My cousin is a knife maker and gave me some awesome damascus. Can I put it in my kiln to soften it or what can I do to soften it so I can shape it for a piece of jewelry?
If your kiln gets up to around 1800°F it will heat steel hot enough to forge. Or you can use a torch to heat small pieces of steel for forging.
For small work you don’t need a large, heavy anvil, but don’t use a polished bench block as forging steel will ruin the finish.
Do a little reading on blacksmithing before you start. A book on blacksmithing is a worthwhile acquisition for any metal worker. The Complete Modern Blacksmith by Alexander Weygers is good one to have.
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be careful not to overheat… heat enough to forge but not hot enough to begin incipient melting. Over heating will cause phase changes in the mixture of high and low carbon steels that give the damacene appearance to the metal and give it strength and hardness… 1800 to 1900 degrees F is orange yellow. Bright yellow is 2,200 F… going above bright yellow will change the steel characteristics, if the temperature is held high for more than a short time or if the steel is repeated heated to over 2,000 degrees.
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@KimberlyJ67083 Here’s a company that sells rings that are right up your alley. Also a site that offers a lot of information that might interest you as it concerns knives and maintenance and techniques for sharpening.
My suggestion is to talk to your cousin about your plans, after all he is your expert knife person that is familiar with the alloy he gave you.
I may be assuming too much but I would start with him. Too much heat might ruin the look that you want to keep. It is supposed to be very hard but flexible. Maybe you could set a piece like a gem stone.
If it’s a useable knife ; embellish it with a beautiful handle and try your hand at leather work. From what I can tell you are a very creative person and not afraid of trying new things out!
Steven
All About Damascus Steel Rings and Pros & Cons by The Ring Shop.
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Ive been meaning to get some hooks on blacksmithing. Thanks!
I forgot to mention on here that I actually do leather work. I make purses. I’ll have to show you guys some of the purses that I’ve forged from leather. Treating it like a gemstone is a very good idea I didn’t even think of that. That would be a very unique ring
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You do a lot of things, very creative. I hope that your foray into jewelry making will be successful. I think it will be… best of wishes, keep at it…
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