2 "ALCHEMY" by Jensen Knives

2: Here are the different steels set up in a basic alternating pattern. There are a lot of options that you can make at this point that will effect the overall look of the Damascus, including a different layer count as well as different steel thicknesses, as well as introducing additional steels or pure nickel.

 

Here a handle has been tack welded on, which is what I’ll use to hold the piece as I’m hot working it. The ends of the loose pieces have also been tack welded together. Later, the welded ends will be cut off and discarded.

 

Next the assembly gets put into a forge and heated to forge welding temp. From there the piece gets fluxed which will keep impurities from forming, and the assembly goes next into a press or hammer for the initial forge weld. Once the layers are forge-welded, the end is cut off to remove the initial tack-welded area so that no dirty metal gets mixed into the steel

 

To learn more about Forge Welding, check out this article my friend Rick Drunkenly wrote:

 

www.blademag.com/forum/topics/how-to-forge-damascus

 

(photo courtesy of Todd Fisher Custom Knives)

 

Done