cable for blades?

[Rifleman1776]

There is a knife maker at a large tourist attraction not far from me. He has been making knives using cable for many years. He makes and sells them for big bucks. No denying that. But, I have often wondered just how good cable is as a knife blade material. I know cable is lubricated with paint, graphite and often is dirty and rusty. But, wadda I know??? :idunno:
Is it a desirable material for quality blades? Wat say the jury?

 

[MSW]

I guess the 'dumb question' is this: is the fellow using recycled cable (which could have darn near anything in or on it by way of contaminates), or is new cable being used, and if so, what kind of steel is in the wire that makes the cable?

I worked for a while in a cable factory (we made smaller cables) and there was a wide variety of wire used for the various grades and styles of wire rope.

I would guess that if new cable were used, the only thing you'd need to worry about would be whatever lubricant was used in the original production. if recycled cable was used, hmmm ... how much of the crud would be eliminated by the forging process?

 

[Grizzly Adams]

I think the whole point of making a knife out of cable is to kind of "cheat" and make a laminated steel. I doubt paint or lubricant would stand a chance at forging heat, but rust would probably prevent the steel from being forge welded.

 

[LaBonte]

It's called cable Damascus and not it's not really a "cheat" method to make laminated steel - just a different process. The method is not a new one and was first used in the 1860's here in the USA.
Here's a bunch of links to the subject: https://www.google.com/search?sour...34US634&q="CABLE+DAMASCUS"&qscrl=1&gws_rd=ssl

The cable used is the high tensile strength steel cable and when done right it can make an excellent blade. It's not as popular amongst custom makers as it once was back in the 1980-90's. Various patterns can be formed based on the type of cable used (I know makers who use both new and used cable) and how it is twisted and otherwise shaped.
Links to images of various cable blades including some in the process:
Cable Damascus Images

 

[Rifleman1776]

He uses recycled cable. Tons of the stuff laying around his demo site. So, I guess, the answer is it can be OK. I'll never know. I can't pay his prices and would buy from other knife makers I know before spending on one of his tourist models.

 

[FishDFly]

Gotta define cable, copper or steel?

 

[coloradoclyde]

Some time back I saw a video on YouTube of a guy making knives from cable......good video...

 

[Rifleman1776]

Some time back I saw a video on YouTube of a guy making knives from cable......good video...

It could have been the guy I am referring to. He has vids on Youtube.

 

[Bradg]

I have made a few from cable and they do make a good knife, an old man I knew would make knives from cables, bike chains, and chainsaw chains. When he would finish and polish you could see faint outlines of the links but the blade was perfectly smooth.

 

[crockett]

You might want to check out a book by Wayne Goddard, "The $50 Knife Shop". He has a whole chapter on using cable. He puts a borax flux on the steel cable and then heats to a white heat and pounds it down- forge welding into a Damascus type of steel. It is supposed to be of "knife quality" but I don't know how good such blades are. If they are good enough for Wayne Goddard then they must be pretty good- he is one of the best knife makers in the country.
Damascus is EXPENSIVE. If you can make your own from cable, save a lot of $$$$.

 

[Dean2]

Well thank you VERY much for posting that. I have learned something entirely new today. I had no idea this kind of knife existed but I find them very appealing. I am going to have to track down one of these for my collection.