Firescale Damascus. Using a canister and ball bearings to create a damascus billet, for knifemaking.

[@lancehead38]

nice voiceover and classical guitar!

[@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal]

Thank you, sir!

[@aviweisbach7816]

I've never done canister damascus, and always assumed the canister walls should be beefier. Was concerned your first presses might break open the canister. Good to know I was wrong.

[@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal]

I think they're okay, as long as you're careful on that first press. I will admit, the press got away from me a little bit on the first weld up. I was actually concerned myself that I went too hard. But everything turned out all right. I will be a little more careful next time though.😊

[@KJackknife3]

I love it!! Also, I do appreciate the guitar (not many forgers add such chill music, and I watch these videos to chill, so I like it), but it's a liiiiitle loud. Only complaint. Otherwise, seriously, I love it.

[@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal]

Thanks for that. I'll definitely consider the volume on the next one. 👍

[@jamesspry3294]

As an acoustic guitar player, I loved the guitar too. Was it you?

[@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal]

@@jamesspry3294 not on this one. This was downloaded from a royalty free music download website. I do play some background music occasionally, and you can hear it on some of my older videos. (You can probably tell, because you'll notice a declining quality. Lol)

[@jamesspry3294]

@@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal Cool! I'll have to work my way through your "back catalogue"...

[@aaronepperson9740]

awesome job, loved it cant wait to see the finished product. Good job on explaining your steps and I really enjoyed it.

[@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal]

Thanks so much! I really appreciate that positive feedback. The next video is on the way! 😊

[@robertr4193]

With as much scale that was coming off the canister when you first started compacting the billet there can't be a lot left of the canister to grind off. Maybe some on the ends but I would not think much of the sides are left to remove. Nice looking pattern.

[@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal]

I've always been under the impression that forge scale is not really part of the original steel, but rather a culmination of carbon build up from the gases and oxidization that forms in the forge. I could be wrong about that, I've never really researched it. Definitely something worth looking into.

[@jamesspry3294]

@@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal Scale is Iron Oxide (Magnetite or Fe3O4). You'll lose a bit of steel and a bit of carbon on the outside when it scales up. Not much you can do about it, unless you can remove the oxygen from where you are working...

[@jcubetube3778]

Great build man! Cant wait to see what you do with it 🔪❤️

[@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal]

Thank you! I should have a new video with the first half of the knife build, in the next few days.

[@rommyhenley7039]

yo this is tight!

[@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal]

Thank you!

[@jamesspry3294]

Good work mate! I love the idea of leaving the can on when you twist. That way all your cold shuts and inclusions get ground off. And you don't lose so much hardenable steel, but only mild steel. Looks great too! Question: why didn't you clamp the bar in the centre of the vice, when twisting? That's where the vice is strongest... Looks like you struggled a bit with that... Or was it just the camera angle?

[@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal]

@@jamesspry3294 hello, and thanks for watching! The answer to your question is simply that I've never done this before, and I haven't mastered the technique. I don't know if moving the billet to the center of the vise would have made much difference. The vice should give pretty uniform pressure from both sides all along the length of the jaws. The problem is that the steel is soft, so no matter how much pressure you have in there, when you start putting force on it, it will give. However, I do recognize that I need a better tool for twisting. And I definitely was struggling. I've seen other bladesmiths make "twisting tools" from pipe wrenches. Essentially they just add a second handle to the top of the pipe wrench jaw, that way when you twist you're twisting with even pressure from both sides, which should prevent it from wanting to keel over in the vise. So the next time I try this, I'll make sure I weld something up to compensate. Thanks again!

[@jamesspry3294]

@@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal You are still ahead of me there. I've only done blacksmithing on a coal forge about twenty years ago (still trying to set up my forge ATM). Haven't done any bladesmithing yet (my goal...). When I did a few twists when I was learning blacksmithing, we had a few "double handled" tools and stuff like that. But I seem to remember that there were many ways to do it. Also, the bends are fairly easy to straighten later on. I was just thinking that the centre of the vice (ie. in line with the screw) is also the thickest part of the jaw, and will be the least prone to heating up, bending and "loosening". At least that was what I was taught by the tradesmen than I've worked with. (Also, make sure all the forces go into the body of the vice, and not into the screw, otherwise you'll break it, etc etc etc.) Keep up the good work, and don't get discouraged. You are doing well!

[@jamesspry3294]

BTW, MIG welding should go "forwards" (ie. Opposite to stick welding). Should make it easier to see what you are doing, and have a nice "flowing" weld pool. I know this because I did it the wrong way for a while before I sorted it out...

[@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal]

@@jamesspry3294 thanks for the tip! I've seen it done that way too, and I've always struggled when I try. But I'll keep working at it. I'm no more than a novice welder, so I definitely don't want to get into too many bad habits.

[@jamesspry3294]

@@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal Ha ha. Yep! We all started that way. I'm not much more than a novice, but I keep trying. That's the way to get better. Also, having a good welder to ask questions really helps! (I've been lucky in that way)

[@TBWblades]

Nice twist on canister Damascus. Is your hydraulic press a name brand or homemade? I like the actuator rod through the table.

[@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal]

Thank you! I got this press from Clark Iron Forge (out of Tennessee, I think). They do make foot pedals for them, but I made mine here in the shop.

[@jamesspry3294]

I like it, but think your linkage could need tightening up... looked a bit wobbly at times

[@APs.Custom.knives]

Did you grind off the canister before twisting?

[@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal]

No. There's no need to, as long as the mild steel stays on the outside, and the core is hardenable, you're good to go. (I actually just finished this blade today, and there's no evidence of the canister anywhere on it, and it's still a very beefy knife).

[@abadran8174]

So I've never forged anything. But I will say, once you twist it like that, no, mild steel won't be staying on the outside. I'm sure it came out beautifully though. I'll Check the other video now

[@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal]

@@abadran8174 I could see why you'd think that. However, the mild steel doesn't "push itself" into the center as you twist it... (This is weird, but imagine filling a sock with Play-Doh, and then twisting the sock 360°, then pressing it flat, turning it up on its edge, and slicing perfectly down the center. You would still have a Play-Doh core). You can't see it in this video, but if you wait for the finished product, you'll see that there's no mild steel left. It all gets pushed to the spine, and the edge, and gets ground out when shaping the profile, and surface grinding.

[@abadran8174]

@@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal I wouldn't know even if it had mild steel in the blade 😁. However, I think it's morel old playdoh in a canister of chewing gum, and the twist was more like 1640 than 360. I also see bladesmiths grindimg it off every time. If the mild steel can actually be seen in the blade if it were to make it there then absolutely.

[@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal]

There are a few ways to tell where mild steel starts and stops. You can easily do a file test along the edge to see if it's consistently hard. But you can also see visually, after it goes into the etching solution. I'm not sure where you got the idea that I twisted it more than 360°. But that's just not correct. If you watch the video you can see that I did a 180° twist, then came back and repeated that. I didn't twist further. I'm not sure how to convince you, other than to encourage you to keep watching and when you see the final products you should be able to recognize that the pattern is uniform with no mild steel breaking it up. Thanks for watching!

[@thomasolson7447]

Take this with a grain of salt, I've never forged anything before. I think you need to peel that off right away. Your carbon from the core is migrating into the mild steel. The carbon migration is slow, it's not something you normally have to deal with, but you are reheating the billet many times. I suppose you could also go the other way with this. Leaving the cannister on reduces the metal that gets wasted in slag. Put some soot on the inside of the cannister. The carbon from the soot will diffuse into the cannister. I don't think it will make it hardenable, but your core wont diffuse carbon. That British guy did something interesting. Argon was fed into the pole that held the cannister.

[@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal]

That's interesting. I still have the other half of this billet, and I know my heat treat process for this particular steel needs an adjustment. I guess I'll find out when I use the second half of the billet, if there are any issues. Are you talking about Alex Steele? I haven't seen the video you're talking about, but that sounds like something he would do. He's always got some pretty clever ideas.

[@gothamantiquities2595]

Hey brother, how about this comment? Some people either have not much talent and should appreciate that acoustic and the video that you made with the build! Maybe a little lower in volume and that’s it. Great build and be well from your New York people! ✌️

[@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal]

Thank you for the compliment! I'll consider adjusting the volume on the music, going forward.

[@robsonez]

Enjoyed the video dude. Thank you. Could probably do without the geeetarrrr though. Mega annoying.

[@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal]

@@robsonez 🤘

[@frankdemo8988]

Nice video but yes remove the guitar lmao

[@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal]

Too late

[@Valandar2]

Wow. Arrogant much? You did NOT create the idea of putting ball bearings into a canister with powdered steel.

[@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal]

@@Valandar2 nor did I ever say I did.

[@RedRightHand-Blades-Marshal]

I appreciate constructive criticism. But if you're going to make a suggestion, at least pay enough attention to the video so that you have some idea what you're talking about. Saying that "I'm going to try something new, that I've never attempted before", is hardly the same as claiming that I invented a new process. Run along now, troll. 😂