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welding chain together?

S

stiletto

Joined
Aug 8, 1999
Messages
41
Heya all. I got a bunch of chain this past weekend, and don't seem to have too much success with getting a decent billet made. It seems like anytime I try, it ends up falling apart. Some of the chain is big enough that I don't need to fold it back on itself at the beginning and that fell apart too. Is there some trick or do I need to just keep practicing. I'm forging this by hand and sometimes by the treadle hammer. I don't have a press (yet) and the rolling mill is probably a week away from being done or so. Any tips, tricks, suggestions, etc... would be welcome.

I'm going to try twisting it at a low heat tomorrow. I found a reference somewhere saying that it helped some. I've gotten smaller billets in the past with smaller chain, but this larger chain was just screaming at me to weld it up... ;)

Jamie
a.k.a. Stiletto
Polar Bear Forge
 
I hope you figure it out Jamie! Post some pictures of the steel when you get a good billet welded up. Bet it has an interesting pattern in it!Keep pounding!
 
Don't know if this will help, but my motto has always been if all else fails...get a bigger hammer :p
I don't know anyhting about forging but this has been pretty successful with everything else.When you reach the point of a 16 pound sledge, You either fix it or obliterate all evidence that it existed :D
 
I have better luck welding chain with light taps at first, really more like pushing it together. Once you get it wadded up with light taps and it starts to feel firmer then you can hit it a little harder. Hard blows at the beginning will make it come all apart. Also use lots of flux.
 
Hey Stilleto,Looks like you are having a little problem here.
First let me explain,Chain is very funny when welding and will do all kinds of funny things to you.What kind of chains are you trying to use? this will make a difference on how you will need to weld it.Here is a really good tutorial on forging Chainsaw chain,I have tried this tecnique myself with great results.
http://www.customknifedirectory.com/CKD_tut_chainsaw_damascus.htm

Now when I am going to weld up a gear chain or Harley chain I start with 1 layer and two links wide.Now wire this tight together.Bring this up to a dull red and flux it two or three times before starting the weld.Now bring the chain up to welding heat and weld it together with light easy blows making sure that you start on the side so that you are squishing the pins together (like peanning the pins)after you get a couple of liks started welding then heat it and weld the edges lightly,this is just to keep it all solid and welded together.Now go back and start on the pin side again and then the edge untill you get to the end of the billet.At this time you should have a solid piece of steel started.Now you can flux and heat to welding heat and carefully under the trip hammer start flattening it out,But don't get it real tight just yet,just get it close.Now go back with the hand hammer and finish welding the links down.If at any time during this flattening process you see the two links joint trying to come apart go back and weld it to gether (you might keep a welding pass down the edge every now and then just to make sure you don't break any welds.Now you should have a solid bar that you can smooth out the edges at welding heat or fold and weld again then smooth the edges at welding heat.
Remember you are trying to work out allot of air space and this can leave you with allot of voids if you are not careful.So just take it slow and easy ,Keep it at a welding heat at all times while working it and don't make allot of stray hammer blows and if you have to fold it a few times to work out voids.If you fold it more than once you will loose the look of the chain and just get a random pattern.
Hope this helps you out some,
Bruce
If you need to just email me and I will try to help you out more if I can.
 
I tried again tonight after reading some replies. I've seen the chainsaw chain tutorial, and this chain is really to big to do that way by hand. Here's a small segment of some of the chain.

links.jpg


I got a lot of it, some bigger and some smaller. Tonight's efforts seemed to have yielded a usable piece of material. I took more time with the light hits and welding heats and everything stuck instead of crumbling. The piece that I forged tonight is the same size as in the picture. I'm going to try again with the same size doubled up to give a little more material. I also fluxed a lot more than I did before.

Thanks for the tips. If there are anymore, I'd love to hear them. I've done pattern weld and cable, but haven't gotten a decent chain yet, but it looks like I will soon.

Jamie
a.k.a. Stiletto
Polar Bear Forge
 
I have found that if you keep it going square and don't let it slide ,Like the pins bend over.You will get a better pattern and a cleaner weld.
Bruce
 
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