Northwest Hammer In Seminar & Synposium

A Damascus Event

Fall Hammer In 2010

Past Hammer In events

What Cooking in The Northwest by Dennis Brown and the Sunday Bunch

In recognition of the American Bladesmith Society

&

The Northwest School of Knife Making

Northwest Fall Hammer In, Oct 9th & 10th, 2010

A Damascus Event

At our bi-annual hammer in, we will try to cover the basics of making Damascus or pattern welded steel using the wet fluxing method and carry it on to the dry weld and maybe if we have time,using a mosaic in a can.

As most of you know, this hammer in concludes a five day knife making class and this will give a fairly complete class instruction for those who came for the whole shooting match.

Subject to changes

Hammer In Flyer

For info call 425 402-3484 or bronks@bronksknifeworks.com

Directions toCountry Village, Bothell, Washington. Take exit 26 from I-405 and continue south towards Bothell for approximately one mile. Look for two red Victorian arches and a 15 foot spotted chicken on your right. Enter under either of them go two blocks up the hill and you’re there. The shop is in the Northwest corner of the village. Camping space is available in the village.

Motels

Sierra Suite, 1 800 474-3772

Comfort Inn, 10% discount for AAA or AARP 425 402-0900

or1 800 424-6423, 1414 228^th  street SE 98012

Extended Stay, 800 398-7829

Restaurants @ Village

Papa’s – Carolina BBQ – Country Café

Close by Dining

Outback Steak House - Canyons – Bonefish Grill - Jalisco’s – Grazie’s – Sparta’s – Ming’s – Denny's

 Mongolian-BBQ - Plus all of the fast food joints

Past events

Washington Hammer In 2002

What’s been cooking in the Northwest

Article by Dennis Brown

Click on any image for a larger view

Lots of things have been cooking in the Northwest! Lyle Brunckhorst, owner/operator of “Bronk’s Knifeworks”, “Double L Hoofknives” and “Bronk’s School of Knifemaking”, at Country Village, in Bothell, Washington, hosted the First Annual Northwest Damascus steel Hammer-In, June 22^nd and 23^rd, 2002. The hammer-in was well attended and had something for everyone, from novice to Mastersmith.

Ed Caffrey is getting ready to roll

What exactly was cooked up? To start with, Jelly Rolls a.k.a. Damascus, by Ed Caffrey, a Mastersmith from Great Falls, Montana. Ed walked us through variations in design and methods he found to be successful in producing the various patterns we have come to know as Jelly Rolls. He began his demonstration from a drawn out eight layer billet composed of two steels (1084 and 15N20). These two steels are very compatible because they are nearly identical except for the 2.5% nickel that sets them apart upon etching at the finish. The nickel has no other effect other than make the 15N20 and the subsequent blade very tough. Ed forged a scarf on one end of the billet and began folding it over and over, onto itself, until it was wound into a tight coil. Ed then forged welded the coil back in to a solid billet as he elaborated on many different ideas that he incorporated into the design of a Damascus steel billet. The sky was the limit and our imaginations ran wild.

Bob Kramer ponders whether his coffee will make a quench

Bob Kramer, Mastersmith from Bellingham, Washington, then turned up the heat with his discussion on the importance of heat treating blades. He illuminated the steps required to produce the ultimate performance from our knives. For information on getting to know our steel, he recommended, two books: “The Heat Treater’s Guide” and “Tool Steel” for making and shaping steel. Bob moved through the difficult steps from proper thermal cycling to refine the grain, controlling austenizing temperatures and soak time to prevent grain growth and obtain complete solution of carbon, knowing the phase shift points of the steel that you’re using, the proper quench medium and the quench speed needed, the importance of tempering of just hardened steel and discussed the benefits of mar-quenching, (The quench and temper are done in a single operation with a low temp salt pot). Bob explained them in a manner that was easy to understand.

Gary House weaves us some nice patterns

The morning was gone before we knew it and after a short break for lunch, we were back in the kitchen cooking up a storm. Gary House of Eastern Washington, demonstrated how to produce the basket weave , the famous and very useful “W” pattern, and the likewise useful radial designs and how to combine these techniques to form various blade patterns using simple multiple layers of 1084 and 15N20. One of his secrets that he shared was to rotate a billet of Damascus steel in the squaring dies 45 degrees and re-square. This will change the pattern for some surprising effects, kindling our imaginations once more.

John Davis showing us how to squeeze the most out of a billet

Results of holding your mouth just right when squeezing

The remainder of the afternoon was devoted to John Davis, Also of Eastern Washington. John constructed mosaic designs using arranged pieces of formed steel or nickel and powdered metals. He explained all steps of construction beginning with a mild steel box or container to hold the metals in place and protect from oxidizing during the welding process. (Look Ma no flux.) Using his techniques, a knifemaker can produce almost any mosaic design.

Lyle, our host, doing mental warm ups

After supper, the evening went fast as Lyle showed us how to make cable Damascus steel without the use of flux. (Look Ma, no inclusions.) The billet also used powdered steel for an added accent and the end result looked a little like puppy tracks in a flower bed. He later opened up a segment of it accordion style and gave it an edge wrap of “W pattern” for a very neat effect.

On Sunday the 23^rd, the cooking fires heated up again with the introduction of Tom Ferry, of Auburn, Washington. Tom talked about the manufacture of knives and how important it is to understand what happens inside the forge, like fuel to air ratio and temperatures. It is important that the forge obtains a high enough temperature to heat the billet above welding heats and have a little extra unburned fuel coming out of the door to insure that oxidation does not take place in the furnace. If the billet is allowed to oxidize it will not weld.

Tom Ferry doing the wrap

Flux is applied to the billet to clean up any oxidation or residue on the steel parts to be welded and to protect the clean steel when it removed from the protective atmosphere of the furnace. It is then pressed or hammered together, while still at welding heat and the flux is (hopefully) squeezed out ahead of the steel parts as they are pushed together and subsequently welded.

He also spoke about the importance of protecting the eyes from UV rays. He felt that a pair of glasses with didymium lenses was indispensable. Tom also expressed the concern for a good dust collection system to protect makers from the airborne particles created during grinding.

Tom proceeded to discuss the topic he was invited to present, that is, edge wrapping a forged blade for daggers. He often begins with a billet composed of between 200 and 400 layers in a straight pattern for the edge wrap bar and places the bar on so that the grinding operation exposes the layers for a pattern effect. The bar is kept square, measuring from ¼ inch to 3/8 inch in thickness. One of Tom’s secrets is to begin with a blade billet with a rounded point. In his words, “keep the edges square, and if you can, mill them”. He specifically stated, “Do not over forge the blade”. This will change the blade shape and ruin the straight weld lines. The bar is then tack welded to the blade blank on one side and then it is wrapped around the point and down the other side. See figure 1.

The welding process is started at the point of the blade and slowly worked around both sides; it is done at least twice to insure a solid weld. See figure 2. Once forge welding of the bar to the blade has been completed, Tom stated that he did not forge out the blade; instead he ground out the blade to keep the weld lines straight and enhance the pattern on the edge. Tom presented another option for obtaining an edge wrap. This is accomplished by forge-welding a thinner Damascus bar on each side of the main Damascus bar, such as Mosaic. The bar is then accordion opened and a v shaped section cut out of the end of the bar and then forged shut and forge welded.

An unexpected added feature of his discussion was the inadvertent contamination of Tom’s forge with zinc from a piece of brass. In this case it was a spent brass shell casing that got tossed into the forge by someone who probably didn’t realize the potential for disaster. Zinc contamination prevents steel from welding together. All in all it was a wonderful demonstration and Tom handled the good natured ribbing from Lyle and the bunch as well as he handled the steel.

Ed Schempp playing the accordion fold

The chef’s hat was then handed over to Ed Schempp, Mastersmith from Ephrata, Washington. Ed’s topic was the task of developing a blade from the initial Damascus billet. He began by taking a pattern-welded billet and dividing the billet with a series of equally spaced saw cuts, alternating the cuts from one side of the bar to the other. Ed revealed his technique for opening up the bar to form his blade stock (Figure 3) Ed opened the billet accordion style to take advantage of the end grain pattern in the billet. He demonstrated how to use three dies that he made specifically for this purpose. Starting with the first die Ed forced the die into the cut and pried the bar open just a small amount with the first heat and moving through the subsequent die opened the bar up further. He then showed us how to use a round drawing die to force metal into the stressed and stretched section of the bar. This minimizes metal tearing (figure 4). Ed stated that he also continually thermal cycles his materials to alleviate stresses and to subsequently minimize tearing. He made the difficult procedure of opening a billet look easy.

Mat Disken driving home the need for accuracy

The final blade making demonstration was presented be Matt Disken of Freeland, Washington. He spoke about grinding accuracy and how he is able to grind his blades in a uniform manner. For a great reference, he recommended the book, “Fundamentals of Mechanical Accuracy” by Richard Moore.

Foremost on his agenda were the aids he uses for grinding folder blades. He explained the layouts and manufacture of simple aluminum blade holding devices that he uses. His blade holding device design allowed for grinding both sides of the blade exactly the same (figure 5). Matt also explained how he used the same aluminum aids to grind hollow ground blades. Again, another difficult task made to look easy.

Finally, Matt demonstrated how to make a great sanding aid for hand sanding hollow ground blades. He uses paint stirring sticks formed and glued over a coffee can with some rubber cushioning epoxied over the top of the formed stir sticks. The sand paper is applied over the rubber. Figure 6?

The final event of the weekend was a talk and hands-on display of old Japanese and Chinese swords by Grand Master Swordsman, Doctor Sung Beck of Maltby, Washington. He spoke about what a swordsman looks for in a blade and how specific blades are used. Sung Beck is a world famous and undefeated marshal artist in sword fighting. Dr. Beck is also a master at telling stories and his talk was extremely interesting and humorous. He allowed each of us to handle and inspect some of his collection of very rare and expensive swords, something only a select few have an opportunity to do.

Suddenly the weekend was over and thanks to Lyle, we had a chance to meet and make friends with many talented bladesmiths, beginners as well as masters.

We will have to wait until next year to see what Lyle cooks up then. Lyle says that he came close to breaking even and enjoyed the event as it was a nice break from making knives. He says next year he is very much looking forward to do it again. However, this hammer-in will be a hard one to beat. 

The Rogues gallery: Mostly comprised of members of the American Bladesmith Society.

Lyle Brunckhorst (425) 402-3484

Ed Caffrey (406) 727-9102

Bob Kramer (360) 312-8244

Gary House (509) 754-3272

John Davis (509) 697-3845 or 8087

Tom Ferry (253) 939-4468

Mat Disken (360) 730-0451

Ed Schempp (509) 754-2963

Photographs courtesy of Ed Caffrey.

Illustrations by Dennis Brown.

Authors;

The Sunday Bunch.

Dennis Brown

Steve Frey and Jan,

Dr. Dick Richards,

Diane Pierce,

Lyle and Gayle.

 

More Past events

Spring of 2007

Fall Hammer In 2007

October 6th & 7th

Fall hammer in 2006 October 7th & 8th

Spring Hammer in 2006 May 6th & 7th

Lyle Brunckhorst, Ed Caffrey, Tom Ferry, Michael Radar

Northwest Fall Biannual Hammer In 2005

November 19th and 20th 2005

Featured Speakers:

Raymond Richard:                 Tomahawks

Ed Caffrey:                             Damascus

Michael Radar:                      Swords

Tom Ferry:                             Damascus & Successful Business

Lyle Brunckhorst:                  Damascus

Mitch Lum                              Photography

Kelly Couples                        Forge Welding High Stainless

Do to a technical problem with our Latrobe steel samples we did not attempt to weld these two steels together as planed. We will make another attempt to make San Mai or Damascus pattern with the Latrobe steels during the spring hammer in.

Northwest Spring Biannual Hammer In 2005

May 7th and 8th

Featured Speakers

Tom Ferry; Damascus

Mitch Lum; Photography

Ed Caffrey; Damascus

Michael Rader; Sword grinding Wood scabbards & wood  finishing

Host Lyle Brunckhorst; Damascus & heat treating

Northwest Annual Hammer In 2004

June 19th - 20th

Featured Speakers

Michael Bell forging and clay hardening the Katana

Ed Caffrey on Damascus and blade forging

Your host Heat treating and more Damascus

All members of the American Bladesmith Society

Northwest Hammer in 2003

June 21 - 22

Featured Speakers

Shane Taylor, Devin Thomas, Tom Ferry, Bob Kramer, Gary House, John Davis and Lyle Brunckhorst

 Topics

Metallurgy, Damascus and Kinetic Progressive Folders