Jump to content
I Forge Iron

Welding to a solid hunk of metal


Recommended Posts

I am trying to make a morning star. I have hand foreged a bunch of spikes and am now trying to weld them to a steel shotput. My first few tries have ended with verry flimsy spikes so I was wanting some idea on how to weld these spikes to the 8 lb hunk of metal and have them stay on solidly. Any advice would be appreciated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Greetings Vendarien,

 

You might find the shotput to be cast...  Indeed a problem welding to cast without the correct rod and equipment... Take a picture of what you are trying to accomplish and I am sure you will get help...

 

Forge on and make beautiful things

Jim

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The first thing that comes to mind is the temperature of the shot-put, to cold, must be pre-heated.  Who knows what type of metal it is made of? Also, what type of welding are you talking about, forge welding, mig welding, tig welding, or stick?  What were your settings?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

sounds like a very interesting project, but unless you're really good at welding or have some kind of a dremel or something to clean up the welds, might i suggest drilling and tapping the shot put instead of welding it on, and then just threading the spikes, i bet that would look a lot neater, if you have a drill press then drilling the holes straight shouldn't really be a problem. and i believe it would be a whole lot stronger than just welding it on

but if you really want to be fancy, you could make shoulders on the spikes, then drill holes that are just a little, we're talking >1mm difference, bit smaller than the spikes in the shot put in the arrangement that you want your spikes to be, heat up the shot put (bad idea?, i've heard it's not a good idea. something to do with possible air gaps inside the shot put, wait for replies from others before doing this) and get the shot put up to, yellow-ish and put the spikes in cold and let it cool, the heat shrinking should get them solid, maybe you have to cool them down with dry ice, just beware that once the spikes get in, the shot put will cool down quickly around that area and seal it up, so be quick getting them in and make sure not to stand in the way, could be some expanding gas which might blow the spike out, and that could be really messy if you're standing in the way

but that's just a theory of mine, i advise you to await replies to my suggestions and try everything else before trying this

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The shotputs I am familiar with have been cast iron and so not a base to weld steel to and expect it to stay there under impact they are also WAY TOO LARGE for a real medieval/renaissance weapon!  Heavy is slow and slow is dead on the battlefield.  Yes Hollywood has show enormous out-sized weapons for many decades. DON'T BELIEVE IT!

 

If you are here in the United States you can buy mild steel balls from various ornamental Iron supply places that are a more typical size and will weld or drill and tap for your project.

 

If you want a very large one make it from wood like some of the holy water sprinklers were done in Medieval times. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...