Bruce Bump... So, am I "krazy" to use....

[anvilring]

o1 and mild steel?? Greg Nealy (MS Houston) said, I swear, he used that same two steels in his cut'n bend test blade for his MS! If'n so, what'd I do?? forge at to low a temp? Obviously what cracked was the o1 as the mild stuff is damn near impossible to mess up. Additionally, when you are making up a damascus billet, do you take an angle grinder to the surfaces, i.e. "get to white" before you tack weld the corners or do you just leave'em lay so to speak?, with whatever finish they (the steels...) left the foundry with? Does it make a difference in your heat welding what condition the surface of the components are in other than rusty'n scaley?? I normally use o1 and L6 to great success but I've got to come up with something these ABANA people can find and experiment with.

regards, mitch

 

[Bruce Bump]

Hi Mitch, I hope I didnt hit a nerve. I believe the poor shuts are from scale or flux. The surfaces should be ground clean and slightly domed so there is no low spots for flux to get trapped. I find an angle grinder will leave a low spot if I dont touch the surfaces up on the belt grinder afterward. I like to cut and restack rather than fold and reweld. That way the surfaces can be ground clean and domed to prevent trapped flux.

As for the possible scale problem, I use anhydrous borax with a small amount of boric acid mixed in. I like Bill Burkes borax because it is ground to a fine powder and also mixes well with the boric acid. This mixture seems to melt at a lower temp and begins to flow and protect against the dreaded dry spots that lets scale form. Scale will form at temperaturs as low as 1350f and only gets thicker from there. I also use a pyrometer in the forge so I know when it reaches 2300f welding heat. Remember you only have less than 5 seconds to whack it before the temp drops below welding heat.

Go ahead and test that one. Its fun to see what they will do and you can only gain knowledge and confidence in your blades