Pattern development in damascus

[PS_Bond]

I've been picking over DrH's book, The Complete Bladesmith, and I can't see any mention of this pattern, so...

How is birdseye damascus developed?

The only way I can see is to work up a moderate layer count (150ish?), punch both sides to raise dimples on the opposite sides, then grind flat.

This seems very wasteful of material, as the steel surrounding the concavities would also have to be ground out.

Am I missing something? (Other than sanity, possibly)

[MushiSushi]

hmmmmmm ....... other than missing your sanity, which I can confirm (along with the rest of us ) ....... i have no idea.

But it strikes me (pun intended) that if during forging, you strike with a punch, like you say, and then hammer flat again, and repeat a few times, some of that movement will still exist within the structure of the steel ..... no?:confused:

You know what you need Peter? .... you need that Mick Maxen bloke ... he ain't been in, in a while

[PS_Bond]

Time to break out the plasticene again...

[Colin KC]

If you're gonna do the plasticine, try a ladder pattern, IF birdseye is done in a similar way, you'll be able to see the effects from the edge easier, just a thought

[MushiSushi]

Originally posted by PS_Bond
Time to break out the plasticene again...

try milliput ...... get a terracotta and a grey one and mix...... that way, when it is set, you can grind the surface off and see what you've got underneath

or did you mean to make effigies of bagman? :p :p

[zardoz]

How do they make Fish Fingers?

[Colin KC]

Mmmm fish billets

[PS_Bond]

Thanks, Dave - I just crashed my mental gearbox downshifting to deal with that one... Fish forging classes?

Ladder pattern is easy - well, in plasticine anyway.

The only other stupid idea I've come up with to get the pattern is to weld ball bearings in - combination punch & fill.

[Mick Maxen]

Peter, Birds eye damascus as far as I know is also called Pool & Eye pattern or Wood Grain, the way it is done is to drill holes of varying sizes and depths in one side and then forge it flat, then do the same on the other side and forge flat again, this brings the layers at the bottom of the holes to the top and the layers already on the surface appear to swirl around these areas. If you have a billet that is 12mm thick drill the holes into it by about 5mm. The downside to this method is that flux and other crap gets stuck in the bottom of the holes and gets forged into the billet. To really mix it up you can draw the billet out and reweld and drill more holes again. If you are into learning more about damascus, get a copy of Jim Hrisoulas's book The Pattern - Welded Blade, Paladin Press ISBN 0-87364-773-4. You might not have heard from me for a while, but I'm lurking in the background. Mick.

[MushiSushi]

TaDahhhhhh ... to the rescue

[Roger Gregory]

Glad to know you're keeping an eye on us Mick

Roger

[PS_Bond]

Thanks Mick, that clarifies it nicely.

I'm holding off buying DrH's next book at the moment - until I can do *some* of the stuff in his first book! Wonder when the 4th one will be out?