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The Folding Knife (& Switchblade) Forum The materials, techniques and the designing of folding knives. |
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#1
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Thunderforge Damascus - More Problems
My real Question is does Thunderforge damascus Suck? or do I just not know what I am doing? I made a blade. Left it a little thicker after grinding than I normally do ats34. Heated in my oven to 1450 degrees. Qinched in warm oil (olive oil I was told is excellent) about 140 degrees. And while cleaning it up and thinning down. There it was. A stinking, *(&%%^()(&*$%#%^&*(), crack about middle of the blade, running from the edge up to the center of the blade. First I thought will it's just scale. Not. This is the second attempt at a blade with this damacus and the second cracked blade. I don't know if it's me or the thunderforge! But I have ground up 60 dollars worth of steel and only got a pair of bolsters out of the deal. :x Cracked all the blades I tried. Somebody said to "Normalize" it. What is that and do I need to do it or do I just need to buy better damascus. |
#2
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Your crack could be caused by a number of things. First off it could be a delamination or cold shut caused by a bad weld and when you've put the steel under stress it's become worse. These are usually noticable before heat treating though. Personally I would recommend a slightly slower quenching medium, I use one suggested by Jim Hrisoulas in his book "The Master Bladesmith" page 272, and is as follows: 1 part diesel 2 parts automatic transmission fuild 1 part motor oil I have used this formula for a number of years and it works fine. I would further contact the maker of "thunderforge damascus" and explain the problem to them, I had a bad piece I bought many years ago and when I approached the manufacturer they replaced the offending billet. Regards from Australia |
#3
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I agree,contact the forge people who made it and talk it over with them. It could have been something you did and it may not be. The point is that they do not want unhappy customers. (a general assumption) Find out what quench medium they suggest for that steel, heating proceedures,ect... |
#4
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I agree with Neil, although I thought I would mention that Hrisoulas also speaks of pre heating of the quenchent (further limiting shock). However the damascus should still not crack. Good Luck. |
#5
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I've used a bit of Thunderforged and have had no problems. I just had my heat treater used a standard 1095 heat treat sequence. I'm not sure what quench media he uses though. For the $$ I think it is good stuff to start out with. I would take up the issue with your supplier. I can't see them not making things right with you. |
#6
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You may want to jump over to Ed Caffery's forum and ask his opinion. He is VERY familiar with steels and damascus in particular. Good luck. |
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blade, forge, knife, switchblade |
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AlanD, coldtracker |
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