Finally got a clean weld on my first Damascus billet

Three years ago in my old garage shop, I couldn't even get the steel to stick. Last week, I got the flux right and the whole stack fused on the first heat. Anyone have a favorite pattern for a first knife from a successful billet?

3 comments

3 Comments

finley_wells662mo ago

My first one looked like a weird potato chip (it was not good).

julia_jones721mo ago

Wait, you actually tried to make a knife from a potato chip looking billet? I have to know what you even did with it. That sounds like the kind of mistake you frame as a warning to yourself. My first bad billet just became a really ugly letter opener.

bettyperry2mo ago

Remember my first decent billet, I was so pumped I immediately twisted it way too tight and made a total mess. That weird potato chip look @finley_wells66 mentioned is way too real. For a first knife from a good billet, just go simple, maybe a basic ladder pattern so you can actually see the steel you worked so hard for.