How to Make a Steel Cable Knife
Cable Damascus is the master blacksmith's doorway exercise to making Damascus knives. While some would look negatively at steel cable Damascus and say, "That's just a piece of old junk cable," many blacksmiths acclaim its attributes. Some blacksmiths and blade makers actually prefer cable Damascus, as it is extremely durable in an all-out destruction test, where makers destroy a blade completely to find out what steels and treatments they want to use for their knives.
"It is not only a beautiful steel with a wonderful snakeskin forge-welded pattern, but if you use good high-carbon or mixed-carbon steel cable, it can produce a knife of equal measure to any other Damascus blade," according to 20-year veteran industrial and artisan blacksmith, sword and knife maker, Gypsy Wilburn.
This article assumes that the reader is a master blacksmith who has extensive experience in forge welding, faggot welding, acid etching and blade design. It also assumes that the reader has access to a fully equipped metal shop and forge.
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Things You'll Need
- Steel cable, preferably mixed carbon wire called HIPSS (highly improved ploughshare steel)
- Forge
- Anvil
- 4# sledge or cross peen hammer with rounded face
- 1# ball peen or other hammer with semi flat face
- 1 large box of borax
- Vise
- Monkey wrench
- Hot chisel
- Large box baking soda
- 1 can spray penetrating oil
- 1 bottle ferric chloride or printed circuit board etching fluid
- 3 large plastic containers
Instructions
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1
Cut a piece of cable the desired length of the blade you want to make. Hold one end with a pair of tongs. Heat the other end of the cable in the forge until it is dull red. Sprinkle the cable with borax until all glowing areas are saturated. Return the borax-coated cable to the forge. Heat it till it is bright orange, and coat it with borax again. Heat once more until it is bright orange. Use a vise and monkey wrench to twist the cable as tight as possible without twisting it in half.
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2
Heat the steel again until it is bright orange. Begin hammering from the center of the billet at the tong end, moving the steel outward toward the edges and point. Repeat this process, recoating the billet with borax before every heat and hammering it out until the final resulting billet is about 1/4 inch thick.
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3
Fold the billet in half lengthwise and reheat it to bright orange. Recoat it with borax. Reheat the billet, using the same technique as in Step 1, to weld the layers together. This is known as "faggot welding." A faggot weld is used to thicken an end. Reheat the steel to bright orange again, and coat it with borax one more time. Reheat and forge the billet until it is the desired final thickness of your blade.
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4
Reheat the steel to bright orange. Use a hot chisel to cut off a couple inches of the tip of the billet so that any unwelded ends are removed. Cut the other end the same way, to remove any remaining unwelded portion of the billet.
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5
Hammer and grind the billet to shape as you would any other forged blade. Quench the blade in water. Temper three times, for 1 hour each time at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, allowing the blade to cool to room temperature between each heat.
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Have adequate ventilation for this next step. Place a basin large enough for the blade to sit inside under an exhaust hood and fill it with 4 pints of water. Turn on the exhaust system. Open the ferric chloride and hold the bottle with a pair of long tongs. Slowly add 1 pint of ferric chloride to the water, being extremely careful not to let it splash. According to 10-year veteran blacksmith and blade maker, Elliott Rehm, "Always pour acid into water rather than water into acid to avoid explosive chemical splash reactions."
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Submerge the triple-tempered blade in the mixture of 4 parts water and 1 part ferric chloride, checking every 5 minutes until the blade is etched to the desired depth.
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8
Rinse the blade thoroughly with clean water and submerge it in a second basin, filled with a 25 percent baking soda, 75 percent water solution for 1 hour. Soak the entire blade with penetrating oil and let sit for 1 hour.
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Repeat the soak in penetrating baking soda solution, followed by a soak in penetrating oil three times. If you skimp on this step, the knife will have serious oxidization issues. Finish the blade and add the desired handle as you would any other knife.
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Tips & Warnings
Metalwork and knife making are hazardous, and this project is much more hazardous than making a stock-removal method knife. Quenching and etching forged steel exposes the metalsmith to hazardous fumes. Use of acid baths for etching can lead to severe chemical burns of the eyes, body and lungs. Contact with hot steel can cause severe burns and serious, permanent injury. Grinders, abrasive saws and other power tools can cause cuts, burns, crushing and tearing injuries, amputations and death.
