Terrifying. I've made a few billets from scratch before, under tuition from experienced operators, but today was my first time pattern welding, (modern Damascus) alone.
I have a twist billet of 16 layers that I made over a year ago now. Today I chopped it into into four lengths, re-stacked, (64 layers now) and squashed out into a dimension precise billet to stock-remove one big knife and it's guard, without further disrupting the pattern by forging the shape. I'm hoping to expose certain patterns as I grind the bevel geometries in.
Taking my time with this one. For me personally, it's a big investment in my personal development as a knife maker.
More to follow as I can.
The video shows me doing the first power hammer set after the initial press under a hydraulic press, subsequent heats and hammers were used to draw out the bar and size it width and thickness.
https://i.imgur.com/SfTsbKn.jpg?1
and trust me being favourite is hard work but a whole lot of fun 
