chaisaw damascus

A

agghumi

Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
33
Hi everyone. I'm getting really good at ruining chains! At first I thought the problem was bad coal. After about thirty feet of chain, I tried the gas forge. Same results, same amount of chain wasted. Using 20 mule team for flux, wirebrushing and flux every heat. Chains wired together about every two inches. Maybe I need to be facing north with my coyote hat on! It has to be magic..I can't even get a billet the size of a dime. :o Of course it may just be lack of experience.... any pointers
Dave Wolfram
Toledo,Ohio
 
Unfortunatly I can't help you :rolleyes: , but it's good to see someone else from Northwest Ohio.

Matt
 
Hi Dave. Give us the rundown of what you are doing and we can offer suggestions. I suspect you are not hot enough. How are you judging the welding heat? Lets start there.
 
Yeah sounds like not hot enough or hitting it too hard before it's solid. You have to have a gentle touch with chain. It really sucks when red hot chain links attack :eek:
 
Hi Bruce, I don't have a pyrometer so I'm just guessing at heat. First heat I try to burn off any oil or contaminates just about red,but still magnetic. Then I wire brush it real good and put it back in to heat it up again.This time I take it quite a bit past non-magnetic, bright red. I put it on the anvil and kind of just tap on the off tooth side [4# hammer] to pack it together. wire brush it ,flux heavily and back into the fire. I worry about decarborizing but after all the ruined chains I figured what the heck. I have heated several to the point where they looked like they were turning molten,It may have been flux running off though. Each heat I try to compact it more and more wire brushing and refluxing each time. I'm using way more heat than when I forge a regular blade. I am a novis to bladesmithing and lack many of the acquired skills probably alot of the equiptment I need too.
 
Dave, let me know if you want to get together sometime. I'm no expert, but I might be able to point you in the right direction :). I can, at least, show you how to forge a hunter ;).
 
Sounds to me that your just not getting it hot enough. Here's a goodway to find out if your hot enough for it to weld together. I just use tie wire but a coat hanger will work. While you chain is in the forge take the wire and hold it to the chain. When the wire sticks to the chain it has reached welding temp. Color should be yellow not bright red......
 
Raymond, Thanks. I'm using soft wire {bailing wire} I have not seen yellow in color yet, but Ill be back after it in the morning.
 
The steel and the fire should be lemon yellow and the flux will be sizzling like bacon frying. The coat hanger trick works but I use a pyrometer. Forge in dim light not bright sunshine. The color is important to see. Flux when red and rotate the part so the flux will flow everywhere in the nooks and crannys. Tell us how you did.
 
It works best if you hammer on the side of the chain until you get all the gaps out. like you are trying to peen the pins that hold it all together. Very gently until it all starts to stick together. If you hit it too hard at first it will just crumble apart.
It should look like melting butter at welding heat. Like Raymond said poke it with a wire, if the wire sticks it's good.
 
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