Forging my first DAMASCUS AXE! 

Wow, thanks! I'm working on being able to show more of that part of the process. Part of the issue is getting good camera angles (and taking the time to frame them as I'm working ) and the other part is audio. Sped up grinding sounds baaaad. I'm working on a better camera mount, so we'll see.

Indeed Jazzbro!

Thanks! I learned a lot from watching tons of videos on here, so I wasn’t just making it up as I went. Not entirely anyway :P

You’re welcome!

I’m still here, just being a hermit.

@@BennettTheSmith I do not blame ya man.

Gotta build that suspense after all :)

Bennett Marschner mission accomplished

@@BennettTheSmith hahahaha, yeah!! Started out like a stunt driver attempting the two wheel drive in a car, all zigzagging at first, then straightened right out and did laps! Entertainment for sure man! Nice recovery and beautiful axe!

Thanks for the kind words and welcome! The camera I have is pretty good, but good slo-mo shots are hard without a dedicated camera operator. I did just build a camera boom, so positioning the camera to see what I'm doing should be MUCH easier now.

I particularly liked that edit. Was a little worried it might not read properly, but for all the close up technical shots, sometimes you gotta pull back the camera and whale on the workpiece a bit.

Lots. I need a go pro to try and get POV shots. Otherwise it is really hard to show what is actually happening

Glad to have you along for the ride :)

Thanks, I sure was. Seeing the 1084 core hit the edge just perfectly was the best!

Thanks! It took some careful adjustment along the way, but the effect was absolutely worth it.

Looks like grilled cheese

Right?

Thanks! I put a lot of work in and comments like this help it be worth it :)

Doesn’t it just! :D

Well heck! Thanks!

Thanks, that's very kind of you to say. :) My next video will be another damascus project, once I get the darn thing edited.

@@BennettTheSmith looking forward to it

Thank you! It was hard to let this one go.

Your English is just fine :) Thank you! I try to be as genuine as possible, I have no interest in acting like someone else.

This setup was a little borderline, as the bucket just barely fit the axe head, but with 1084 and 15n20 in preheated vegetable oil the cooling rate is sufficient without agitating the workpiece. Ideally, I'd have a bigger quenching vessel for axeheads, as the volume of oil can make a difference. It is very important to preheat the oil, as it is much more viscous and has even slower convection when it is room temperature. What I didn't show was the quench fooled me hard. Due to the many high heats for forge welding, there was some serious decarburization on the edge. I thought the quench failed until I tested it again with HRC test files after cleaning up the edge on my grinder. That pulled off the decarb and revealed nice hard steel underneath! Sucks about the shoulder, maybe it's time to teach yourself to be ambidextrous? I've done some hammering in my offhand. It's hard, but you just have to train up those muscles.

@@BennettTheSmith Thx for the encouragement on cross dominance. 😊 Unfortunately, in my youth, I discovered that although I could do things like fence with either hand, my quasi-ambidextrousness was quite limited - for anything requiring precision (ex: handwriting) or strength (ex: archery) i'm solidly LH dominant (sinistral). Another handicap is that i'm living in suburbia, and if I started firing up a backyard bloomery and beating steel at all hours (even if I could), zoning officials would swarm me like flies on poo, and club me like a harp seal pup. The final nail is that there's also not much of a local smithing community in my immediate area. Bottom line is that I can only smith mentally, in my imagination, and so I watch countless dozens of vids on smithing, with no outlet for it. Sigh. 😔😏 Interesting and informative tidbit on surface decarb. Yeah, i've always read how the folding process entails a lot of iterative material loss (somewhat analagous to removing the "heads and tails" in iterative distillation). The loss isnt just from surface forge scale (which relates to oxygen levels) but also from the need to mill off a certain percentage of material in each pass to combat both surface decarb (which I think relates to how many heats you need as well as how much soak time occurs and at what temps) and the areas most prone to initial delamination (edges of the stack). Definitely need to invest in a good second hand belt grinder, being generous in your use of edge fluxing, and limiting the number of heats wherever possible. Forgive my rambling - silly of me to offer tips when ive never worked hot steel. Cheers bud. Oh, and the damascus pattern in that axe looks awesome. Great job. 👍❤

Thanks! I love how it turned out :D

@@BennettTheSmith oh yeah! You make good work! If you are interested in a little collaboration, write me. Greetings from Germany

The schedule is busy and shipping to germany is expensive, but that sounds like something we could do :)

@@BennettTheSmith perfect, shipping should be no problem 😎

Thanks! I plan to :)

Thanks!

Ah that’s a good idea!

Thanks! It was tough cutting this down, but you have to cut before you polish.

Thanks!

Thanks! Now I just need to figure out some better tooling for my press to avoid those problems.

@@BennettTheSmith Will make for a interesting video, Liam Hoffman covers some interesting videos on axe making dies for hydraulic presses. Worth a watch, quite informative.

*Screams internally* I mean yes, that would be cool!

The thought is honestly terrifying, three hours can be really really short. But thanks! :D

Thanks! I’ve got some new stuff coming soon :)

Charcoal fires take a little management, but being able to isolate your heats and hit higher temps easy can be worth it. And I know, my hair does that. I can see it when it drifts in front like that. The air flow from the belt tends to push it away. I have short hairs in front for a reason though. They get burned or sanded or broken or... sigh.

@@BennettTheSmith Thank God for fire brick and wire feed welders.

YUP.

This one translated great. Thanks! :D

It sure did. It took a lot of grinding. With more experience I’ll be able to forge closer to finished shape, but grinding is magic.

I use Ferric chloride, which is generally what folks use for etching blades. I bought mine in liquid form off amazon, so it was already mixed with some water. I think you can also buy it in dry form. I can't tell you what the exact dilution is because at this point I have no idea. It must have been around 3-4 parts water to 1 part acid, but it's not critical.

Sharp enough to cut myself on. Thanks!

Thanks! Let me know if you have a particular idea, my commission queue is months long at the moment. XD

I order blade steel from New Jersey Steel Baron, though it’s been a long time since I shopped around so I don’t know if that’s still the best deal. I’ve been happy with their customer service. (No affiliation with them)

It was about 3 pounds, I think.

Working just fine, but its just too slow to use unless I need to cut something thick. I've got an abrasive chop saw now that I picked up for free that gives me square enough cuts on smaller stock.

@@BennettTheSmith well that's good to hear. I still haven't replaced it I've been using a cut off wheel or hot cutting it. I cut up a bunch of 3.5" round stock with it then the next day it wouldn't start.

I take commissions through my website (in the video description). Send me an email through my site and we can talk about what you'd like.

“THE ALGORITHM” but it’ll get there eventually :)

Thanks :)