Damascus with bandsaw blade and pallet strapping

[RegionalChaos]

Do I need to worry about paint on the strapping? I snagged some stuff from work today that was black and looked like it might have been painted. I'm planning to cut everything into 10" pieces and tack weld the ends.

[Mike Turner]

Remove the paint, you will thank yourself later . If you are welding by hand I would make them no larger than 6" long as it is difficult to weld that much in one shot.

[Jmercier]

Half of getting a good forge weld for damascus is cleaning and prepping the surfaces. Definately get the paint off the strapping, and then get all the layers tight together before you put the first heat to it. Flux liberally around the edges when you've just got enough heat to melt the flux and before any oxidization can occur and you're more than half way to getting a good weld.

This prep is more important for the first weld than for any other, because you're welding X layers instead of welding 2 layers after the first weld when you fold it over, so there are X/2 more chances for a bad weld or inclusion.

[RegionalChaos]

Whats the easiest way to get the paint off of the strapping? Sand it? Seems like I don't want to be too aggressive since the strapping is already thin..

Thanks for the advice

[Jmercier]

I just hit up strapping and the like real quick on my belt grinder with a 120 grit belt, a quick pass usually gets everything off and doesnt take off a noticeable amnt of metal.

[Ecart]

I'm interested in seeing how this turns out for you. I've got about three or four small bandsaw blades and as much strapping as I want from work. I may be trying this soon too. Post pics if you can.

[John N]

I give ALL the surfaces to be welded a quick wizz on the linisher so youve got really clean metal. It takes 15 mins or less for a billets worth, but compared to spending the next 4 hours welding and folding only to find a defect its time well spent.

Ive had reasonable success with bandsaw blades and pallet strap. If you can find the 1" wide pallet strap its alledgedly better (higher carbon) steel.

[polarbearforge]

Originally Posted by RegionalChaos

Do I need to worry about paint on the strapping? I snagged some stuff from work today that was black and looked like it might have been painted. I'm planning to cut everything into 10" pieces and tack weld the ends.

When I first started pattern welding, this was the combination of materials that I used. I found no need to remove the paint. Heat is the best cleaner, and proper use of it and flux will take care of it. None of the inclusions I have ever had could be attributed to the paint.

10 inch sections is a pretty beefy size, I'd probably start smaller. When you tack weld the ends, I wouldn't fill the entire end. I'd run 1 or 2 lines across all the layers. Anytime that I've seen the entire end filled with weld, there were usually inclusions at the ends where the flux couldn't escape.

Jamie

[Frostfly]

does anyone know what kinda steel you get in the 1" wide pallet strapping? I've found a source, but I'd like to know what I'm getting into. (strapping and bandsaw blades <happy dance>)

[ThomasPowers]

It can vary; I suggest getting a sample and doing the heat-quench(in water)-break test. If it breaks it will have enough carbon in it to help out the billet. If it bends you may want to juice up the billet with an old file or two as a carbon donor.

As a general rule the more likely failure would result in *bad* problems the more likely the steel will be "better" so pallet strapping for empty plastic bottles is often a lot less "nice" than pallet strapping for heavy pipe or RR ties.