Fireball cable!

[Fred.Rowe]

I refer to this fighter made of cable and powder, as Fireball, so as to remind me to; let gas off all my welded canisters, so they don't explode inside the forge, causing me to clutch at my chest.

The billet that did not explode, [we made two canisters that day, one survived] produced some nice steel; a billet 5/16"X2"X14".
Half of it was forged into this 15 inch fighter that is ready for bevels.

Carl, you can pick up your half of the billet next weekend.

Fred

 

[delbert ealy]

Fred,
Have you had any containers blow up on you? If so what was in them exactly?
I have done 2 sealed with no issues, they didn't even bulge.
Del

 

[Burton Harruff]

Interesting pattern came out on that. Fireball is a good name for it. I am glad the second one didn't go off, but I wish you would have waited on me It will be interesting to see it worked down a bit more to see what develops. I will be down next weekend to forge the other half of that out. I am looking forward to it.

 

[Fred.Rowe]

Fred,
Have you had any containers blow up on you? If so what was in them exactly?
I have done 2 sealed with no issues, they didn't even bulge.
Del

The answer is yes. Carl and I put two canisters together using 3inch round stainless tubing. We cut two three inch sections, welded a cap on one end added a round of paper in the bottom and filled with three inch sections of
1 1/4 inch cable stacked on end. The cable had been soaked in diesel fuel for a week and then let dry for two weeks to remove any oils.
The canister was then filled with powdered 1084 and 4600E, around the cable sections and the cap was welded onto the open end.
The tig welds were perfect, for when the canister got up to heat, it blew the cap off one side of the canister. It was loud to say the least.
There was something volatile left on the cable after the soak and dry out. What it was I don't know. But from that time on, I have left a small vent on one edge of the canister where pressure can be released. After the billet gets around 2000fh I weld the vent closed.

I have done quite a few canister welds; this was the first one where this happened.
Learning how to work safely in an unsafe environment is tricky sometimes.
Fred

 

[delbert ealy]

Thanks Fred, I only do canisters for stainless and I had been warned about leaving a pinhole for the gases to escape. I put a small piece of paper in mine, about the size of 2 stamps, and I was thinking its only air in there hoiw much can regular old air expand. So, I sealed it up and had not problems. It sound to me like you might have had some leftover hydrocarbons on your cable, that stuff I can understand expanding to burst a container.
Thanks for the info, and be careful yourself.
Cheers,
Del

 

[Sam Salvati]

At F&B hammer in, Deker made a canister filled with various sized steel ball bearings, was about to walk over to the forge with it before I asked him about the air hole hehe.

That is nice stuff Fred, I like the big sort of smear, interspersed with the cable. Glad you are ok.

 

[Barkes Knife Shop]

Looking good there Fred ------:thumbup: