Now Playing: Back to work finaly
Topic: Pattern Welding
Well, Saturday was the memorial for my parents. It went very well. But Sunday I needed some shop time to unwind. And now that we are past the planning of the memorial, things will get a little less hectic I hope. We will still be dealing with all the details for months yet. But I figure maybe I can get some serious shop time in before this month is completely gone.
So Sunday I cut stock, for pattern welding. And then I cut some more stock for pattern welding. And then I cut a little more. In case you have not figured it out, when I set up for specific job, I like to push several projects through that set-up before moving on.
Now the shim stock I use for pattern welding arrives in two forms. Some arrives as cut strips three to six feet long. Like this 15N20.
Some arrives as a coil. Like this 1095. 
Now this coil is a much cheaper way to get the steel. But it is also harder to handle. When the coil arrived it was 75 pounds. And I need to hand cut the coil in to ten to fifteen foot strips, that I can handle more easily.
Next I take three strips of steel and put them in the saw. I gang cut three strips at a time, feeding the bundle stips forward with each cut. This is allows for fast cutting a easy handling. 
I cut the steel into six inch lengths most of the time. A billet welded from a 6x1x1" stack yields one large knife blade or an ax head. It can also produce two to four smaller knives. 
I now have enough cut shim stock for three axes and several knives. Some of this stock will be used in the upcoming video shoot. Some is for a folding knife commission and some is just to have material on hand. Next it needs to be ground clean and then it can be stacked in to billets (which is an indoor hand work type job).
Scott B. Jaqua
Hagerson Forge
