Damascus steel vs the X-carve

BrianSaban · February 6, 2018, 8:44pm

So I have this beautiful piece of Damascus steel laying here and I think i’m going to give it a run on the X-carve. Any thoughts? I’ve been looking at @ShaneBell videos with his work with steel, so it seems doable.

BrianJohnson · February 6, 2018, 8:47pm

I’d say it all depends on the strength of the steels. I’ve seen some damascus steel blades that would damn near cut a diamond in half lol

MidnightMaker · February 7, 2018, 4:20am

That’s a beautiful piece of damascus! Obviously, you’ll be following @ShaneBell’s example with plenty of coolant, proper bit and feed rates/DOC. I don’t remember if you’ve done the stiffening upgrade, but I’m sure that will definitely help with any side loads.

I’m very interested because I bought this, as is, and would love to have more creative options. I’m working on a way to digitize the blade profile in order to make the scales to fit.

DonKuehn · February 7, 2018, 10:57pm

Put the blade in a scanner to get an accurate image and then do an image trace to get the profile.

MidnightMaker · February 8, 2018, 6:12pm

I tried that and the shadow produced by the thickness of the blade made the outline very fuzzy in spots. That’s why I’m still working on it.

BrianJohnson · February 8, 2018, 6:35pm

trace the outline with a pen then scan that

MidnightMaker · February 8, 2018, 11:16pm

That’s amazing, dude! You didn’t have to do that…

BrianSaban · February 9, 2018, 6:57pm

Well I haven’t had a chance to get to it yet, but it’s actually for a ring i’m making that will be carbon fiber and Damascus steel. I will anneal before cutting though.

MidnightMaker · February 10, 2018, 4:56pm

I have to dig out the knife. We just moved, so it’s buried somewhere. This is amazing. I’ll plot the DXF and compare it ASAP. Thanks, bud!

BrianSaban · February 22, 2018, 5:39am

Figured I should update you guys on Damascus vs X-Carve.
Damascus 1 - X carve 0
Started off well, but it keeps burning up bits faster then it can make its way through.

RobertBeattie · February 22, 2018, 2:07pm

What sort of lube are you using? Cutting/tapping oil or something else? What sort of bit.

BrianSaban · February 27, 2018, 7:49am

I tried cutting oil, I tried wd-40 and anything else I had around that I could throw at it I was using 1/8" (.125") 2 FLUTE CARBIDE ENDMILLS from Drillman1 that I had bought an extra when doing my last aluminum job.

RobertBeattie · February 27, 2018, 3:28pm

I wonder if one of those 4 flute Vipers would do any better?

BrianSaban · February 27, 2018, 3:49pm

Next time I place an order I’ll pick one up and give it a try