Each of these ideas has been done, even nickel wire. They all produce interesting contrasty billets that more than makeup for the loss of material in the core.
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Nobody has yet mentioned all that flux boriding the billet and changing the mix. Another variable to pay attention to.
For those that have worked making cable damascus is this the amount of reduction in size to expect?
Attachment 203675
Holly cow
Didn't think it would pack down that far
Might have to grab some more cable LOL
I also got some 1/8" O1 & W2 bars to use as cores when I learn to forge weld
So could use cable outers with the good cores may be best option.
Both my boys have put orders ( claims ) in for cable Damascus knives already LOL
That reduction is well within the norm. If you had a rope core to burn out it could be up to a third of the original diameter. There are folks who would now twist several of the reduced cable 'bars' together to increase the mass. Welding is always easier with more thermal mass.
Boron has been added to steels to increase hardening and will diffuse into the surface of a piece. There are pix on the search engines. Kinda cool crystals too. I first ran into it when repairing horseshoes. One of the welding rods contained boron. Grinding that stuff off was miserable. So, use only the least flux to do the job, control your times and temperatures and you shouldn't have any issues. ;)
have some layers ready & waiting to play
20 off 1' x 1" all steel cable cut & ends welded
also scored 5 off 2.4m long x 1' wide band saw blades today from a local steel merchant I got some steel from for my grinder
which came to about 70 layers of blade 6" long & about 25 layers of blade 4" long
Attachment 205521
Excellent! You have been busy. :)
So far I have scored a 4' section of cable but have not done anything more with it. From the people I have spoken with who have worked cable you need a hydraulic press or power hammer to work the cable if 1" thick. If not then unstrand the cable and work each strand with a hand hammer.
Adding in the band saw blade material will be interesting.
So far I have been working on putting together the parts for the post anvils. I now have 4 of the disc brake rotors for a base plus I have found the tubing to fit the various anvils and a guy who will do the cutting and welding ( Randy Stinar in Cannon Falls). They should be done in about 3 weeks.