Thread: 1084/15n20 pattern welded steel. Not razor-related, but...

...I just couldn't resist sharing this. It's my first attempt at making pattern welded steel and apart from the problems on what will be the handle, I'm pretty pleased. 128 layers of 1084 and 15n20. I can see now why people sometimes advise against making this stuff without a hydraulic press or power hammer. But burns, blisters, and a sore arm are just signs of having done some actual work.

Having survived this process, I've already ordered more steel to make another billet. Of course I'm thinking of trying my hand at a razor next time around, but first want to look into those steels and how they work on razors. Or perhaps really get carried away with a pattern welded 1084 & 15n20 / 01 san mai thing. But first, I need to finish this one and its near-twin...

Beautiful!

Cheers.

So, does someone have a forge in their yard??
Really nice pattern in that steel, nice work. all free hand hammering? How thick were your billet pieces?
Inspirations all over the place on this forum!

Close - it's a propane forge set up in the garage. It was all hammered by hand, and since this was my first attempt, several welds didn't take so I have to split it apart, clean it up, and try again. I started with this:



Which became this after the first weld.



From that original material, I ended up with enough steel to make two knives about the size of the one pictured here. Unfortunately I lost a lot of material along the way cleaning up edges, grinding out cold shuts, and other rookie mistakes. Hopefully the next attempt will be quite a bit more efficient.

I would love to darken your doorstep sometime and check out your kit.. Want to set up a home smithy outfit for some fun with my son and been googling all things homebuilt and forge related of late..
Cool that you are getting into it..
Nice looking hunk o steel there, all glowy and red-like.

You're welcome any time! Just drop me a line if you're heading out to this end of the province.

Nice ! I like the wavy grain near the edge.

San mai for razors might not be so practical.
On J/knives, where the spine is not honed, no problema .
Oh well you could use tape

Nice work! Did you use any additives like borax or just use fire, hammer and steel.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

Nice work! Did you use any additives like borax or just use fire, hammer and steel.

I used borax as a flux this time, but will try kerosene next time around. The borax ate through the lining of my forge in no time at all so I'm looking for alternatives. Since I'm not confident enough in my forge welding skills yet to go totally dry, I'll give the kerosene a shot. I've been reading good things about it. I also made a sacrificial tray out of some refractory cement to try to protect my lining, but the cement I used acts like a bit of a heat sink, so I'm re-thinking that too.

Awesome work! I am in a similar boat. Tried a similar billet of the same steels and failed (charcoal forge and borax). I am trying to build my propane forge now.

You said you delaminated bad welds... How? My billet is only about 4x2x3/4" but I can't see how I would reasonably separate or delaminate a partial weld.