Tim! The reason you’re seeing that grainy look where the powder lies and getting weakness from the grooves is because of a lack of powder compaction. I learned powder mosaics from Steve schwarzer a few years back and the one thing he drilled into me over and over is that in order for a successful powder weld to happen, you need a 30% reduction in volume across the board. Your inlays would actually benefit from more forging (maybe beveling or just reduction of thickness at least) at welding heat in order to compact and fully weld the powder. It should not show up grainy in the final product at all if you do it properly. Good luck!
TIM. Please like or reply to this so we can know you have seen it!!! Steve KNOWS his stuff. Btw this is sick. Can’t wait to see what you come up with. Endless possibilities.
Dont be afraid to forge it on the edge either! it needs compaction from multiple axis. if its a good weld, you wont have any issues with it splitting. I would do another welding cycle after you get the initial stick in the canister. Once its off, you can refine the welds under you hammer
This is great info! Thank you. 🙏 I just don’t know if I can get the compaction as I really want the patterns to be crisp. I’m wondering if the very top of the powder is better then down deep as the very first preliminary etch look so good. I’m also got some Gator Piss on the way to see if that helps with anything. Stay tuned, I’m going to play with this some more.
Tim you should try cutting all the way through the original stock then fill the empty space with powdered steel to see how much better it would work...i'm sure the results will amaze people
14:44 There’s a technique I’ve seen others use when fitting guards where they coat the interior of the slot with marking fluid, gently tap it on, pull it off and file away where the coating is worn away until the part fits in position perfectly. It could save you the heartache of watching hours of work snap in half.
You have completely amped up metal work on UA-cam. This specified etching process is awesome. I hope this turns into something you're not only proud of, but something you can call the legacy you left the world with!
Looks like it broke at the first part of the laser cut. Did you clean out the laser burn before forging the powder in? There’s going to be two layers on the surface that you want to beadblast out of there. First layer is decarb and the second is where it didn’t get quite hot enough to burn away and is full of micro-cracks. You might also want yo run any lines that go under the guard perpendicular instead of parallel to the guard right along the edge where they meet.
16:23 It’s still a banger video! This kind of experimentation is very novel; I’m not sure if I’ve seen this anywhere else. With these kinds of breakthroughs in artistic metalworking, it doesn’t do to be dissuaded by a few early failures. This is what I subbed for. We believe in you!
"I'm not sure why that is" on 17:54 - that is either because you haven't cleaned oxide from lazer grooves, or haven't smoothed the bottom of the grooves enough. Or both.
Huge and phenomenal interesting experiment. Absolutely admire your attitude, instead of throwing it all away you learn from it all and continue your proces. Very entertaining and great content. Thanks Tim!
I love that you're experimenting with this stuff! Really makes me want to try it. I think it would be an awesome technique for fittings. I'm assuming your can weld went well. I don't know how you get sufficient soak times in a coal forge like that. It sounds like it went well, but as a rule of thumb, I let my cans soak at least a few minutes AFTER I see the colors I want on the outside. Some people say soak a whole 40 minutes. I haven't found that necessary. I'm pretty violent with setting my guards, and I've never had that happen. The grain size didn't look that bad based on the video at least (hard to tell with feeling it with my fingers honestly) So either you need to work on your tempering, or there was a micro fracture there you just didn't see, and got unlucky. As soon as ferric gets in there, it's over, surprised it didn't show itself sooner. I got sick of beating guards on and use a guard press now days. It means you need to pay attention to the taper of your tang so it works right, and you can't just beat your way past a sloppy tag. Has elevated my fitups to a new level honestly. But if you didn't beat on it, you might have never found out, and ended up getting hurt with it later. So I'd count this as a blessing.
That laser is an awesome tool to have in the workshop. Maybe you could try lasering after a knife is ready and then apply an etch, maybe that could have a nice look too. I figure that the laser has sharp/straight edges and the etch etches that out, rounds off the corners so to speak.
Very cool idea. Sorry it didn't work out this time, but it says a lot about you that you have the humility to put your failures on display. We learn as much (or more) from failures as successes so you really have my respect for that. Would be interesting to try sintering metal into the grooves with a laser.
Really cool project! One thought I had while watching was that the laser may be nice but might not be the best tool for removing stock to the depth you need. Maybe try and use chemical etching instead? You could apply a resist to the blade and use the laser to cut it away in the pattern you want, then chemically etch it the rest of the way.
I think the issue you had with the pattern looking granny at the bottom is because the ferric chloride ate the Powdered steel .You need to switch the powdered steel to 15n20 Powder. It resists etching therefore it won’t eat it away. Have fun. I think you’re doing great.
One way of putting the powder down without a canister and where you want it is to use a eutalloy metal spraying torch. The eutalloy powder comes in lots of different alloys and the powder you used may work as well. The blade looked really good
Make your pattern steel/Damascus billet. EDM out your scroll/pattern you want on top of it, clear through the billet. Make your canoe and fill it with powder. Your powder will be through and through making a solid billet. If you want scroll work, use EDM wire machine and cut your scroll clear through. Other geometric shapes can be plunge cut via a peck method. This method will give you a traditional Damascus (wire rope, raindrop, twist...) and allow you to put detail on top of it. You could also skip the traditional Damascus and just EDM your whole pattern. Might be cool to mix both methods.
@@BrandonBarnhart I’ve ran wire machines for 30 years as a toolmaker and I’ve always wanted to make knives and I’m finally getting enough free time I’m going to start forging. I would cut it and put it in a can with powder. I’d cut it and then cut a slug out of the contrasting material so there was maybe .001/side interference, heat the blade up a little and drop the slug in and let it cool before forgetting welding it together.
Such a fascinating process, thank you for taking us along for the trial and error. The engineer in me LOVES to see the evaluation in progress. I wonder if a brief abrasive, like sand blasting, to clear the surface oxide from the etching immediately prior to setting in the can? And as others have said, probably more compaction in the welding process. Flypress is good, big-ass hammer and anvil might be best?
This idea is brilliant. I think you should keep going with this idea and see what you come up with if you laser etch a little deeper to reduce the loss when you heat treat and grind it down. I think there are a ton of cool things you can do with this idea you’ve created. Long time watcher of your UA-cam channel. Keep up the great work brotha.
A failure means your on the road to success. Mate love the Idea and the possibilities of what your doing hear I don't think anybody else is doing this keep up the good work. cheers...
Awesome! Powder steel has to be forged down quite a lot in order to guarantee a solid billet, most people say you have to reduce the dimension by half, so that could be why you're seeing a grainy texture, but to be honest given the set up I think it's worked very well. You could also try filling the engraving by brazing and that would let you rough grind in bevels first, save you a bit of time on the laser. Black and bronze is a good combo! Good luck!
Bummer it didn't work out, but it was really cool. I think this experiment shows this technique is entirely possible and I look forward to continuing on this journey with you. Keep up the good work, can't wait to see what you make in the future. Also, cool jacket, I might have to pick one up for myself now.
Cool idea, a suggestion to help you save some time and frustration in the future. When you have a cool idea like this, test on a small throw away piece so that if something doesn’t go right, you’re not out all that work and the remaining sanity you’re grasping into lol. I’ve been there myself, it’s no fun and too taxing from the stress for literally no reason lol. Test materials are what you experiment/learn with, then apply what you’ve learned to the final piece. If materials are low, then that’s different, but if you can, try and always test on scrap first, even if the material isn’t exactly what you’re going to use on the final piece. Cool video 👌🏼
For an experimental technique I think the progress here is incredible. The potential is there for sure, just gotta get the proof of concept. Might even be worth doing some more "elementary" tests i.e. some straight lines parallel/perpendicular to the blade edge, just to get a better understanding of what effect your process is having. Definitely going to want to keep an eye on this channel... and maybe start shopping for a laser!
You need to clean the engraving with a wire wheel to improve the weld if you didn't. Also why not move your press to the left of your forge so then you don't have to leg it across your workshop with an incredibly hot piece of metal? Looks like there is space there for it, you might get better welds too
Super cool technique that needs more experimentation. I've done a similar thing for my logo a while ago but with copper powder but it was hard getting it perfect without porosity. It's definetely possible, we just need to work out a reproducible process for it! Thanks for sharing, love your videos 🔥
Next time bevel your blade first, then just use some wedges to get it sitting flat to engrave with the laser. Then, just repeat your steps from the first one without breaking the tang. You might want to also try coating everything, but the engraving so you don't have as much to grind.
Really impressive innovative spirit you have to try all these different techniques! It seems to me you're on the right track to something really cool - wish I knew something about metallurgy and I could offer something useful 🤣 Awesome video! 👍
Regarding that straight fracture, yeah, that inlay is absolutely the culprit for the failure. I'd edit the etch so that instead of there being a straight edge on the back, that it feathers out under the guard, either by thinning and rounding it out or by adding kind of a soft rounded zig zag into the tang to break up that edge, which is fine as itll all be hidden by the guard and handle. also from a metallurgy perspective, the way to sinter powders is to have a long soak time at temperature, so cooking it in an argon box for i dunno, maybe a few hours at whatever temp the mfg recommends (might need to do some searching here for the same powder from a different supplier) should get the densification you need in addition to what you can get on the flypress.
I was just getting ready to say to try to make a lesser extreme transition. However, with the laser, would it be necessary to have it etched the entire piece or would it be possible to just etch a certain area or code it differently so that the laser would not etch just a sold rectangle around the pattern?
Possible problem - when you do the laser engraving, there is a layer of iron oxide in the bottom of the engraving. This could stop the welding of the powered steel to the base metal. You may have to clean the oxide off prior the adding the powder to the cannister. Vinegar may be sufficient, but it would need around 24 hours soak and then a good wire brush and a wash in hot water with pure soap before drying with a rage. (The pure soap would leave a very thin layer is glycerin to protect the steel and not affect the finished product.)
Etch the lasered cavity so it's clean from oxides before you put the powder in. The blackened surface means there is contamination so the powder won't stick as well. Maybe make the knife angles and than cut the inlay and fill it in with the powder. Than shape it again and th inlay will be deep enough.
This is so dang cool! The only thing I can think of is to see if it's possible to remove that back line (where it met the guard) in Illustrator and/or moving the pattern further up the blade (possibly even trying a different pattern, but the scroll work looked amazing). Best of luck and God Bless you and yours!
you might try laser etching and then filling the pattern with brazing rod while working on getting the depth you are looking for as well as a cool end product
I'm not a metal worker. I really like what you're doing. The fiber laser with steel inlay is unlike anything that anyone is doing as far as I know. I've always wanted a fiber laser. I'm curious about the cost effectiveness vs other forms of inlay. I see guys doing guns with hand scrollwork and a soft metal inlay like silver and gold. I realize the durability is probably much better, but time and metal cost vs payoff. I guess, is there a faster way than forging powder? Also, as someone that uses vectors for paint and stencils, getting rid of the super fine details typically produces better finished results. I feel like your patterns are ambitious for experimental. Perhaps trying some chunky thicker designs might help nail the process on depth of laser cut and then forging. Just ideas. Love the thought behind all of it.
Yep, my heart dropped too!! Lol 😂 😢 I finished a customers order, was literally doing the final sharpening. A friend came by and accidentally knocked it off my workbench, onto concrete!! Turns out I tempered it WAY Too far back and the tip bent!….. my friend was almost crying haha 😂 he didn’t realize he just saved my ass Lol 🤯🙏 had to redo it, now I have a fun shop knife Lol 😂🤷♂️ customer got a cooler one anyway so they were happy.
I have a slightly different idea for you Timothy, how about using the laser to cut pieces out entirely of your metals and assembling them to be forge welded? that way the pattern will be through the entire piece, just a suggestion, you might have already tried this, but it might be worth a shot for you. The laser would be able to cut the pieces with enough precision that assembly should result in a very cool result, but you would likely be limited by the detail. OR by using the Laser to cut the pattern all the way through the core, then filling in the space with the powder might also allow the weld to be much better and then the pattern will not be removed when grinding in the bevel.
Tim i have a suggestion that may help. How about when you laser the inlay you make the handle just as thin as the inlay. That way when you add the powder it builds up the steel again for the handle and you get no sharp edges. This should prevent it from splitting like it did because the would be no weak point like that AND it wont matter if the handle is made of the same etching material because it will be hidden in the handle itself!!!!
Fair play Tim for showing the failure, so much of what we see on youtube is only the wins, its refreshing to see. Keep up the great work and keep pushing the boundries,
Still a banger video, we learnt a lot there ! I think the main pb is the layout of the pattern giving a weakness right at the usual weakest point in any knife. Basically it's a shortcut for fracture. You said the powered steel isn't perfectly welded. I guess it didn't give the soft steel jacket quality needed to compensate that hard core. If the motif blends into the guard and tang that may help, if the welded powder has no flaw. Other idea : fit the guard to the tang before hardening. (That doesn't address the brittleness though, just lets you to ignore it.) One more thing that may have played a role is the guard, but I haven't expertise to be honest. I think if it's less a bulk, it may deform to accomodate the form of the tang rather than have the tang deform to it, with a shearing force. I'd narrow it a bit. Also I wonder if the laser cut might not have had a local effect on its hardness (iirc it should be in your favor though). I have a suggestion, but that throws the experiment with powder out of the window. Make a jacket such that you have : thin layer of black - somewhat thin layer of grey soft - core of hard steel - somewhat thin grey soft - thinner black. Engrave so that you reveal the grey. Press / hammer it flat. Go on as usual. Short version : transpose mokume gane technique. I expect you a less crisp motif though.
Maybe waiting the time it would take to laser the scrolling all of the way through the blade would keep it from fading away with the bevel? Though that would probably take running the laser for 2-3 days.
Love these experiments that you are doing. Wonder if you could start with three thinner stock and laser cut all the way through two of them with a solid third in the middle to fill with powder
I recommend investing in a proper heat treating oven, if you're going to continue. Temperature control in HT makes a big difference. I also wondered why not forge/grind the blade to shape, then hit it with the laser, then use Brass Black to emphasize the pattern? If you made the whole thing out of 15n20 and used Brass Black on the pattern it should work nicely.
Okay, next you should do some traditional Damascus knife, laser that, and THEN do this to add a whole extra pattern. You could also do this from now on to make your Makers Mark into stuff!
Ok, hear me out. Make a real damascus steel, in like a wave herringbone pattern. Do the rough cut and grind of the blade shape. Make the pattern a little visible, and bring a picture of it into your computer. Design some artwork that will fit into the existing pattern. Remove the material of the design with the laser. Fill it up with powder. Finish the shape and the grind. Then etch the whole blade. Because you can draw in the pattern essentially. You could draw a little pirateship in a wavy damascus pattern for example. Because the result at 8:18 looks fire.
Rough grind your blade with the bevel. Laser etch your pattern and then nickel-braze over the pattern. There is an aerospace product called Nicrobraz. Made by Wall-Colmonoy. Very high nickel content brazing material. Far less risky as a process. I like your deep laser etching. Lots of possibilities
I think this technique has a lot of potential. Don't be too hard on yourself, that's our job (jk). Seriously, you are out there makinf knives, that makes you an order of magnitude better than me, who just sits here watching people make knives. (I am a former metalworker, I just haven't built up the moxy to try yet).
I'm REALLY enjoying your ideas and innovative techniques you use. The laser etching and using it in different ways is awesome. Could you use a laser to cut through a billet entirely then fill the hollow with powdered metal? Keep experimenting with these great ideas........
looks beautiful but give it a scandi grind to preserve the beautiful pattern and what about a hardened glass handle, i bet you no one ever did that but i think it could work, and if you had a patten on the tang fore the glass to 'melt' into and holding on to it would be awesome
I love this experimentation with the laser you’ve been doing! So cool!
Frickin laser beams! Love your channel too!
Hey Alec you should try this with Titanium!!!!! 😁
These up-and-comers are really interesting. Do you know about Kyle Royer? He’s more conventional but his craftsmanship is mind-blowing!
You gotta get a laser Alec!
funny thing is i have a laser my self.... and titanium cuts like butter...... so easy to cut.
Tim! The reason you’re seeing that grainy look where the powder lies and getting weakness from the grooves is because of a lack of powder compaction. I learned powder mosaics from Steve schwarzer a few years back and the one thing he drilled into me over and over is that in order for a successful powder weld to happen, you need a 30% reduction in volume across the board. Your inlays would actually benefit from more forging (maybe beveling or just reduction of thickness at least) at welding heat in order to compact and fully weld the powder. It should not show up grainy in the final product at all if you do it properly. Good luck!
TIM. Please like or reply to this so we can know you have seen it!!! Steve KNOWS his stuff.
Btw this is sick. Can’t wait to see what you come up with. Endless possibilities.
Schwarzer’s 3D-print+powder-pattern-welded-canisters are also a pretty sweet method. Another possible experiment!
@@benkirkland5354 I helped invent that technique with him a few years back!
Dont be afraid to forge it on the edge either! it needs compaction from multiple axis. if its a good weld, you wont have any issues with it splitting. I would do another welding cycle after you get the initial stick in the canister. Once its off, you can refine the welds under you hammer
This is great info! Thank you. 🙏 I just don’t know if I can get the compaction as I really want the patterns to be crisp. I’m wondering if the very top of the powder is better then down deep as the very first preliminary etch look so good. I’m also got some Gator Piss on the way to see if that helps with anything. Stay tuned, I’m going to play with this some more.
Tim you should try cutting all the way through the original stock then fill the empty space with powdered steel to see how much better it would work...i'm sure the results will amaze people
Your exploration into these uncharted areas is so interesting!
you are so much more optimistic than I would've been after breaking that blade good on you man keep going loving the process
Thank you for sharing! When things go sideways you get to learn, and a lot of smiths only show perfection.
14:44 There’s a technique I’ve seen others use when fitting guards where they coat the interior of the slot with marking fluid, gently tap it on, pull it off and file away where the coating is worn away until the part fits in position perfectly. It could save you the heartache of watching hours of work snap in half.
That scroll looked amazing before grinding the bevels! Excited to see a second attempt.
I can’t wait for when you figure out how to combine this with Damascus too. The knives are gonna look so good.
I have been enjoying these past few videos and this exploration 🤠🙏
You have completely amped up metal work on UA-cam.
This specified etching process is awesome. I hope this turns into something you're not only proud of, but something you can call the legacy you left the world with!
Love the experimentation Tim! Big kudos for not totally losing it when it snapped, I probably would have. 😅
Looks like it broke at the first part of the laser cut. Did you clean out the laser burn before forging the powder in? There’s going to be two layers on the surface that you want to beadblast out of there. First layer is decarb and the second is where it didn’t get quite hot enough to burn away and is full of micro-cracks. You might also want yo run any lines that go under the guard perpendicular instead of parallel to the guard right along the edge where they meet.
16:23 It’s still a banger video! This kind of experimentation is very novel; I’m not sure if I’ve seen this anywhere else. With these kinds of breakthroughs in artistic metalworking, it doesn’t do to be dissuaded by a few early failures. This is what I subbed for. We believe in you!
This is by far the coolest forge welding technique I have ever seen!!
"I'm not sure why that is" on 17:54 - that is either because you haven't cleaned oxide from lazer grooves, or haven't smoothed the bottom of the grooves enough. Or both.
The sharp angle the laser cut may be a stress riser as well. Maybe needs to figure out some method of rounding the corners.
@@earthknight60 maybe make lazer cuts a bit smaller than needed, and after the lazer engrave with an engraving tool with rounded end?
Huge and phenomenal interesting experiment. Absolutely admire your attitude, instead of throwing it all away you learn from it all and continue your proces. Very entertaining and great content. Thanks Tim!
Your dedication to figuring out this process has earned my subscription. Keep up the good work!
Timothy that is absolutely spectacular congratulations.🎉
I love that you're experimenting with this stuff! Really makes me want to try it. I think it would be an awesome technique for fittings.
I'm assuming your can weld went well. I don't know how you get sufficient soak times in a coal forge like that. It sounds like it went well, but as a rule of thumb, I let my cans soak at least a few minutes AFTER I see the colors I want on the outside. Some people say soak a whole 40 minutes. I haven't found that necessary.
I'm pretty violent with setting my guards, and I've never had that happen. The grain size didn't look that bad based on the video at least (hard to tell with feeling it with my fingers honestly) So either you need to work on your tempering, or there was a micro fracture there you just didn't see, and got unlucky. As soon as ferric gets in there, it's over, surprised it didn't show itself sooner. I got sick of beating guards on and use a guard press now days. It means you need to pay attention to the taper of your tang so it works right, and you can't just beat your way past a sloppy tag. Has elevated my fitups to a new level honestly. But if you didn't beat on it, you might have never found out, and ended up getting hurt with it later. So I'd count this as a blessing.
That laser is an awesome tool to have in the workshop.
Maybe you could try lasering after a knife is ready and then apply an etch, maybe that could have a nice look too.
I figure that the laser has sharp/straight edges and the etch etches that out, rounds off the corners so to speak.
Very cool idea. Sorry it didn't work out this time, but it says a lot about you that you have the humility to put your failures on display. We learn as much (or more) from failures as successes so you really have my respect for that. Would be interesting to try sintering metal into the grooves with a laser.
Really cool project! One thought I had while watching was that the laser may be nice but might not be the best tool for removing stock to the depth you need. Maybe try and use chemical etching instead? You could apply a resist to the blade and use the laser to cut it away in the pattern you want, then chemically etch it the rest of the way.
I think the issue you had with the pattern looking granny at the bottom is because the ferric chloride ate the Powdered steel .You need to switch the powdered steel to 15n20 Powder. It resists etching therefore it won’t eat it away. Have fun. I think you’re doing great.
One way of putting the powder down without a canister and where you want it is to use a eutalloy metal spraying torch. The eutalloy powder comes in lots of different alloys and the powder you used may work as well. The blade looked really good
Thats so clever. This has never occured to me. You could do so many cool things with this.
Absolutely fantastic. I cannot believe you have got such a brilliant attitude. I can't wait for your next knife
Make your pattern steel/Damascus billet. EDM out your scroll/pattern you want on top of it, clear through the billet. Make your canoe and fill it with powder. Your powder will be through and through making a solid billet.
If you want scroll work, use EDM wire machine and cut your scroll clear through. Other geometric shapes can be plunge cut via a peck method.
This method will give you a traditional Damascus (wire rope, raindrop, twist...) and allow you to put detail on top of it. You could also skip the traditional Damascus and just EDM your whole pattern.
Might be cool to mix both methods.
@@BrandonBarnhart I’ve ran wire machines for 30 years as a toolmaker and I’ve always wanted to make knives and I’m finally getting enough free time I’m going to start forging. I would cut it and put it in a can with powder. I’d cut it and then cut a slug out of the contrasting material so there was maybe .001/side interference, heat the blade up a little and drop the slug in and let it cool before forgetting welding it together.
The concept it incredible! It is worth moving forward. I'd love to see that as a completed knife!
Such a fascinating process, thank you for taking us along for the trial and error. The engineer in me LOVES to see the evaluation in progress. I wonder if a brief abrasive, like sand blasting, to clear the surface oxide from the etching immediately prior to setting in the can? And as others have said, probably more compaction in the welding process. Flypress is good, big-ass hammer and anvil might be best?
Tim your a black smith cut your own files and if that seems to tedious use the laser to see how it compares
Quite the underrated comment 👌
Great idea. I would love to watch a video like this
This idea is brilliant. I think you should keep going with this idea and see what you come up with if you laser etch a little deeper to reduce the loss when you heat treat and grind it down. I think there are a ton of cool things you can do with this idea you’ve created. Long time watcher of your UA-cam channel. Keep up the great work brotha.
I was thinking there’s no way it would work but when you reveal the etch I was amazed!! You got yourself a new subscriber!
A failure means your on the road to success. Mate love the Idea and the possibilities of what your doing hear I don't think anybody else is doing this keep up the good work. cheers...
Really slick stuff, it gets the gears turning! I've been really enjoying watching this process develop!
Awesome! Powder steel has to be forged down quite a lot in order to guarantee a solid billet, most people say you have to reduce the dimension by half, so that could be why you're seeing a grainy texture, but to be honest given the set up I think it's worked very well. You could also try filling the engraving by brazing and that would let you rough grind in bevels first, save you a bit of time on the laser. Black and bronze is a good combo! Good luck!
Great results ! Beautiful pattern!
Dam.... well the idea has potential, it will be intresting to see if the deeper the inlay is the less clarity 🤔 solid idea👏
Pretty neat idea for your design.
Bummer it didn't work out, but it was really cool. I think this experiment shows this technique is entirely possible and I look forward to continuing on this journey with you. Keep up the good work, can't wait to see what you make in the future. Also, cool jacket, I might have to pick one up for myself now.
Cool idea, a suggestion to help you save some time and frustration in the future. When you have a cool idea like this, test on a small throw away piece so that if something doesn’t go right, you’re not out all that work and the remaining sanity you’re grasping into lol. I’ve been there myself, it’s no fun and too taxing from the stress for literally no reason lol. Test materials are what you experiment/learn with, then apply what you’ve learned to the final piece. If materials are low, then that’s different, but if you can, try and always test on scrap first, even if the material isn’t exactly what you’re going to use on the final piece. Cool video 👌🏼
you nailed it! nicely done my friend :D
I really appreciate you sharing your explorations like this.
For an experimental technique I think the progress here is incredible. The potential is there for sure, just gotta get the proof of concept. Might even be worth doing some more "elementary" tests i.e. some straight lines parallel/perpendicular to the blade edge, just to get a better understanding of what effect your process is having. Definitely going to want to keep an eye on this channel... and maybe start shopping for a laser!
Amazing work mate
Amazing work and wonderful explanation of process
I wish I had a fly press.... anyway, that inlay worked out so well, you are breaking new ground with this!
You need to clean the engraving with a wire wheel to improve the weld if you didn't. Also why not move your press to the left of your forge so then you don't have to leg it across your workshop with an incredibly hot piece of metal? Looks like there is space there for it, you might get better welds too
Chin up and keep atter Tim! Fascinating content!
Bro just cracked the code. endless possibilities with this technique,
it can still be salvaged, just weld the two pieces back together. looks like a ton of fun!
Super cool technique that needs more experimentation. I've done a similar thing for my logo a while ago but with copper powder but it was hard getting it perfect without porosity. It's definetely possible, we just need to work out a reproducible process for it! Thanks for sharing, love your videos 🔥
That lazer is cool, great video keep up the good work, as Smith's were allways learning nothing is a failure 👍
So cool to see the innovation.
That turned out far better than I was expecting. I think you're on to something here.
Love the center punches.
Great stuff - i'm over it, too. Take care, from an ex BC now in QC!
I have plasma welded powdered metals, exotic metals! It was called Stellite 6 with a Rockwell Hardness of 45. Difficult to work with.
Next time bevel your blade first, then just use some wedges to get it sitting flat to engrave with the laser. Then, just repeat your steps from the first one without breaking the tang. You might want to also try coating everything, but the engraving so you don't have as much to grind.
Use the pattern. Continue to add elements in the laser etch along the tang that will add strength. like integral ribs etc.
Thats's an awesome idea!! Please keep going!
Really impressive innovative spirit you have to try all these different techniques! It seems to me you're on the right track to something really cool - wish I knew something about metallurgy and I could offer something useful 🤣 Awesome video! 👍
I’m not over it!
Regarding that straight fracture, yeah, that inlay is absolutely the culprit for the failure. I'd edit the etch so that instead of there being a straight edge on the back, that it feathers out under the guard, either by thinning and rounding it out or by adding kind of a soft rounded zig zag into the tang to break up that edge, which is fine as itll all be hidden by the guard and handle.
also from a metallurgy perspective, the way to sinter powders is to have a long soak time at temperature, so cooking it in an argon box for i dunno, maybe a few hours at whatever temp the mfg recommends (might need to do some searching here for the same powder from a different supplier) should get the densification you need in addition to what you can get on the flypress.
That and man the brass looked tight and looked like Tim was hammering hard. Probably would have survived if not for the straight etch, but who knows
I was just getting ready to say to try to make a lesser extreme transition. However, with the laser, would it be necessary to have it etched the entire piece or would it be possible to just etch a certain area or code it differently so that the laser would not etch just a sold rectangle around the pattern?
Great video Tim!
Possible problem - when you do the laser engraving, there is a layer of iron oxide in the bottom of the engraving. This could stop the welding of the powered steel to the base metal. You may have to clean the oxide off prior the adding the powder to the cannister. Vinegar may be sufficient, but it would need around 24 hours soak and then a good wire brush and a wash in hot water with pure soap before drying with a rage. (The pure soap would leave a very thin layer is glycerin to protect the steel and not affect the finished product.)
Nice, the evolution is going to be neat.
Etch the lasered cavity so it's clean from oxides before you put the powder in. The blackened surface means there is contamination so the powder won't stick as well. Maybe make the knife angles and than cut the inlay and fill it in with the powder. Than shape it again and th inlay will be deep enough.
This is so dang cool! The only thing I can think of is to see if it's possible to remove that back line (where it met the guard) in Illustrator and/or moving the pattern further up the blade (possibly even trying a different pattern, but the scroll work looked amazing). Best of luck and God Bless you and yours!
you might try laser etching and then filling the pattern with brazing rod while working on getting the depth you are looking for as well as a cool end product
Make a folding pocket knife, you already have the blade
Great video Tim thanks for making great content
Incredible idea and admirable first attempt! Good luck moving forward.
Nice prototype Tim.
I'm not a metal worker.
I really like what you're doing. The fiber laser with steel inlay is unlike anything that anyone is doing as far as I know. I've always wanted a fiber laser.
I'm curious about the cost effectiveness vs other forms of inlay. I see guys doing guns with hand scrollwork and a soft metal inlay like silver and gold. I realize the durability is probably much better, but time and metal cost vs payoff. I guess, is there a faster way than forging powder?
Also, as someone that uses vectors for paint and stencils, getting rid of the super fine details typically produces better finished results. I feel like your patterns are ambitious for experimental. Perhaps trying some chunky thicker designs might help nail the process on depth of laser cut and then forging. Just ideas. Love the thought behind all of it.
Dude, this is a fascinating idea.
Great job man
Beautiful & inspirational
Yep, my heart dropped too!! Lol 😂 😢 I finished a customers order, was literally doing the final sharpening. A friend came by and accidentally knocked it off my workbench, onto concrete!! Turns out I tempered it WAY Too far back and the tip bent!….. my friend was almost crying haha 😂 he didn’t realize he just saved my ass Lol 🤯🙏 had to redo it, now I have a fun shop knife Lol 😂🤷♂️ customer got a cooler one anyway so they were happy.
Bro the shop looks like somthing from a game set or a movie sceen. Loooveee it
I have a slightly different idea for you Timothy, how about using the laser to cut pieces out entirely of your metals and assembling them to be forge welded? that way the pattern will be through the entire piece, just a suggestion, you might have already tried this, but it might be worth a shot for you. The laser would be able to cut the pieces with enough precision that assembly should result in a very cool result, but you would likely be limited by the detail. OR by using the Laser to cut the pattern all the way through the core, then filling in the space with the powder might also allow the weld to be much better and then the pattern will not be removed when grinding in the bevel.
Excellent work as always 👏👏
GREAT ATTEMPT LEARNED MUCH
White paint uses Titanium Dioxide (TiO2), makes sense that it'd prevent iron/steel from welding.
12:10 nice! Garand 👍approved.
Tim i have a suggestion that may help. How about when you laser the inlay you make the handle just as thin as the inlay. That way when you add the powder it builds up the steel again for the handle and you get no sharp edges.
This should prevent it from splitting like it did because the would be no weak point like that AND it wont matter if the handle is made of the same etching material because it will be hidden in the handle itself!!!!
I always forget how much i love that coal forge until i see it lol
Fair play Tim for showing the failure, so much of what we see on youtube is only the wins, its refreshing to see. Keep up the great work and keep pushing the boundries,
great video. look forward to part 2.
Still a banger video, we learnt a lot there !
I think the main pb is the layout of the pattern giving a weakness right at the usual weakest point in any knife.
Basically it's a shortcut for fracture.
You said the powered steel isn't perfectly welded. I guess it didn't give the soft steel jacket quality needed to compensate that hard core.
If the motif blends into the guard and tang that may help, if the welded powder has no flaw.
Other idea : fit the guard to the tang before hardening. (That doesn't address the brittleness though, just lets you to ignore it.)
One more thing that may have played a role is the guard, but I haven't expertise to be honest. I think if it's less a bulk, it may deform to accomodate the form of the tang rather than have the tang deform to it, with a shearing force. I'd narrow it a bit. Also I wonder if the laser cut might not have had a local effect on its hardness (iirc it should be in your favor though).
I have a suggestion, but that throws the experiment with powder out of the window.
Make a jacket such that you have : thin layer of black - somewhat thin layer of grey soft - core of hard steel - somewhat thin grey soft - thinner black.
Engrave so that you reveal the grey. Press / hammer it flat. Go on as usual.
Short version : transpose mokume gane technique. I expect you a less crisp motif though.
Maybe waiting the time it would take to laser the scrolling all of the way through the blade would keep it from fading away with the bevel? Though that would probably take running the laser for 2-3 days.
Love these experiments that you are doing.
Wonder if you could start with three thinner stock and laser cut all the way through two of them with a solid third in the middle to fill with powder
I recommend investing in a proper heat treating oven, if you're going to continue. Temperature control in HT makes a big difference. I also wondered why not forge/grind the blade to shape, then hit it with the laser, then use Brass Black to emphasize the pattern? If you made the whole thing out of 15n20 and used Brass Black on the pattern it should work nicely.
Looks like a magic weapon (or at least half of one), so cool
Okay, next you should do some traditional Damascus knife, laser that, and THEN do this to add a whole extra pattern.
You could also do this from now on to make your Makers Mark into stuff!
WOW! That ROCKS my man!!!
Ok, hear me out. Make a real damascus steel, in like a wave herringbone pattern. Do the rough cut and grind of the blade shape. Make the pattern a little visible, and bring a picture of it into your computer. Design some artwork that will fit into the existing pattern. Remove the material of the design with the laser. Fill it up with powder. Finish the shape and the grind. Then etch the whole blade. Because you can draw in the pattern essentially. You could draw a little pirateship in a wavy damascus pattern for example. Because the result at 8:18 looks fire.
Rough grind your blade with the bevel. Laser etch your pattern and then nickel-braze over the pattern. There is an aerospace product called Nicrobraz. Made by Wall-Colmonoy.
Very high nickel content brazing material. Far less risky as a process. I like your deep laser etching. Lots of possibilities
I think this technique has a lot of potential. Don't be too hard on yourself, that's our job (jk).
Seriously, you are out there makinf knives, that makes you an order of magnitude better than me, who just sits here watching people make knives.
(I am a former metalworker, I just haven't built up the moxy to try yet).
I'm REALLY enjoying your ideas and innovative techniques you use. The laser etching and using it in different ways is awesome. Could you use a laser to cut through a billet entirely then fill the hollow with powdered metal? Keep experimenting with these great ideas........
That was unfortunate but it looked AMAZING
looks beautiful but give it a scandi grind to preserve the beautiful pattern
and what about a hardened glass handle, i bet you no one ever did that but i think it could work, and if you had a patten on the tang fore the glass to 'melt' into and holding on to it would be awesome