Cable Damascus Axe - part 1

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Forge welding steel cable into bar stock that I hope to later forge into a small axe.

00:00 - Intro
00:33 - Forge welding cable
05:52 - Skillshare
06:47 - Forming the billet
13:58 - Final thoughts

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Black Bear Forge
P.O. Box 4
Beulah, CO 81023

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Blacksmithing and related activities can be hazardous. These videos are not a substitute for competent professional instruction. Your safety is your sole responsibility. Always use appropriate safety equipment including eye and ear protection when working in the shop. Follow manufactures safety guidelines for the use of all equipment. In the event something shown in one of these videos seems unsafe, it is up to you to make the appropriate changes to protect yourself.t yourself.

[danielsefcik]

I took a family trip to San Francisco a couple years back. I picked up 4 sections of the cable from the cable car drive system. And have plans to make knives from it. One each for me and my 2 sons. 4th is to account for not getting it right the first time. Will definitely have to do the extra cleaning steps though.

[shanek]

I used to make lots of cable blades in the 90s, if you weld it round, then grind off 3/32” or so, then forge the blade, it leaves dots and ovals in the pattern, looks cool. Also, I knocked the flux off of a few incolnel welding rods and twisted them up with the cable, it forge welded up perfectly and after etching and polishing, looked like little mirrors in the blade. The problem was it had a few spots of incolnel ended up on the edge and of course those spots don’t harden. If you can figure out how to keep it off the edge it looks awesome.

[johnnydrummond]

That short piece would make a nice claw/tack hammer face- thanks once again for an informative and fun video

[WhiskyTrekker]

Never noticed the climbing gear on the wall until just now. Awesome!

[charleszimmermann]

You make it look so easy, I usually have nothing but trouble trying to make cable into a billet. Thanks for the video, I will have to give it another try. I have six feet of .75 in. Cable in the attic of the garage. Thank you Sir.

[adamdemirs]

Love this guy, reminds me of my middle school social studies teacher Mr. Bales.

[stephenborders]

I think this is the first time I have seen cable welded so nicely. You truly are a craftsman.

[jeffgrier]

Great video on welding cable, i'm looking forward to the axe build.

[doylerabjohn]

Interesting...Never seen a damascus rope knife. Can't wait to see it finished.

[jordancliff]

This is great! I’ve got several chunks of cable from the Golden Gate Bridge that would be perfect for doing this.

[reddotrabbit]

Thanks John! Another great project! Sofar I was to stupid to hold a piece with a magnet for grinding, I'll keep the trick in my repertoire 😅

[grandadz_forge]

A lot of work. Very unique look to the Damascus

[bearshield]

I love Cable Damascus.... It is what got me interested in blacksmithing in the first place

[stevemoore]

Thanks for the video.
A knife would be cool.
I have some cable to make knifes out of, just don't have any power tools, just manual tools as in myself. That class your taking is very interesting, your videos have improved.👍

[alwaysbearded]

Sound today was real "live" sounding like I was in your shop. I liked it. Would be interesting to see if there is any difference between different types of cable construction, 7-7 vs, 1-19 and so on. Steel cable is interesting material.

[huntintrailmetals]

I learn more from your videos than anywhere else, thanks for taking the time and putting in all the work it takes to forge and film! You are the man!!

[michaelhayes]

Beautiful work! I'd forgotten how well/fast you can move when you need to, for welding and such. Thanks for sharing!!!! :D

[danwerkman]

Looking forward to the next episode....

[charlesmckinley]

Thank you for the idea of the V-block. I’m setting my forge up and taking my son to some classes this summer.

[wayneheitz]

Thank you for all of your work. I hope you and yours are well. 👏🤞🙏