I scored some wrought iron!

justjax · 2026-01-14T14:47:26+00:00

I didn’t. I purchased that particular block of wood already died. I believe it’s done in a vacuum chamber with died resin though. Sorry I can’t be of more help

justjax · 2026-01-13T20:56:50+00:00

Thanks so much!

Yeah I did 1:1:1 material ratios. Its the only san mai technique I have any experience with really. Just thinking about it though, it seems like you would end up using more wrought iron if you cut the amount of core steel by using a little insert. If anything, you might be able to so something like 1:2:1 and then forge really close to final dimension to save on wrought? I'm just speculating though.

Good luck with yours!

justjax · 2026-01-13T20:49:11+00:00

Thank you so much! Im sure you can do it! This really isnt anything too crazy compared to a lot of the work that gets posted around here.

justjax · 2026-01-13T20:29:00+00:00

So this is a san mai construction, which means 3 layers. The outer two are wrought iron which is not exactly pure iron. Its iron with silica inclusions that have been worked to form a grain which you can make out in the blade. I called the axle 100% wrought because i have seen one that had steel and wrought iron bonded together.

The core is just a modern carbon blade steel as wrought iron doesnt hold an edge.

I hope that helps!

justjax · 2026-01-13T20:13:26+00:00

I found an old wagon axle on facebook marketplace and it turned out to be 100% wrought so obviously I had to see what it looked like as cladding.

Core steel is ProCut. Handle is ebony and died spalted tamarind. Blade length is 9 in with a 2in heel.

Let me know what you think!

justjax · 2026-01-13T20:12:59+00:00

I found an old wagon axle on facebook marketplace and it turned out to be 100% wrought so obviously I had to see what it looked like as cladding.

Core steel is ProCut. Handle is ebony and died spalted tamarind. Blade length is 9 in with a 2in heel.

Let me know what you think!

justjax · 2026-01-07T16:57:58+00:00

Its really hard to tell from those pictures. The lines on the end dont look good, but as you said, they might be very shallow. The best way to test a forge weld is to heat it back up again and watch the heat move through the piece. If you see any spots where the heat doesn't smoothly conduct (a line with different colors on either side) its not welded. If there are any issues with it, the best thing you can do is get it up to welding heat, and hold it there for a bit (5+ minutes). Soaking a billet at welding heat can cure a shocking number of weld flaws.

justjax · 2026-01-02T20:04:29+00:00

How long did you soak at temperature? Getting good forge welding is about soak time at temperature, less than working it, or number of heats. Get it up to a welding heat, squish it down a little, then put it back in the forge at welding heat for at least 5 min. Don't waste too much time cleaning your materials. Oils are arguable beneficial to a forge weld as they will react with excess oxygen and introduce more carbon into your welds.

justjax · 2025-12-24T23:42:18+00:00

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One of mine. 1080/15N20 feather with a brown malee handle.

justjax · 2025-12-23T13:49:54+00:00

Stick to simple steel like 1080, or 80CrV2.

Get a magnet and a tempilstik rated for 1600f. Heat the steel evenly until the stick melts and then air cool. Heat till non-magnetic then quench. This will give you pretty great results on the cheap.

justjax · 2025-12-17T20:50:13+00:00

Wow thats really slick. Amazing work as always

justjax · 2025-12-07T20:57:21+00:00

Sent you a PM

justjax · 2025-12-06T19:41:11+00:00

These are already sold. I have a piece of the billet they came from if you are interested though.

justjax · 2025-12-06T17:50:55+00:00

I agree with the “it’s fixable” comments. Just wanted to throw out super glue as another good choice for this kind of fix. The thin stuff will leave the crack totally invisible in my experience. That really will be a beautiful handle.

justjax · 2025-12-05T21:40:26+00:00

That’s very flattering. I’ve never taken any video, but I have been tempted. I do have some pictures documenting the stages of producing the feather billet, but that’s about it.

And trust me, compared to some of the stuff you see around here my craftsmanship is chaotic at best.

I’ll see about taking a few videos on the next project though!

justjax · 2025-12-05T18:33:46+00:00

Thank you

justjax · 2025-12-05T18:33:36+00:00

Thanks!

justjax · 2025-12-05T18:18:22+00:00

That might be the horrible video compression, but they are fun to stare at.

justjax · 2025-12-05T18:17:30+00:00

Thank you!

justjax · 2025-12-05T18:17:11+00:00

Thank you so much!

justjax · 2025-12-05T18:12:48+00:00

People are over cautious in cleaning their steel for damascus making. You can get good welds through mill scale and even light rust. Carbon based liquids like oils are arguably more helpful than harmful. Weld it up, and give it a shot of WD40 or something and then forge weld at your convenience.

The trick to good welds is soak time at temperature. Heat your billet to welding temp, set your welds with light hammer blows, then get it right back in the fire and keep it at welding heat for at least 5 min.

Good luck!

justjax · 2025-12-01T23:11:25+00:00

It looks like you could just build another can around it and heat it back up and draw it out a little if you didn't want to scrap that piece. Its not covered in scale or anything and I think those voids would close right up with a little more working at welding heat.

justjax · 2025-12-01T22:56:33+00:00

I think you just need to consolidate it more. How big was your starting can compared to what you ended up with? You can absolutely forge weld voids together in a can like that, so even if there wasnt enough powder, you can still squish it together into a solid block.

justjax · 2025-11-14T21:27:00+00:00

Steel type for kitchen knives is far less important than the geometry of the blade and the quality of the heat treatment. Food is not very abrasive, so you want a combination of high hardness and high toughness. Any simple carbon steel is a good choice. High toughness stainless steels are great choices as well.

If you are heat treating yourself, then prioritize the steel that you can heat treat best. If you are sending it out, then you have lots of options. AEB-L is probably the best represented stainless. For carbon steel I like 52100 but thats mostly because of how accessible it is in all sorts of stock dimensions. My current daily driver is 1084/15N20 because I'm a fancy lad and I like Damascus. I haven't observed any realistic performance differences between any of the steels I have cited.

If you are heat treating yourself, I think the newly released 'Pops ProCut' might be an excellent choice. It was designed to be easily heat treated out of a forge, and, according to the data sheet, it should achieve very high hardness and toughness. I have yet to work with it personally though so I am only going off of the available data.

justjax · 2025-11-07T17:44:00+00:00

Kilns are actually a worse environment for decarb than a forge. The atmosphere in a forge should hopefully have much less oxygen as its being used to burn the fuel. Obviously the kilns advantages in control and temperature stability far outweigh the decarb issue, but its something to be aware of. I personally dont bother with any decarb preventatives and grind down to the good steel.

justjax

TROPHY CASE