|
|
Register | All Photos | FAQ | Members List | Calendar | ShopStream (Radio/TV) | Search | Today's Posts | Mark Forums Read |
The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need. |
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Straightening a Bent Damascus Handle?
I recently acquired an inexpensive (interpret that to mean cheapo) damascus sword blank. The seller stated that it is a 1095/15N20 blend. The blade itself is somewhat decent, but the handle has a warp in two areas. I'd like to salvage the sword if I can, but being completely ignorant of the heating, quenching and tempering process, I have no idea how to go about it. Can I heat the areas on the handle with a propane torch, then straighten it with a hammer on the anvil?
Do I need to quench the handle, and if so how? Any info you give me would be greatly appreciated. And yes, I did do a search and discovered several ways it can be attempted. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
If it's just in the handle area and not in the blade I would put the blade in a vice with the handle portion out and heat it with a torch to dull red and tweak it. The vice should act as a heat sink to keep the blade from loosing temper. If it's just the handle you don't need to do anything else as you don't want to harden that part of the sword. Post a pic to help us get a better idea. I
|
#3
|
||||
|
||||
By 'tweak' the handle James means don't hit it with a hammer! You shouldn't make any attempt at altering the tang until the area you intend to bend is at least a dull red color. At that point, it should be soft enough for you to bend it using a couple of pairs of heavy channel locks or any other method that allows you to bend it slowly. If you hit it with a hammer without adequate heat the steel can crack. If you have sufficient heat but are unskilled with a hammer the tang can end up bent in the other direction or simply be beaten out of shape. Bending slowly is safer .....
|
#4
|
||||
|
||||
All good advice. Make the jaws on your vise "safe" with some aluminum angle. Won't scar up the blade and give just that little extra grip.
Also, "try-fit" and walk through your steps before lighting up a torch. Things have a habit of going wrong once things get heated up. Give yourself plenty of room to maneuver. Pretty simple procedure if you take your time and think ahead. ps - don't take it out of the vise until it's cool to the touch.......don't force the cooling with water, a wet rag, or even forced air. __________________ Carl Rechsteiner, Bladesmith Georgia Custom Knifemakers Guild, Charter Member Knifemakers Guild, voting member Registered Master Artist - GA Council for the Arts C Rex Custom Knives Blade Show Table 6-H |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Ok thank you very much for the help. I will try to post pics later on.
Do you think that if I clamp the blade in several places to a heavier piece of steel, that it will straighten out once I apply MAP heat to it? Or do I need to bend it past straight in order for it to straighten? |
#6
|
||||
|
||||
I thought you were straightening the tang (handle area). If you are straightening the blade heating it at all will ruin the temper. As for the handle, it will almost certainly need to be bent slightly beyond straight to get it to straighten....
|
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Here are a few pics... |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Here are a few pics... |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Pics anyone...
|
#11
|
|||
|
|||
I'm thinking the process is something like this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL2XxWyVfGM |
#12
|
||||
|
||||
Didn't watch the video (no band width to speak of) but read the comments that went with it. Seems like they are using the vice and 3 rod method. That's perfectly fine but still relies on the steel being hot enough where you need it hot and cool where it should be cool. Really, its nothing more than I said the first time: get it hot enough to bend and bend it slowly and steadily. You will know if it gets too cool or if you moved the steel too fast when you hear the *ping* ....
|
#13
|
||||
|
||||
Clamp it like Ray has described and use a couple of large, flat-jawed cresent wrenches or the like to do the tweaking back into alignment. It's really a very simple process, just take your time. As I said before, make dry-run practices first before you heat everything up. The three pin set up is more for simple warps and not twist.....your tang appears to have a slight twist as well as warp.
__________________ Carl Rechsteiner, Bladesmith Georgia Custom Knifemakers Guild, Charter Member Knifemakers Guild, voting member Registered Master Artist - GA Council for the Arts C Rex Custom Knives Blade Show Table 6-H |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
Update:
Well I went ahead and tried the 3-pin method on the vise. It straightened it quite a bit, but not perfect. I followed up by pinning the handle to a piece of iron barstock and positioning some nickels under the handle in areas where it was twisted and bent. After a few attempts the handle looks good and the scales fit flat! Thanks for the help! |
#15
|
||||
|
||||
There you go.....now lets see it all put together.
__________________ Carl Rechsteiner, Bladesmith Georgia Custom Knifemakers Guild, Charter Member Knifemakers Guild, voting member Registered Master Artist - GA Council for the Arts C Rex Custom Knives Blade Show Table 6-H |
Tags |
1095, advice, angle, anvil, apply, blade, damascus, grip, hammer, handle, harden, heat, hot, how to, iron, knife, make, post, rod, simple, steel, tang, temper, video, vise |
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Straightening | nthe10ring | The Outpost | 10 | 01-18-2009 04:47 PM |
Bent clevis pin | J. Keeton | Ed Caffrey's Workshop | 9 | 09-19-2006 08:08 PM |
Bent TI sheet | Txcwboy | The Newbies Arena | 6 | 06-04-2006 10:42 PM |
bent knife | bear300us | The Newbies Arena | 4 | 04-10-2004 12:15 PM |
Straightening bent blades | Jamey Saunders | Ed Caffrey's Workshop | 8 | 07-18-2002 02:22 PM |