And which of God's punishments helps us to remember best?!?

Kalindras

Kalindras

Joined
Aug 24, 1999
Messages
933
Well, got out to the forge this weekend, finally started to beat on some worthwhile steel (Got some 1095 from Admiral and MAN! Is it a step up from the Home Despot re-bar I've been practicing on!!)

So, I'm out practicing my scrolls, and I decide it's time to start on a knife. My first forged blade! Ooh, I still get chills... :D It turned out to be a little skinner, about 3.5 inches of blade to it, with a fairly fat belly. When I get a chance, I'll try to post a pic.

Then, I got the bright idea to practice my welding. So I turn up the gas to the forge, and put a nice "J" on the end of my stock. I let it heat up again, and sprinkle it up with Borax. All according to Hoyle, thusfar. So I close it up a little more, and throw it back in the fire to get the final heat for welding. Well, I bring it out, and put more Borax on it, and then I line it up to smack that weld down and close it up. The sequence of events plays out something like this:

1. Line up steel.
2. Raise 3lb. hammer.
3. Swing and strike the steel squarely.
4. Watch molten Borax shoots out in a damned-near 360-degree arc from the weld, spattering off of my pants, then fence, the forge, and my carport.
5. Notice a sharp, burning pain in my hand (at this point, I mistake it for a blister having broken).
6. Set the steel back in the fire.
7. Set down hammer, and begin the JEEZTHATHURTS dance...

For whatever interesting reason, I have discovered that Borax, when it hits skin, basically burns in, then seals itself in. So that what you're left with is a tiny speck of 700-degree Borax, buried under your skin. By the time I could dig it out, though, it had already stopped burning, after cauterizing the surrounding tissues, which is, in retrospect, a good thing (have I secured my title as Most Likely to Find the Silver Lining in an Amputation, yet?).

Still, it was a good weld. Clean, no lines, and I couldn't tear it apart. So it wasn't a total waste! :p

Anyway, a question: Is it alright to quench 1095 between workings? I thought it would be, but the next time I heated it, after working it and quenching it the day before, I noticed that it wanted to crack a bit. Should I anneal it, after I quench it? Or should I be able to jump straight back into heating for work again? Or, alternately, should I just set it aside to cool, once I'm done working with it?

Thanks!
 
Just let the steel air cool or put it in some vermiculite. Don't water quench the 1095. It most likly cracked when you put it in the water. I bet next time you try welding you'll wear some protection. You ought to try it with sandels on.....
 
"Still, it was a good weld. Clean, no lines, and I couldn't tear it apart. So it wasn't a total waste!" -Kalindras

Now THAT'S OPTIMISM!
 
"Cloaked in the gloves of Hephaestus, so I might forge weld in thine name." Wear gloves, it's the smart thing to do. :D :D :D
 
Didn't mean to ruffle anyone's feathers, guys...it's a running gag that me and a buddy have. It stemmed from some horrid film that he'd seen, wherein the father would punish his child, after asking that question. Guess you'd have to be there... :rolleyes:

Anyway, I guess I'm just one of those folks for whom pain is the only teacher with a loud enough voice to get through my skull. ;)
 
Question: How many bladesmiths offer sacrifices of their own blood and hide to the fire? Answer: All bladesmiths. Question: Who has the ten step fire dance down pat? Answer: Kal. Sorry, Kal,it was there, and I just hadda take it. Sorry about your burns, but it sounds like you are getting the welding done!
 
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