[TheGraywolf661]

Hi Conan

Very impressed to see how you handle the hammer,do a bit of Damask myself,and normaly start with 7 layers then 14-28-56-112 and so on,my q is why dont you use Borax after those 7 layers??my experience tells me(after working as a educated blacksmith for nearly 16 years) that there still will be pieses of metal(running of)betwine the layers,wich ofcause will influenze on the welding..

Keep up the good work

best regards

Hans

[Conan568]

@TheGraywolf661

You only really need flux when you weld and you can weld without it too.

[happyfoot2166]

Is that hammer supposed to tup like that all the time? I know it's a self contained air hammer. Never seen one that did that. I run one every day .