Watch as a master blacksmith transforms ordinary ball bearings into a stunning Damascus steel knife.
24 Comments on Forging a Damascus Steel Knife from Ball Bearings
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Watching him use that grinder with the cut-off wheel and no guard and face shield makes me cringe.
I’ve seen photos of the bodies with the wheel sections buried in their skulls.
My great uncle was a blacksmith. We have knives he hand forged out of sections of braided cable…the grip still has the braids.
That’s pretty awesome! I’d like one of those.
Kind of a waste of a lot of time. Now days precision ball bearing are made from a variety of materials. Ceramics to chrome molly. The ones he’s using are chrome molly hardened to the hubs of billy hell. But when he fused them together he took them out of their hardened state. Why not just buy a chunk of 4130 and skip steps 1,2,3, and 4. Shape your blade and harden it. I guess it makes a great video. I hope he doesn’t do this for a living. Oh and when that dumb shit ANON shows up and says “Oh, another subject Bad_Brad an authority on”. Yea asshole I do this shit for a living. Since Christ was a kid.
Another off the wall factoid about ball bearings. 10, 20 years ago they were required in ICBMs for pin point accuracy. Russia didn’t have the technology. Bill Clinton OKd the deal for TRW to sell their ball bearing process and equipment to Russia. Thanks Bill. Google it.
You’re probably right, Brad. But still, I’d like having a blade like that, that an individual put the time and effort into. Do I have a legitimate need for a warrior blade? Probably not. I would mostly use it for slicing up a perfectly smoked, 15 pound Prime Rib Roast. But it the presentation that counts.
I also have a digging bar he made from an old truck axle (1920s). It still has evidence of the splines and keyway. It’s super tough. Still perfectly straight after all these years and three generations as a digging and pry bar.
Joe6, I get that. A good conversation piece. Hopefully this guy has a market. I can’t help thinking kind of stupid. Two years ago my son in law and daughter gave me a set of Titanium carving knives for Christmas. They weren’t cheap. titanium doesn’t hold a good edge. My thoughts were, oh great. But the converse of that is it’s pretty easy to reestablish an edge. They’re all I use. I just just sharpen them constantly. Surgical.
Yup, I have a knife sharpener that is used routinely. I can’t stand a dull knife. I don’t have a titanium blade, but if it was given to me as a gift l’d keep it razor sharp, just like you would. I’m in Minneapolis waiting to catch a flight home tomorrow and I know I have something I like that’s made of titanium…..ok….now I know, I have a whiskey flask. It’s engraved with, “Toxic Masculinity”. That’s the brand of whiskey, 110 proof. A little too hot for my taste, but I like the flask.
Always tearing down, never building up.
@Brad,
Isn’t 4130 just plain old weldable chrome-moly steel? Don’t you want something more along the lines of a medium or high carbon steel ala 1060 or 1075? Or one of the weird spring steel or tool steel alloys? Something that’s forge-able but can take some abuse and hold an edge?
KR
A friend of mine who not only made knives but made revolution era flintlocks (everything but the barrel) made me a great knife out of one of my old rototiller tines. He said one of the best knife making steels came from 1950’s era car leaf springs….
Dangerous, thrilling and entertaining. Great video. Beautiful knife. Admire this guy’s confidence and talent. No words needed. His skill spoke for him.
Rudy Ruana used to make knives from Studabaker springs in Bonner MT when I was a kid. Everyone in Montana seemingly had one of his knives. Today they sell for north of a thousand dollars. IIRC they all had an aluminum hilt and antler grips.
They are made by a descendant of his today and still have a great rep far as I know. I personally use a Damascus knife with giraffe bone handle. The Damascus seems to have fine serrations and it takes and holds a keen edge. It was a gift, I don’t know what it cost but I imagine it wasn’t cheap.
I very much regret not taking a pair of double tank wet stone professional knife making grinders with 18 x2 inch wheels on them. I didn’t know where to put them, but they were fiberglass and probably would have been fine outside under a shed roof. When a buddy found out I walked away from them he nearly feinted.
“Isn’t 4130 just plain old weldable chrome-moly steel?”
Well the key phrase there is Chrome Molly. 4130, AMS 6350 is an extremely versatile chunk of steel and react well under heat treat. But there’s many different grades of Chrome Molly all determined by the amounts of chrome vs iron. FE. So 4130 is like the parent of all chrome mollies. But sprouted off that is 4140, 4140, 4340, 6130. And recently they discovered if they vac melt the stuff it gets even tougher. If you’re a machinist nerd it’s actually quite interesting. I’m down stream from the design aspects. I’m a simple humble machinist. LOL. Next week will do stainless. Which is even more complicated. Yes, 4130 is extremely weldable.
@ Joe6pak What kind of knife sharpener are you using? I can’t seem to find one that’s worth a squat.
Kyle Royer on YouTube makes some awesome Damascus knives. He sells them for a huge price, but they are gorgeous.
@ BAR TUESDAY, 27 MAY 2025, 23:59 AT 11:59 PM
I use these and can shave w/my knives. Be very cautious though, similar looking sharpeners that have carbide and not ceramic rods are far more common. The carbide rips hunks out of the edge. Zwilling are the only brand I buy. I have them in the house, shop and RV. Once I began using them I rarely use anything else.
https://www.zwilling.com/us/zwilling-two-stage-pull-through-sharpener-gray-32602-000/32602-000-9.html
@ Bad_Brad TUESDAY, 27 MAY 2025, 23:29 AT 11:29 PM
My first touch of a file to a firearm tells me how it’s going to go. There is so much variation in steel, some works very nicely, others not so much. If I’m going to have it color case hardened, I’ll anneal it dead soft and it is a pleasurable experience 95% of the time. I do a lot of hand file work and really enjoy it.
I invented Damascus steel.
My brother used to collect knives. He had one similar to this one. When he died, I cleaned out his house and collected all his knives. Didn’t find that one, so I think he sold some of his more expensive things as his health was going.
The ones I did keep, I took the best ones and gave them away to family and friends. The rest went in his Estate Sale.
I kept one for myself because I knew it was precious to him even though it wasn’t expensive. It was one he had as a kid and we played mumblety-peg with it.
One of my sons makes custom knives. Although this guy is pretty good, he is no master craftsman, he is a blacksmith. This knife will be for sale in a local street market. My son’s knives are works of art fit for display in a museum and are made to the specifications of each customer.
My kids and their kids think it’s a tiny bit strange that I’ve always got a knife in my pocket. I came up at a time when all men did. It’s one of the most ancient of tools and I won’t be without it. A bit noisier tool is in the other pocket but we won’t speak of that right now.