You may want to try plate San Mai before you try plate folded Damascus or even attempt cannister Damascus. Knives, the advice I got was make 40 knives, the first 10 or so nothing but stock removal. See where you are in a year. From a few files, sandpaper, hacksaw and torch, I have put every cent(well save for a bourbon at one point, and putting 20's in the State Vets home box) into my knife equipment. I am on 15 stock removal only blades, but with my new forge, the very last two(I have two pieces of 1084 left that are going to be push daggers, a challenge to see if I can do a simple double edge. The new year looks promising moving the next blades into simple forging techniques.
That tanto was to see if I could make by hand, a kanmuri-otoshi blade. The tsuba is simple brass, and I used combat boot to wrap the handle with. A artillery(Army) collar device brass disc is the pommel. The leather and disc are held on with epoxy'd nails I forged out of galvi steel hanger wire using a torch and vice and small hammer, and a Dremel to grind points, then heat treating.
I might take a walk around some new construction and see if I can find any 10" pieces of 1/2", 3/4", or 1" rebar. Tractor Supply has 1560 for pretty cheap. Make rebar into 2" x 1" x 1/4" pieces, layer it with 1560, get it all hot, add some borax, pound the heck out of it, and some simple Damascus can be made...My brain is going nuts with so many ideas and it won't stop. I've wasted pages of 1/4" grid paper drawing out actual sized blades, some cool, others trashy
