I don't have permission to post the photo here, but recently there was a photo shown on one of the KN forums, showing a Bowie made of "Feather" damascus. This was my first time to see it, and it knocked my socks off! It is a very striking pattern, with a lot of eye appeal. Does anyone have a clue as to how to start to experiment on such a pattern? Heck, I can't even figure out how to stack, twist, and crush the clay!

Robert,
Here's a link to the image of Steve Dunn's feather damascus bowie: http://www.fototime.com/DCC02F4418A8688/orig.jpg Hope this helps.

I actually saw three knives in Reno that used this pattern - all very nicely done. Steve's was outstanding. He described his technique but not being a bladesmith myself some of it went over my head. What I do remember was that after welding all the layers he drove a very blunt wedge down through them. Makes sense that that would create the v-shape 'feather' pattern.

I'm sure it's much more involved that I can describe so hopefully others will explain.
BT

Yes, that's it. Absolutely spectacular! I also can see how driving a wedge through the middle of the billet could cause that effect, but how to set up for it, what to use, how to start, baffles me. Anyway, it is a pure joy to be able to simply look at the picture this knife. Thanks Buddy.

There is more than one way to build this type pattern to get good results

w - c- s -s- f- is one way : :confused: have fun
bowie 5days damascus free , : Robert sleepless nites




w`s --cube in to a tight square-- slice in the middle while hot place the two peices back together - streach out you build a large enough peace you can slice a peace off the side of the loaf -- forge ========= others may have a better way,
o i almost forgot - remember to t-t-o-a-b-w-d
dang glade i rememberd to tell you that .

Thanks Ron!! I have to admit however that I'm not quite up to speed with the language, but surely it's universal, and I'll work on it! :o) What I REALLY need is one (or several) of your sketches. That's the best teaching tool for this old broken Texan.

When I was looking into kris patterns I tried this out, it's a very satisfying pattern to do. If you alternate two different steels you can get a 'turkey feather' effect. I made a short stack of damascus, pretty much a cube, cut it 3/4 of the way through with a hot chisel and then forge welded the cut faces back together. When you draw it out, the slight smear the cut puts into the layers becomes that cool pattern.
Try it, you'll like it!
Jeff

So Jeff, you take your billet, after it's forge welded up (say 9 layers of 1" x 1 1/8th" 1095 and 15n20), form it into a square (as viewed from the end), then cut it in the middle lengthwise, almost all the way through. Then, flux and reheat the whole thing, and weld it back together again, just as it was (more or less). Then, draw it out, and do your standard blade work. Is this correct? Sounds to easy (but of course I hope it is)! Do you have any photos of your blade?

cool see your getting it t-t-o-a- b- w -d your doing ok
try thinking of a better way dude
i once was handed a note at a Damascus think tank ,we would get thing going so fast that we sent each other note with just letters on it to speed things up a bit
one note i received had b-u-t-h-e-a-d on it really was a nice pattern its harder to unravel the code :101

Robert I don’t know how to post pictures so ill send you email with picture of drawing
maybe you can post it

So Jeff, you take your billet, after it's forge welded up (say 9 layers of 1" x 1 1/8th" 1095 and 15n20), form it into a square (as viewed from the end), then cut it in the middle lengthwise, almost all the way through. Then, flux and reheat the whole thing, and weld it back together again, just as it was (more or less). Then, draw it out, and do your standard blade work. Is this correct? Sounds to easy (but of course I hope it is)! Do you have any photos of your blade?

Sounds like you got it.
No photos, but I can describe what I did in more detail. I made a stack of about 9 layers, 4 damascus and 5 plain 1070. Each piece was roughly 1.5" square by 3/8 - 1/4" thick. Once this was welded, I cut down through the layers with the hot chisel, and yes, fluxed and welded the cut I just made back together. Then I drew it out and made a blade.
The bottom layers I didn't cut through became u-shaped, the rest did the cool swept v, so I bet there are better ways to get a consistant pattern through the entire billet, but this method will get you going until the on-line translators start covering 'damascusese'
;-P
Jeff

Jeff, thanks for the description! Bowie sent me a picture to post, which helps me a lot, thanks Bowie. I can't quite make out the wording or the picture in the lower right hand corner (just above the words, "Forge to shape").
http://www.fototime.com/106326B1A2E8C63/standard.jpg

Robert the words that you cant read is I think bolsters or what ever for furniture Cut off the loaf .
I want to say you guys had me stay up half the night thinking of different patterns now I feel im going to fall off the wagon and build some I will have to call my sponsors ,Larry , Kevin, Mike. Bill
Maybe they can talk me out of it . But I think they say one thing and do another And Kelly keeps sending steel hes a pusher , im weak
My name is Ron Claiborne and im a knifemaker ,and im 5 days Damascus free
now where did I place that lighter hummmm

Thanks for clearing up that section Ron. I'm afraid you're hoplessly hooked my friend. There is nothing out there that will help you. You may as well throw in the towel and admit defeat. Then, after that, start designing more billets, and make more sketches, for us new guys that arne't quite up to speed with you yet :o)
Yes, Kelly is a pusher. He's my pusher also.
You smoke? Whoa! Maybe you should slow down on that! But it's not my place to tell anyone that. (however, Fitzo been cig free a couple of weeks now, he's hopfully over the hump, although my hump lasted years!).

Ya I know im useless when im thinking patterns it consumes the mind , and to catch up to me is no big deal im just learning my self hope to be all my life , but you guys has got that new tape you guys can teach me I hope
Ron claiborne smoke free 2920 days

Ron said: "Ron claiborne smoke free 2920 days"

Cool Ron! That's fantastic!

MAN!!!
Talk about kicking a guy when he is down!! Ive been sick with the flu, and all I can think about is this feather pattern!! I LOVE it.

One question, do I understand the drawing right? you will make a W's bar (suggestion on # layers?) then push a chisel thru it, (would a square edge be too much?) then forge the pieces back togather., This is then stretched out, and then a piece is sliced off to be forged? Sliced as in cut a piece off with a saw? If so, do you need to be about to your desired length? Im wondering if drawing out farther would distort the pattern too much???

Thak you Ron for the picture!!! Im not up on the damascus codes yet. Can I come to one of the super secret meetings when Im in the area??? (I'll bring the chicken bones!!)

God Bless
Mike
Smoking too much, and damascus free for 3 days, though under protest!

I have never tried it mind you, but......it should be quite easy to do with a press or something with a long available stroke just weld up a tall stack of flat laminate and press in a tall hack or hatchet or something like that. I don't think I would try it on a power hammer cause it would want to bounce, unless you have enough hammer to dig in on the first hit.
maybe I will try it next week (now I'm curious)
csc

Robert,
Thanks for posting that drawing.
Ron,
Thanks for sharing the drawing.

Ok, I guess I know what I'll be doing tonight...and tomorrow night...

Robert,
Thanks for posting that drawing.
Ron,
Thanks for sharing the drawing.

Ok, I guess I know what I'll be doing tonight...and tomorrow night...

Hi Todd, and welcome aboard! Please do jump in and help! What I'd like to try and get is a step by step work flow, of how to do this pattern, from the selection of steel, through to the finished piece. I think that would be a neat tool. With Bowies help, and your knowhow, and the others, we can do it. We just need to keep on it. I'm still fuzzy on the "cube" thing. The drawing shows the billet stacked and compressed by forging, then a cube is cut off (bandsaw?) the end. I don't know how big or long this cube is, but to me it would be very small, if it was cut off of the end of the billet. Then the photo shows to turn it on it's side and plunge into it with a hot cutter, weld the cut back together, and draw it out, then slice off a piece that could be forged into your blade. At least, I think that's what happens more or less.
Yes, please stay awake very late and solve this! 8o

I think you mis understood the process of my drawing . You cut nothing (OFF ) till the end . The cube is cut but just to bend the pattern at the cut that what makes the feather look

____the cube is so when after cut it can be welded with a bent pattern and stretched out you cut nothing of the billet till the end if you start with a good amount of steel you will be able to build a loaf and then and only then will you cut the billet off and that cut can be made on the side with a band saw the other cut iin to the cube has to be cut with hot cutter
sorry to cunfuse you ill try harder
Bowie 6 days Damascus free

w`s --cube in to a tight square-- slice in the middle ---while hot (place the two peices back together )- streach out you build a large enough peace you can slice a peace off the side of the loaf -- forge ========= others may have a better way,
o i almost forgot

Hey Robert,
Thanks for the reply. Well, I didn't get to work on it last night - had to finish up a knife that I'm delivering today. I hope to tackle it before the week's over though and I'll pass on my findings to you. I think this might not be too hard to accomplish. Don't let the cube thing throw you. Just take Ron's sketch quite literally - forge your edge folded billet into a fat billet or cube because after you cut it, you need to stretch it out. If you start with an enlongated billet, you're finished product will be pretty narrow.
This is one of the most beautiful patterns I've ever seen. My hat's off to whoever developed it. And thanks for sharing it.

Thanks Ron and Todd. I agree Todd, this pattern is the most striking (humm...) pattern I've seen, I guess it's the flow, well, I know it's the flow. I'd can't wait to start some experimenting. I'll make good notes (Bowie always suggest this) as I go, and you do the same Todd. I need all the help I can get. Are you still enjoying your BLU? I used mine again the other day for a bit.

Robert,
I get to use the Big Blu pretty regularly for damascus and cans and yes, I love it. I like its predictability and the fact that I don't have to adjust, maintain and tinker with it. The control is excellent too. I needed to make a habaki over the weekend - I was able to draw a dual taper in a piece of .080 copper sheet with infinite control and finesse. Nice. The day before, I made 2 large damasus billets on it. versatile...
Anybody in Florida interested in trying one out is welcome at my humble shop.

I'll try to get some pics for you when I work on the feather.
Take care!

Thanks Guy's, for all the kind word's about the Bowie. It's allway's nice to hear comments about your work.
I thought I would explain how the pattern was made, and by the way, I didn't develop this pattern, it was being made centuries ago.
First, I started with a base pattern, and there's a million you could use, but I chose a W pattern, 20 square. Started with 20 layers of 1075 and 15N20. I really like this conbination, because 15N20, is no more than 1075, with 2% nickel alloyed in. So regardless of how many layers you start with, you still have .75 carbon content. This mix really performs well, and has nice contrasts, when etched.
Each individual peice of steel is .050 thick,6 in. long, and 1 1/2 wide. In order to get the mass I needed, I doubled up on it. Two peices 1075, two peices 15N20, and so on. With 20 layers stacked,(really 40) I made the weld. Then turned the billet up edge wise, layers verticle, and drew it out, to about 20x1 1/2x 1/2. Let it cool, and cut into 5 peices, restack, weld, and fold 2 times,=20 square. Drew this bar out to 16 X 2 X 1/2. Bar is 2in.wide, so I measured back 2in. and cut, 2in. back and cut, and so on until the whole bar was cut. Now I have a bunch of 2X2X1/2 crackers. Stack these "crackers" up, one on top of the other, and tack weld, weld a handle on the side and forge weld together. When I'm satisfied it's welded, cut the handle off the side and reposition the handle on the end, and resquare the bar. Cut handle off again and weld back to the side. Took a hot cut, and ground a 1/4in radious on it, you want it very dull. Then drive the dull hot cut down through the billet, and it drags the layers in toward the cut. Leave about a 1/4in. hinge at the bottom, and simply reweld.
You can draw the billet out some, but be careful, you can enlongate it to much, and destroy the effect. Then you can cut slices off the bar, draw a tang out an grind from there. Any forging at this point will kill the pattern. I usually get four knives out of a billet this size.
Hope this isn't to confusing, if so just call me, an we'll go over it again.
Thanks Again to All!!!
S. Dunn

Steve, let me be one of the first to thank you for sharing your process with us. Cennturies old or not, this particular knife has envolked more interest than anything I've seen since I became interested in knives. We've been trying to figure it out how the pattern was developed (some already pretty much knew, not me yet), but until this second I was still cloudy. What you've written here will enable us to go and start experimenting ourselves. Your work is incredible, and your artistry and commitment to the craft is unparalelled. Thank you very much for taking the time to let us in on the workflow for the "Feather"! Thanks again also to Buddy for his interest in letting others enjoy this piece.

thanks Steve and it looks great , now the thorns & thisile
NO NO NO i was just kidding thanks
Bowie 7 DAYS damascus free

Steve, thanks so much for the info!

I usually get four knives out of a billet this size.

Hm... :101 :cool:

Steve,
I'll add my thanks for the great explanation. I'd like to see some of your stuff in person - will you be at the blade or guild show?
Fischer

Yes, I will be at the Blade Show, hope to see you there!
S.Dunn

Thats the most intriguing pattern I've seen. Thanks for bringing this one to light for me.

S. Dunn, one question if I may, when you drew out the billet and cut it into 2" x 2" crackers, did you stack them straight (as cut) or turn every other one 90 degrees?

Thanks again to everyone for explaining this exquisite pattern. :)

Randy

Robert, thanks for posting that drawing.
Ron, thanks for sharing the drawing.
S. Dunn, thanks for yuor process, work incredible, thanks thanks thanks !!!!!!!!
This is one of the most beautiful patterns I've ever seen. :eek:

God Bless all peoples !

Um abraço de gaúcho !!!!!

Edinho




.

Randy,
The crackers were stacked as cut. Remember the W's are seen from the end of the bar. If you were to turn them 90*, all you would see is straight line, which can look good too, just a different effect.
S.Dunn

Thanks for clearing that up for me, You've been more helpful than you will ever know. :)
Now I just need to get it in gear and do some welding!

Randy

Got to do some hammerin’ today, and welded this up:

http://www.home.earthlink.net/~jlp3/images/feather08.jpg

This is what the feather pattern does if you cut through plain old damascus – I used a sharp chisel, but otherwise followed the steps outlined earlier in this thread.

Looking good Jeff! I like how the feather is in the opposite direction of the point. There's so much you can do with this pattern, as is the case with all Damascus patterns.
I've made the mistake in the past of not writing the procedure down of developing a pattern, and try to call on memory, a year later. LoL.
By all means, keep a journal of you Damascus work. This way when someone orders a specific pattern, you made two year's ago, you can go to your notes, and see how you did it. I've lost patterns in the past by not doing this, maybe I'll stumble back upon them someday, maybe not. Just trying to stress the importance of this.
Again Jeff, very well done!!! Now let's see the finished knife!
S. Dunn

Thank you for showing this one Jeff! Is the pattern the same on the other side? Seems like it would be, but off just a little from this side because of the thickness.

Is the pattern the same on the other side?
It's pretty much the same. As usual with my somewhat loose working style I didn't guide the cut through the exact middle of the billet, and as a result the center of the feather pattern is shifted over up to 1/10th of an inch on the other side, which doesn't sound like much but it's very noticeable.
Which brings up a good point, if you are going for a really nice centered pattern like on the beautiful knife that started this thread, it's worth the extra effort to carefully place and control both the cut and the resquare after the cut, slight variations there will cause shifted patterns or lots of remedial grinding, no fun!
Jeff

Nice Jeff!
Thanks for showing us.

Randy