Damascus Steel Plane Blade

[Cheshirechappie]

Bit 'different', this! Alec Steele is a young blacksmith (and showman) working in Norwich, and these are videos of his making plane blades in Damascus steel. Jacob will absolutely love it....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=017RX4U5BTI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwn9bdCBVhE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eoey7TBhZ-I

 

[Rorschach]

I lasted 20 seconds.

 

[Alpha-Dave]

I have watched a couple of his vids and given up. I don't know who his videography and editing style is aimed at, but it isn't me. Still, he has over 500,000 more people eager to listen to him than me, so more power to him.

 

[Jacob]

Yes he is a bit boring. 20 secs. :roll:

 

[Rorschach]

Yes he is a bit boring. 20 secs. :roll:

I just can't watch people like it, it's like most of the rubbish on TV these days. I am sure his work is good, in fact I have seen examples on pictures and it seems he is a bit of a boy wonder and I wish him the best but I can't watch him, at least not with the sound on lol.

 

[NazNomad]

I lasted 3 seconds... and that was with the sound off. :-(

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Hells teeth, he's infuriating. Annoying as I have made Damascus before and otherwise it would have been quite interesting.

 

[tony_s]

A prize git

 

[Mark A]

I appreciate the effort CC, but I agree with the others - he's insufferable.

I recently came across a Youtube channel and for the life of me can't remember the name. The presenter is an older bloke who's articulate and relaxed, which makes a change from the usual hyperactive dross online.

Anyone help me out? He has some blacksmithing and construction videos, and I think he's building a house.

Mark

 

[sunnybob]

I wasnt going to bother to watch, but then all those "20 seconds, 3 seconds" comments got me.
Oh dear, i think i made my mind up at 1 1/2 seconds. Took me another second to make my fingers recover from the shock and press the button.
definitely a targeted audience. he missed me.

 

[MattRoberts]

Interesting, I think his style is a refreshing change from a lot of the videos in this space. I started watching when he made a huge slick for the samurai carpenter, and have watched a few of his series since then, but not all. There's only so many Damascus (insert bladed implement here) builds I can watch, so I'll keep my eye peeled for something else interesting

 

[tony_s]

Mark A- I think "Essential craftsman" might be the older you tuber that you mention

On another note: the fact that our damascus making friend is mates with the samurai carpenter comes as absolutely no surprise to me.....

 

[Rorschach]

Mark A- I think "Essential craftsman" might be the older you tuber that you mention

On another note: the fact that our damascus making friend is mates with the samurai carpenter comes as absolutely no surprise to me.....

I concur on the essential craftsman, his videos are great.

Samurai carpenter was good when he first started but he quickly got too crazy in his acting style and I couldn't watch anymore.

 

[MattRoberts]

Samurai is what I consider the new age of artisan craftsmen, blending traditional tools and techniques with new. He does, however, massively lack focus, so his content flits from one thing to another and is sometimes difficult to consume. He's certainly a character, but a good contrast to some of the dusty old guys that are around.

At the end of the day, YouTube is an entertainment medium, and entertainment programmes need good presenters. That's why these guys are sitting on around 500k subscribers - there's a big demographic that wants to see and hear what they have.

 

[bugbear]

Bit 'different', this! Alec Steele is a young blacksmith (and showman) working in Norwich, and these are videos of his making plane blades in Damascus steel. Jacob will absolutely love it....

Judging by the accent, he's not from Norwich!

BugBear (from Norfolk)

 

[MikeG.]

It was worth just jumping ahead 10 minutes at a time through the series of 3 videos on the making of this plane blade. There was an awful lot of work in it, particularly in the flattening, but, frankly, the idea is fundamentally flawed. It looks pretty, but there is no need whatever for the hardness/ flexibility thing which is the whole point of Damascene steel, and variations in the steel of a plane blade is simply a bad idea.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Thank you, Mike - a thoughtful comment at last!

I rather agree with your thoughts. As a way to make a good plane blade, it's not really a sensible approach, especially given the quality and variety of tool steels available commercially these days. As you say, far too time consuming, and whether an edge of variable metallurgy would perform in practice is somewhat doubtful. Variable wear along the edge seems quite likely. That said, the resulting blade was rather visually attractive.

However, I'm not sure that was the point of the exercise, which was more about using blacksmithing skills as entertainment. As Alec Steele has over half a million subscribers to his Youtube channel, I think it's fair to say he has succeeded in that. He's found a way to make a living using his skills, and more power to his elbow for that. Like I said - it's 'different'!

Oh - by the bye, BB, I've no idea where he was bred and buttered, but he is based in Norwich. http://alecsteeleblacksmith.com/about/

(Edit to add - Apology to Matt Roberts - your comments were thoughtful, too!)

 

[Andy Kev.]

Sorry Cheshirechappie but I'm afraid his style is so insufferable that I'll never be able to bring myself to find out if he's got anything worth saying or not. It just wouldn't be worth the pain.

 

[n0legs]

He's bloody brilliant, back up guys.
Loud, brash, confident and in your face,,,, so what? :lol:
Young kid with a genuine love and interest in his trade, an old old trade I add.
If his videos get half a dozen kids into blacksmithing, well that's a damn good thing =D>
Don't like, fair enough don't watch.
Encourage don't condemn.

 

[Saer Llongau]

Did anyone see the video where he made a Damascus chisel for this poser who calls himself "The Samurai Carpenter"? He used nail polish or whatever to coat the last few millimetres of the bevel before etching to make it look like a laminated blade :lol: He also obviously never stopped to think the a Damascus blade will have an uneven wear pattern :lol: