Dry Damascus Weld Question

[Dennis Paish]

Greetings,

My question is regarding dry welding billets together without flux. If all surfaces are surface ground flat and then all 4 pieces are TIG welded together tight without using any filler rod, do you have to grind all welded surfaces after the initial WELD fusion process?


I hope to eliminate the grinding part after WELD Fusion when MIG welding the seams.

Regards,

Dennis Paish

 

[Fred.Rowe]

If the welds aren't to deep there's no problem. The edges of the billet get sloughed off during the drawing process. When you cut and re-weld at 3/8 thickness or so the welded seams will be on the outside edge of the billet.
Have you tried hydrocarbon solvent? Less welding but with the positive welds of canister type welds.

 

[javand]

With TIG welded edges, you need marginal if any grinding, assuming the welds are all good, and you surface ground, blanchard, or milled the connecting faces. If you move the weld puddle when TIGing in weird or concentric ways (i.e. C's or circles) you will have some pattern distortion that may have to be ground clean if you're looking for consistency.


This is a great way to get the most out of your billet when trying to reduce material loss, *BUT* from my experience, costs more in time, especially when doing a final flip for instance. Tacking with MIG, using hydrocarbon or flux weld, then grinding the mig beads off before you square the sides can be MUCH more efficient. I grind them while the billet is still smoking, after I set the initial weld.

 

[Bill Burke]

it dosen't matter if you mig, stick or tig weld the billet if you do not get rid of the weldement you will have a spot in the finished product. For me it is fastest to mig everything together set my welds and then grind the welds off. Tig welding takes alot more time and builds way more heat in the billet. true it requires less grinding before restacking but the steel that has been melted together still has to be removed or it will show up later.