Damascus class 101 at Mike Blues....

Hello all,

As some of you may know there will be a hands on Damascus class at Mike Blues workshop on Feb 10 & 11.
The class size is limited to 10 people and we currently have 5 guys signed up. Each person should leave with about 10 lbs of pattern welded steel suitable for straight razors.
Let me know if your interested.

I went to his workshop today and asked him to put together a stack so we could see what we will be using and doing. Here are some pics of the beginning steps and then a link to more pics of his workshop.

Here are some pics of what to expect in the Damascus class. I spent a couple hours at Mikes workshop today and asked him to set up a "stack" so you guys could see what will be worked on. Please note that we will be doing this, not Mike.


25 layers of 1095 and 15N20

Attachment 88072

Squaring up the stack

Attachment 88073


Ready for welding

Attachment 88074

Welding the stack

Attachment 88075


Ready for the forge

Attachment 88076

and here is a link to pics of the workshop that you will be working in

Mike-Blue_01-22-2012 - a set on Flickr

Man, why does Mike have to be so far away!? Plus my daughter is going to be born on the 8th, so it wouldn't work anyway. Someday I hope to meet him, and several others from here.

Man, I wish I wasnt on the other side of the planet.
The pics in the link were making me drool.
Have fun boys.
Grant

Oh man.....very nice. Thanks for the pics, i just need to organize a flight from Australia and I'm there.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by baldy

Man, I wish I wasnt on the other side of the planet.
The pics in the link were making me drool.
Have fun boys.
Grant

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Same here....I'd LOVE to be able to join you guys.

I wish any number of folks, of like mind, could live closer together.

But, the other neighbors would probably insist on building a fence around the community .... ;)

Hey guys, the class is now over. It was an excellent class. Mike is a very good teacher.
Four guys were students, Charlie Lewis ( Spazola ), tim (32T), Ron (Utopian) and myself (Randydance062449). Skipnord was only able to attend on Saturday but he still got some welding in.
This number worked very well, there was adequate time for each of us to make lots of mistakes and correct them! :)

I Took some video, about 60 minutes worth and posted it to Youtube.com
There are 9 separate vids

Here is a link

randydance062449's Channel - YouTube

If you have any questions just ask.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7drea...9edmW4SHEOx-v7

Great vids, looks like you guys had a blast.
Watching it made my fingers itch. Now, if I only had a garage full of awesome machinery and the skills and knowledge to go with it :)
Thanks for sharing.

I miss working the metal. Glad you guys had fun, and may e the next time I can possibly be closer.

Looks like fun. I did some damascus welding at the local cultural center in Riverside, CA: http://jmdc.org/

All of ours was in a coal forge and done with flux and a hammer on an anvil.

Jake, I started out nearly the same way, then spent most of my life accumulating the rest.

That was a good weekend. Friday was for the heaters and beaters alone and most everyone got the basics down of how the metal goes together and becoming comfortable with tools to get the work done. I think they all appreciate the preparation time that goes into making this kind of steel now. Saturday and Sunday there was stuff going on everywhere but the razor, hone and strop guys got to watch some smithing action too. Another big table where you could pick and choose what you wanted to eat. :)

There will be more.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jakep

Looks like fun. I did some damascus welding at the local cultural center in Riverside, CA: http://jmdc.org/

All of ours was in a coal forge and done with flux and a hammer on an anvil.

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I'm still in the coal forge and hammer stage. (and the learning stage, let's not forget that).
There's a lot of fun to be had this way.