Pattern welding, a different style

Mick Maxen said:
Craig, I don't seem to have any problems with scale, as I tend to flux quite heavily. I have only made short pieces of barrel, so the problem of the ribbon being at right angles to the welded barrel have never been a problem. I wind all the pattern welded ribbon onto the liner and then weld up in short sections of about 2". The way I weld these up is to stand the barrel upright and use short blows directly down onto the wrap. I think thats what is referred to as jump welding.
As I understand it, the reason these barrels were made with a mandrel through the centre, was that they had no way of boring a hole through the centre of a solid bar. But could ream out an already existing hole to size. The mandrel also helps to keep everything straight as you weld up. If you manage to weld the mandrel to the rest of it, you have ruined the job. Nowadays we could just drill/bore it out, but not then.

Mick.
Click to expand...

Mick thats interesting and seems almost possible for me. I wish you would do a short video on U tube so we can see you work. Its either that or I have to buy an airline ticket to England. Really you are the only guy I know that does this. Its fastinating to me.
 
Bruce, the level of skill and craftmanship you have shown on here with your knives and especially the combination weapons, I can't see you having any problems making a barrel.
As far as I know I am the only person that has done this type of work in the UK, recently. In the original thread Hank Knickmeyer mentioned a fella from Arkansas, I quote

"I watched Bob Patrick, a blacksmith from Arkansas in the U.S. do a great demo in which he made a finished barrel, ready to ream and rifle, with no tooling other than hammer and anvil, in a coal forge. He would curl the bar over the edge of the anvil into a form similiar to a corkscrew or spring and then jump weld a few wraps at a time. As the barrel grew he would work the round into a octagon using the step of a London pattern anvil. When he finished it was reamed and rifled using traditional methods.
I forgot to mention that he used relatively short bars and scarfed and forge welded on new bars as required".

I have no idea if this was recent or not. That I would have liked to have seen. To do that out of your comfort zone with unfamiliar tools and in front of an audience, is some task.
Back in September I did a mosaic pattern welding demo for the Guild of Metalsmiths in Minnesota. Its a bit of a strange feeling using some elses tools, trying to explain to an audience what you are doing, as you are doing it, and all the time hoping its all going to be good at the end.

Mick.
 
As a direct result of the barrel welding, I messed about on a smaller scale and made a ring.
The width is just under 1/2" and if you look closely you can see two weld areas that show the 3 turns.

aDSC_8282.jpg


This is the ring finished with a silver liner. You see alot of damascus rings made by turning them out of solid bars that have been twisted, but this is the first one I have seen showing the stars/chevrons all the way round.

aDSC_9451-copy.jpg



Mick.
 
Very interesting Mick.
Do you use a coal fire? If so it seems easier because of the wide open area around it for the ribbon. Tom Ferry a few years ago just messing around one night used the method you described by Bob Patrick. It was his first time and was partially successful. I begged him for and still have it. There are some poor welds but actually pretty good. Its only a couple inches long and very thick. You used a mandrel, do you also use a liner to weld to? You are screwed of you weld to the liner so I presume it is slid in and out to adjust for size as the welding continues?
Wow, big subject matter. Thanks Mick for any insight and presence here.
 
Bruce, all my pattern welding is done in a gas forge. As this barrel style welding is on a small scale, the longest being about 12", it is all wrapped up around a mandrel before I start welding. By the way the 12" piece I completely screwed up.
The liner is a very important part of the set up. It gives you something to wind the ribbon on to. You can't wrap directly on to the mandrel as this needs to be able to move. It acts as a former for the hole and helps keep everything straight. If you look at the 3rd photo (I think) at the top of the thread, you can see the liner. The liner thickness is about 1/16 and the mandrel is 1/2". Do not worry about the liner at all, as this is sacrificial.

Mick.
 
Mick Maxen said:
Bruce, all my pattern welding is done in a gas forge. As this barrel style welding is on a small scale, the longest being about 12", it is all wrapped up around a mandrel before I start welding. By the way the 12" piece I completely screwed up.
The liner is a very important part of the set up. It gives you something to wind the ribbon on to. You can't wrap directly on to the mandrel as this needs to be able to move. It acts as a former for the hole and helps keep everything straight. If you look at the 3rd photo (I think) at the top of the thread, you can see the liner. The liner thickness is about 1/16 and the mandrel is 1/2". Do not worry about the liner at all, as this is sacrificial.

Mick.
Click to expand...

What material is the liner?
 
Mick Maxen said:
This is the ring finished with a silver liner. You see alot of damascus rings made by turning them out of solid bars that have been twisted, but this is the first one I have seen showing the stars/chevrons all the way round.

aDSC_9451-copy.jpg



Mick.
Click to expand...
there ya go
 
Nowicki, the liner for the barrel is just mild steel tube. If you don't have tube you can make this out of flat sheet, about 1/16 thick or similar,formed around the mandrel.

Mick.
 
Mick Maxen said:
Nowicki, the liner for the barrel is just mild steel tube. If you don't have tube you can make this out of flat sheet, about 1/16 thick or similar,formed around the mandrel.

Mick.
Click to expand...

Thanks. This will definitely be on one of my things to do list.

Larry
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top