Forge weld and cracks

[Elmar Roux]

Greetings

I am starting to experiment with forge welding, I am using a range of high carbon steels. So far I have got good results, but in a few places I've had cracks. Some of them where superficial and went away after a few seconds under the grinder but There is one that is very big and runs perpendicular to my weld. What are common reasons for cracks? The cracks appeared while I was forging, not due to hardening.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Too much heat ( hot short)
Too little heat (cold short)
Hammering too hard while setting the weld ( mushing the very hot steel)

 

[DevinT]

What alloys were used?

Hoss

 

[mete]

The terms "hot short" and "cold short " are terms usually used . Hot short is brittle when higher temps are used for forging and "cold" short the opposite. These characteristics are dependent on the alloy .Make sure you know the alloy used and it's proper forging range. Some are fairly sensitive to temps !