Custom Sujihiki Mosaic damascus. WIP

[HHH Knives]

Hello and good day, this is one be mt first real post.. let me again introduce myself, My name is Randy Haas, HHH Custom knives.. And I am a steel addict! lol

Please bare with me as I learn how to add pohots on this forum. This is also the first time I have tried a WIP.. Work In Progress. So here goes nothin.


Yesterday Jr and I started this damascus billet for a custom Sujihiki if all goes to plan this knife will be a 285mm western style handled knife with mosaic damascus blade.. photos of the design will be posted after the billet is ready to forge.

After the billet is done I will post some photos of a paper pattern and show some of that process too.. I guess Im getting ahead of myself. lets see if I can figure out how to post photos :slaphead:

The blade will be 1095 and 15n20.. and here we have a few photos of the assembly of the billet and the first weld.

I guess I figured this pic thing out.. This is the very first step in the process. and I will continue to add more steps to this post if theres any interest in this.. I dont want to overstep or step on anyones toes hear, just want to have fun and show the process for what I believe will be one of the finest kitchen knives we have made so far! and I figured you guys and gals would like to see the process..

Please post any comment or questions..
God Bless
Randy

 

[HHH Knives]

The pattern We are shooting for will be a 4 way mosaic explosion pattern. in order to start the WWW effect.. The billet must be re squared. then biased when drawn out.

Here it is drawn out

I know its not a kitchen knife, But it is a mosaic pattern we made a couple weeks ago.. It was intended to be this kitchen knife, But I wasnt totally happy with the pattern, so we are gona make some changes to this one and see if it meets my expectations.

Thats it for now.. As we build this billet I will try and get more photos. And keep this post updated.

 

[WildBoar]

Very cool! Looking forward to the next round of pics. Thanks for sharing!

 

[HHH Knives]

Awesome, Good to here WildBoar! Ill try and keep this updated..

Mods.. can you please change the title on this somhow I managed to say this was gona be a Gyutou?!?! When in fact its a Sujihiki.. Thanks..

Randy

 

[Michael Rader]

Very nice. Keep it going.
-M

 

[oivind_dahle]

I love WIP!
Impressive damascus! Cant wait for more pics!!! wow

 

[Andrew H]

That damascus is insane. More pictures please?

 

[dough]

i too really am enjoying the pictures getting to use the pretty knives is fun but all the more fun when you see all the work that goes into them.

 

[HHH Knives]

That damascus is insane. More pictures please?

Thanks Guys, Looks like its gona be a couple days B4 I can update with new photos. Randy Jr. Had something come up and has been busy helping a friend move. Im the mean time, I will post a few more pics of some of our damascus.. Stay tuned, Well get back on track with this WIP soon!

Randy

 

[WildBoar]

wow, those are some really cool patterns!

 

[Eamon Burke]

Gosh I love your work. You and your son(I'm guessing that's who Randy Jr is) have this amazing knack for creating knives as elegant and decorative as possible without ever looking like a safequeen. They are the most beautiful users I've ever seen, and that's what I love about them!

 

[JohnnyChance]

I like damascus patterns that kinda "flow" with the blade. The one on the fighter/bowie? with the 6 mosaic pins is awesome! And the last one looks kinda similar to Devin's Feather pattern. Excellent work.

 

[HHH Knives]

Hello and good day, We had a chance last night to get some progress on the billet. The next step is to grind off the scale. We clean the bar of scale at each step B4 rewelding it. This allows for a good clean weld. Then Its cut into 4 pieces and stacked and re welded twice. Now its drawn out into a long square billet...

A look at the pattern we developed by the first forging session..

Spot welding the pieces together

Now the pieces are brought up to welding temp. and forge welded back together! 4 Into 1. As many times as I have see this. Im still in awe of this!


After its welded its slowly drawn it out again keeping it square..

Clean and cut, and then we do our first 4 way weld. Heres a look at the pattern so far.. These pieces are tac welded together in a square like the photo.

This is now ready to be welded. Its brought up to temp and quickly pressed on both sides.

Thats some Hot Stuff!

Now its re squared at a 45* like the first re square. pressing the corners till its squared the opposite direction. Some guys use squaring dies for this. We have a set. but for this pattern Jr dont use them.. After its Biased its drawn out again keeping it square.

Thats it for tonight, Its well after Midnight so we wrapped it up for the night. Were making good progress so far.

Mosaic damascus is labor intensive process. Its kind of repetitive as you are building the pattern and layers.. Yet, Its very rewarding.
We often have a couple of billets running at the same time.. This allows for us to get the most out of the forge. Theres alot of down time between some of these steps, waiting for the billet to cool, so it can be cleaned and cut etc.etc.

I also wanted to take a chance and tell you a bit more about myself and Jr. Randy Jr. Is my 20 year old son. Last year he came to work at HHH Knives and has been steadily learning and growing in his skill and ability's.. He runs the HOT side of the shop and does the damascus forging. The photos I added of the damascus were all forged by Jr. Myself, My name is Randy Haas, I am the knife maker, I started making Knife kits 7 years ago. Over the years new and better tools were added to my shop. And I started making stock removal knives. Fast forward to now, Im truly blessed to be able to work as a full time knife maker, Its my passion. And Having Randy Jr working with me has been a dream come true.. Im a proud Papa!

God Bless
Randy

 

[HHH Knives]

Now the bar is ground to remove the scale and we etch the end to determine how we want to set up the next weld.

There tac welded and heated to welding temp.

The weld is set with quick taps on both sides.. Then the block is drawn out to 1 1/4 inch square by whatever it turn out to be. This is the last 4way weld and draw.. and the size has to be close so that when we tile weld and fore this out The width will be wide enough.

Keep the sparks Flyin!

 

[mainaman]

Randy that is really cool WIP, thanks for sharing.

 

[HHH Knives]

Thank you, I only hope the rest of this one goes as smooth as the first parts. At the rate Jr. is going, I had better get busy and do my paper draft for this knife.

 

[Eamon Burke]

very cool! vg:vg::thumbsup2:

 

[Michael Rader]

Sweet damascus.
-M

 

[kalaeb]

That is an awesome WIP, thank you for taking the time to take and post pics!

 

[sashae]

Amazing work!

 

[HHH Knives]

Thanks, Randy Jr Here! Dad and I are having a good time doing this WIP, Iv been busy this last week but will be back in the shop soon and we will get some more pics posted of the process as soon as possible.

Randy Jr.

 

[HHH Knives]

Hello everyone, Sry its been so long sense I posted on this forum.. We have made good progress on the knife.. Although there were some slight set backs and we actually had to forged this billet 3 times.. But thats the nature of damascus. 1st one we made a miscalculation and it was too small and wouldnt work for this knife, Second one had a bad weld and was not used. They say the third times a charm, and it seemed to be for us on this one! So heres some more of the steps and some pics. enjoy.

Next is to get the billet cleaned up and free of scale.

Them I accordion cut the billet with the Band saw. This process allows you to take the pattern thats on the end of the billet, and make it on the surface where it can be seen.

I round off the corners and clean up on the grinder.

Thin its back into the forge and we open it slowly, starting on the anvil with a hammer then continue with the press.

Now that its forged and fairly flat and straight. Its back to the surface grinder to remove the scales. and bring to the thickness I want for the blade. Heres a quick picture of the the pattern. at this point.

I profiled the blade shape and drilled all my holes and Heat treated the blade. At this point, I mark the center of the blade edge.. and started grinding!

Im doing a flat grind so I am using my NWG with flat platen.. Because I did the HT first using new sharp belts is crutal to avoid overheating the blade when grinding.

Good start!!

After a few hours and a couple 50 G belts.. The main bevels are done.

Now, I switch grinders and take it to a mirrior finish. I didnt get any pics of this, But I used Norax belts and ran through them from 100 Microns to 15 microns Also very importance to use new belts and take your time when grinding or shaping after heat treating.

Then a quick dip in ferric acid to reveal the damascus pattern. )
Heres a few more pics. of the blade

Im really pleased with the pattern and the grind. This will be one bad to the bone slicer!!

Thank for looking, I hope this has been as much fun for you guys as it has for us. There will be one more post on this as soon as I get the handles fitted...

 

[WildBoar]

That damascus pattern is very cool! Thanks for all the WIP pics -- it's great learning how something like this is made. Someone is getting a pretty sweet-looking knife!

 

[HHH Knives]

Its my pleasure to do this WIP. Im glad your liking it..

 

[JohnnyChance]

Very cool! Glad to see progress on this. I like the pattern, profile and handle outline. Got any measurements for the blade yet?

 

[Eamon Burke]

Boy howdy that is some stark contrast on that etching.

Can't wait to see the handle! Glad to see you back, Mr. Haas.

 

[HHH Knives]

Thanks John, Its good to be here.. For the handles Im planning on Mosaic damascus bolsters with Corian handles and stainless pins. should be very edgy and have great contrast between the blade and handle as well!

Johnny, I still measure most everything in Inches. but will try and convert to MM. If I miss a important measurement. Please ask..

OAL 420 mm or 16 1/2"
Blade length 290 mm I was shooting for 288mm
Blade height at the heel 45 mm
Spine width 3.05 mm
edge thickness is. right around .55 to .60 mm
I haven't put my final edge on her yet.

 

[stopbarking]

Really neat to see how this is done. Would love to see this happen in person someday.

 

[Potato42]

That is just so wicked cool Randy. The process, the pictures, the blade, the pattern, I feel privileged just to see it all come together like this. I hope we get to see more of this kind of thing in the future.

 

[HHH Knives]

Thank Sean, Were surly having fun doing the WIP. and always enjoy making the knives!

stopbarking, I have extended the offer a few times to others and still no takers.. BUT, If your ever in Michigan, look me up. I would be happy to have you come by and visit the shop. forge some steel and enjoy a meal.. Etc..