Pattern Welding Information

So, first a little more information on what this project is. It’s a commission for a swordsmith I know who says he can’t tell me who the end customer is, so I have no idea where this one will end up. I hope I’ll at least get some pictures of the finished product. The guidance I was given was basically “something that evokes waves, and something that makes one think of the flaming sword of the Archangel Michael”. However, to up the ante a bit, this blade will be polished and have etched and gilded lettering in the fuller. The customer would like for the pattern only to be evident when you get very close to the finished piece. All of this with 40″ of blade and 15″ of tang. Seems simple right?

I decided on a 4 bar serpent core with twisted W’s (Firestorm) for the edges. It will not be a wrapped tip, but instead I’ll be doing a bird’s beak weld at the tip. That seemed to be the smart decision for a piece this large.

So, I’ve gotten a bunch of the basic forging of the components done, but this weekend is when things began to get fun. I’m using the “Jeff Pringle Method” for the serpent cores because I really like the way it looks when done vs. laddering or other options. This means a LOT of 90 degree twists. Each core bar is 1/2″ square and about 45″ long. This is a little overkill, but I’d rather have extra material than not enough. Yesterday and today I spent getting my twisting process dialed in and set to work. Below are a couple of pictures of what this looks like. I am purposely leaving a little bit of variation in the twists since the goal is “waves” and to my way of thinking, waves in water are periodic, but not consistent.

First, an untwisted bar on the left, and a twisted one on the right. That’s a 48″ ruler between them.

And a closeup of a twisted section.

I got one done and then ran out of acetylene about 1/4 way through the second one. Have to get the tank refilled tomorrow. I have to deliver a couple of thank you’s on this project. First off, a big thanks to Jeff Pringle for reverse-engineering an excellent method for making a serpent core, and for letting me know how much work I was in for without making it seem insurmountable (or laughing at me too much when he said it). Also, thanks to my neighbor and fellow blacksmith Ted McNett for the loan of his Henrob torch setup with a gas saver. This has made this project possible.The gas saver allows me to leave the torch adjusted but turned off between heats. I HAVE to have one of these setups….

I know it’s been forever since I posted any updates here, but then again, it’s been forever since I’ve been in the shop and I’ve been very busy with a new job. My new job is with an amazing company that you’ve likely never heard of called Battelle. They are a non-profit Science and technology Research and Innovation company and I am working in their newly created Cyber Security group. Lots of exciting things going on that will be keeping me busy, but I hope to find some time to get into the shop as well as write some more content for this site.

As it turns out, but CEO of my new company is Dr. Jeffrey Wadsworth who has authored several papers and articles over the years on the history and properties of Damascus steel. Needless to say I’ve been reading his papers recently and hope to incorporate some of what I’m learning into the history section of this site as I put it together.

In the shop, I’m working on a big commission that has me doing some things I’ve never done before. My time in the shop today included working the kinks out of my process for creating a multi-bar serpent core for a sword using the method reverse-engineered by Jeff Pringle that he shared in this thread at Don Fogg’s Forum. Below you can see a section of the test bar I used to work out the required twisting. This is going to take a little time on 4 core bars…

It’s getting to be that time of year again! For the fourth year in a row I’ll be demonstrating at the Fire & Brimstone Hammer-In hosted by Kerry and Matt Stagmer of Baltimore Knife and Sword. This year we’re doing something a bit different and collaborating towards a finished piece in one weekend. I’ll be welding up (hopefully successfully) a traditional wrapped-edge Viking sword blade that will then be ground by Matt and we’ll be working together on the hilting. It should be a blast if all goes well.

Registration is limited for this event, so if you want to come, get in touch with Kerry sooner than later.

I was reminded last night that there are still many misconceptions on Damascus, Pattern Welding, and Wootz steel. Not only among the general populous, but even among bladesmiths. So, I think I’m going to try and begin work on a section describing what I know of the history of Damascus/Wootz/Pattern Welding. Much of this information will be regurgitation of things I’ve read, but citations will be provided in order to let folks get at my source material if they’re inclined to go find it. It may take a little bit as I’m particularly busy at the moment, but I’ll try.

In the meantime, I’d like to recommend an excellent book on the subject. Manfred Sachse’s “Damaszener Stahl. Mythos. Geschichte. Technik. Andwendung.” (Translated: “Damascus Steel: Myth, History, Technology, Applications”) is a fantastic treatise on the history of Damascus. There is an English translation available as well, it can be harder to find, and it’s pricey, but it one of the best books on the subject available IMHO.

That’s all for now, but but I’ll be working on trying to organize some information to add into a history section.

I started last night on a billet of W’s pattern and began taking pictures to fill in the gaps in my page on W’s. I’ll be continuing on that work and a few other things today in the shop, so stay tuned for more details on W’s!