damascus not going so well, need to vent

K

kibuddha4

Joined
Apr 10, 2005
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201
What a day. I get a billet of 6 parts 15N20 and 6 of 1084 prepared and got some round bar welded on for a handle (getting tired of having to get burned when I have to fish the billet out of the forge with tongs). I had no problems with the actual forge welding operation, but the welds didn't hold for handle :mad:. Oh well. So I decided to forge weld a thin bar of 1075 as the handle. Again the forge weld went great. I guess it's one of those times I could weld anything to anything. Great back in business. Then the thin 1075 just breaks. :grumpy: :mad: Ok I'll just freaking deal with the tongs. 2nd fold. Draw out. Oh what's this? A crack in my billet at the half way. mark.:mad::grumpy::thumbdn: Dead blasted bleep bleep (among other things i said). Fine I'll just cut the crack out and forge weld the two left over pieces together. Start the weld and now I can't weld crap. Words can no longer express the amount of my anger.:mad::mad::mad::mad: Sorry I just had to vent to someone. Oh look now it's raining.

-Mike Sheffield
 
I can relate... I just tried to heat treat the sword I'm making for Ashokan this year, and it's got a warp in it that refuses to straighten. As soon as I work it out, I put another ripple in.

So far, I've given up. It might not be done for Ashokan, and right now that's okay with me. I suppose it's better to accept it than to wing the hot steel for the bleachers and scream our heads off, no?

Sorry to hear about your luck... and mine, too!
 
Take a break.....think it through...try again......

...sure can be irritating though.....
 
here's a little tip for your handle problem, I use 1" x 1/4" mild steel for my billet handles, but I cut another piece of the mild steel 6"-8" long and weld it to the longer one on the billet end, this will give you more to weld the billet to and also had more strength, I've never had any handles coming lose or breaking off since I started doing it this way a few yrs. ago.
As for your billet forge welding, some days are just like that, but I figure you were probably hurrying between welds or trying to move the billet to fast between heats, crap happens is about all you can say. You'll have better luck next time.

Bill
 
Forge welding is really exciting when we first learn how. Consequently we can get be impatient, wanting to get it done.

You may not be letting the billet soak at temp long enough. I used to do that. Once you think it's ready to weld, go do something else for a couple of minutes.

Also, 15N20 scales a lot. If you have 6 layers of each steel, one outside layer is 15N20. Make a 13 layer billet and keep the 15N20 on the inside. That may help the problem.

When I lay up a billet, however many layers, I use an arc welder and tack the ends together. Then I weld a short piece of 5/8" rebar to one end for a handle. It fits my tongs real well. If you use thin stock for a handle, the width becomes unimportant. The thickness is what's trying to hold things together and it won't support the weight when it's at welding temp for very long. As you work the handle will get thinner so you'll need to figure out what works for you to resolve tht.

Gene
 
I've had those days too....The best advice I have is that when you start to see yourself getting frustrated, switch to doing something else.

I agree that it sounds like you may not have been soaking quite long enough. A suggestion I got from Del Ealy that has made a big difference for me is to take a book into the shop. After a forging heat, put your billet back into the forge, sit down and read a chapter in a book. By the time you're done (unless you read really fast) your billet will be up to heat properly. It seems silly, but waiting more has really sped up my damascus work. A good, even heat, all the way through the billet REALLY makes the steel move faster.

The best part of this is that I've gotten back to reading for pleasure...AND I get more forging done :)

-d
 
Thanks guys. Yeah toward the end I was getting frustrated and I'm sure I was not letting the billet soak long enough. Well after my vent I calmed down, played with the kiddo and that got my head right. So at about 1800 hrs. mountain time I went back to it. So far so good. I even didn't get touched by the fire whipping out of the forge, and I was using the tongs. Worked until about 2100 hrs. because my propane ran out. Well can't win them all. Tomorrow I'm going to go get some more gas, and jump right back into it. The billet is going to become a tanto for a guy who is leavening for Iraq soon. He wanted a nice knife to use while over there so I told him I'd forge him out one for free. I wanted to surprise him with something in damascus. You know a little something to show off to the guys over there. I hope to get it done in enough time. After tomorrow I will be doing an ORI and NSI (Air Force inspections...the big ones). So the whole month of September will be spent long hours at work. That includes weekends too. I know 1 week out of the month I'll be running around in my battle rattle doing field exercises. So I don't have much time. Cross your fingers.

-Mike Sheffield
 
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