Friend's brother made a knife

[Greg]

I'd always thought that the whole point of Damascus steel was to incorporate the properties of two different types of steel into one blade?

I believe the whole point of 'Damascus' (as currently labeled and marketed) steel is to look cool.

Damascus (without the scale quotes) is no longer made as nobody knows precisely what it was, when you consider both composition and the processes used to create it. The secret is at the bottom of a very deep rabbit hole, and you hit your head and get knocked senseless by things like 'wootz' on the way down.

If you want properties of two different steels in one blade, you could differentially harden... or there are laminated steels out there. Falkniven likes to use it, IIRC.

[Highspeed]

I'm no expert on metallurgy but I don't think cables are usually made from stainless. It's lacking a bit over normal steels in ductility and definitely cost. If there is a corrosion issue then it can be galv plated or just covered in grease.

Knife makers simply burn off the grease from cables by pre-heating them in the forge. The residue is dealt with by fluxing ( a laundry product, called 20 Mule Team borax - you Yanks do like to give stupid names to things )
In the EUSSR borax as a laundry product is verboten because it kills all the dolphins and polar bears or some such eco-fascist bullshit myth.
You can still buy it, but only in tiny little bags that cost lots of money. A bit like cocaine I suppose. I do have an ammo box full of it ( borax, not coke )
Gas welding\brazing flux works as well, but that's even more expensive.

If the cable is galvanised you can burn that off, but the fumes are toxic. Not deadly but you wouldn't want to make a career out of breathing the stuff in.

I've got a friend here who repairs Caterpillar equipment. He owes me a favour because I managed to find him a Spanish\English technical dictionary ( Caterpillar apparently don't offer a Spanish version of their manuals, or Jose can't find one ) - I'd guess he can get me some wire rope, he's definitely got an anvil for me, which I should go around and pick up.

But it's kind of pointless until I can get an outdoor workshop built.

[blackeagle603]

20 mule team Borax? Didn't you grow up watching "Death Valley Days?"

Chinese laborers working for a company called the Harmony Borax Works broke down pinnacles of rock salt with sledgehammers to make a road for the mule teams to cross the rugged region called the Devil’s Golf Course. The wagons would proceed down the east side of Death Valley, past the oasis of Greenland Ranch, which was to become famous later on as Furnace Creek Ranch, then on across the valley floor along a primitive road.

The heyday of the Harmony operation was from 1883 to 1888. During those years, the teams ran like clockwork, completing the 330-mile round trip between the Harmony Borax Works and the railhead in about 20 days, despite the difficult terrain. One team loaded and left the works every four days.

[Highspeed]

Consider me edumacated....thanks for that

[First Shirt]

When the SIL was first starting in knife-making, he mentioned how expensive flux was, and The Darlin' Daughter, who is a metalurgist, looked up what was involved, and hied herself down to the local grocery emporium, returning with an industrial-sized box of 20-Mule-Team Borax.

SIL has been making knives for 10 years, and he's only on his second box.

If you need some, give us a shout, we can probably scare some up!

[Darrell]

Taking a quick look around on the net, borax appears to be pretty easily available stateside, at some groceries, hardware stores, and online, including on ebay. Might you have import problems via ebay or such, HS?

I remember the 20 Mule Team Borax shows when I was a kid, and when Ronald Reagan (pbuh) was the host.

[Netpackrat]

My dad used to use borax to cure salmon eggs for bait.

[Lokidude]

And here I just used it to wash my hands.

[Highspeed]

Taking a quick look around on the net, borax appears to be pretty easily available stateside, at some groceries, hardware stores, and online, including on ebay. Might you have import problems via ebay or such, HS?

I remember the 20 Mule Team Borax shows when I was a kid, and when Ronald Reagan (pbuh) was the host.

I can get it, but it's advertised and priced as a flux, I'm counting my blessings that it's available at all.
So many blacksmithing\knifemaking tools don't exist here ( or in the UK either ) and have to be improvised or made.

[First Shirt]

What would it cost to ship a five-pound box from the U.S. to Spain? Could always label it "welding flux" if the detergent police have problems with it.