Hi Wes!

In my experience, canister welded damascus generally requires about a 50% reduction to ensure complete welding. For me that dictates the size of "can" I start with. If I'm wanting to end up with a 1 1/2" square billet, I start with a at least a 3" ID square "can", and follow that format for whatever size I wish to end up with. More often then not, I start with a 4" or even a 6" square "can", but I also have an 80 ton press. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//wink.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />

Because the idea is to compress, I generally start with squaring dies that are 1-2" smaller square then the "can" I'm using. In a case such as starting with a 6" square "can", even my 80 ton press isn't enough to use full length squaring dies....so I just do with large flat dies, being careful to rotate 90 degrees, between presses, and do my best to ensure even compression. Most of the time after the initial series of welds, I go to flat drawing dies, taking about 1/4" bites of no more then about 2" of length, rotating the billet as I go. The biggest enemy when building "canister damascus" is too much compression at once and/or uneven compression...it will often wildly distort the pattern.

The size of "can" you can start with is usually dictated by the size of your press or equipment.....when I had my previous 30 ton press, the biggest I could start with was about 3". The press just didn't have the power for anything more.

Many thanks Ed, good to hear from you! I have a riverside press, 24 ton, and I bought a good stretch of 2 inch tube for cans, 1/8 walled, the 3/16 walled just seemed much to thick. I cut some 2 inch angle, 3/8 thick, and milled the sides to 1 5/8 and I'll also make some at 1 inch. I haven't weld any of them up yet and I don't know if I'll need any made bigger than these. If you went to Blade show I hope it went well for ya. Wes