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Spot welding Damascus ?
- Thread starter mrknives
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2012
- Messages
- 26
Have you tried and taken any pics by chance? I wonder if it’s not too noticeable
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2012
- Messages
- 26
Awesome. Debating if I want to purchase a spot welder and weld nickel bolsters to the Damascus blade. I didn’t think it would hold though.
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2012
- Messages
- 26
Yeah I was just looking for something quicker but don’t want to sidestep quality either. Thank you
- Joined
- May 31, 2016
- Messages
- 485
I am not certain I understand the question as stated: spot welders form autogenous welds between sheet stock. They do this by passing current through two (pointed) electrodes. This concentrates the current through a small area, allowing the base metal to melt and fuse. This process only really works on sheet metal, as a rule no more than a few mm in thickness. Otherwise, the electron path through a thicker base metal will diverge sufficiently to prevent localized melting and fusion. There are other major issues as you increase base metal thickness (the added rigidity and surface imperfections may well prevent contact in the area you want to weld).
I can't really think of a way to make this process do what you want it to do.
You could get a bit sporty with tig in a way that may work but still be invisible. If you were to use mild steel bolsters and drill a (large) countersunk hole through the center of the bolster and then fill the void with filler metal completely and then grind it afterwards, it would be easily strong enough. There would be some things to overcome however. First, you would want to do it prior to normalization, stress relief, and HT. Second, local warping in the bolster or tang may occur, and require correction (hammer and heat most likely, or a press). Finally, you will have to be very careful to avoid weld embrittlement and potential cracking at the weld joint. For a bolster, this is in a relatively critical area on the handle.
That all being said, I dont think there is any way to do this with a spot welder. I would think TIG would be the way to go, but if you are good with MIG, you might be able to get it done, but I would be worried about penetration.
Finally, I would preheat the base metal as high as reasonable. If you could get it up into the 800F range (for simple carbon steels) prior to welding, you can guarantee that it won't remove heat from the cooling puddle fast enough to cause martensite formation. Doing this will virtually guarantee you don't get cracking.
I can't really think of a way to make this process do what you want it to do.
You could get a bit sporty with tig in a way that may work but still be invisible. If you were to use mild steel bolsters and drill a (large) countersunk hole through the center of the bolster and then fill the void with filler metal completely and then grind it afterwards, it would be easily strong enough. There would be some things to overcome however. First, you would want to do it prior to normalization, stress relief, and HT. Second, local warping in the bolster or tang may occur, and require correction (hammer and heat most likely, or a press). Finally, you will have to be very careful to avoid weld embrittlement and potential cracking at the weld joint. For a bolster, this is in a relatively critical area on the handle.
That all being said, I dont think there is any way to do this with a spot welder. I would think TIG would be the way to go, but if you are good with MIG, you might be able to get it done, but I would be worried about penetration.
Finally, I would preheat the base metal as high as reasonable. If you could get it up into the 800F range (for simple carbon steels) prior to welding, you can guarantee that it won't remove heat from the cooling puddle fast enough to cause martensite formation. Doing this will virtually guarantee you don't get cracking.