Dan P.

I have trouble with a steel (110WCrV5) that is hard even after normalizing. This steel hardens if you look at it sideways. Thin sections, I guess. I'm afraid what I do is just drill the holes when the material is at a dark red or black heat. I use standard "waster" drill bits for this. I get a bunch and just get used to the idea of sharpening them and get used to thinking of them as consumables.

Thanks for sharing your photos.

I like the weld line.

Chinobi, we will have to agree to disagree in terms of which weld is easier. But I would like to hear about the utility of your weld, as I am having a hard time imagining its applications.

Clif, there is no simpler weld, and none more easily accomplished by a beginner. Why would you agree that this may not be the best first weld to teach? And what would be the best first weld to teach? It has already been amply shown that the objections to this weld are spurious. I am surprised that people posting here are looking at a photo of a 400lb anvil hanging off a welded hook and still repeating the same nonsensical claims. To be honest, it's astonishing.

What macbruce said. Don't try and shine it up. As long as there is no active rust, just oil and clean with a cloth or chamois, maybe a soft brush, like a toothbrush, to get any crud out. I wouldn't recommend wire wool. And a gunsmith specializing in old guns is the person to speak to.

Yes, but in the case under discussion this is nonsense. It has been said and I will say again that this weld is no different from the weld used to develop scrollwork, or stick the branches on branchy organic things, etc. You take one piece of steel, fold it over, you have an instant branch element. You see this weld everywhere in ornamental ironwork. I can't repeat this enough; It is a very basic weld with inumerable applications. A building block, if you like. The shortcomings assigned to it by the originator of this thread have been proven incorrect to my satisfaction, at least, by dangling a 400lb anvil from one! What more proof do we need?

If you read my post no. 155, and Brian's reply, Brian seems to be concerned by the fact that the hook part is not being held by the smith, and something else about there being a problem with square bar. I really don't know why he finds that important. It's all a bit wierd. In retrospect, I am a bit embarassed of getting into this topic (and others) in the way I have, as it seems to have been little more than an exercise in troll feeding. However, getting over that part of it, it is fun to see some welds and how they were tested.

The loop and cut method is a funny one. It seems counter intuitive to me. I have a strong feeling that it has its origins in "The Art of Blacksmithing" by Alex Bealer. It's a great book but it has some quite "idiosyncratic" methods in it.

I will add, for clarity, that saying that the weld was not sound because it tore is, to me, like saying that the stock from which it was made was not sound because it could be bent in the vice. i.e. a bent poker is no more fit for purpose than one with knackered hook on the end of it.

And pulled apart. I want to stress that the force used to tear this weld was way more than would ever be put on such an item. However, by observing the inside of the weld, you can see that it is "hairy", meaning that the weld took, and thus was sound.

I had the same idea, basher. My main interest was to see whether the weld I made was okay looking, or shockingly horrible. In square, as per the challenge. I did hook my anvil around a little bit. No damage. But, unsurprisingly, it did fail when I put it in the vice and wrenched it open. (10mm square). However, I would still call it a sound weld.

Oh dear! So either hold the unheld, or don't hit it so hard!

Okay, I think I know what you are talking about. Why do you think it makes a difference whether it is held or not?

I like your fork a lot, Jeremy. I love that style; it seems to me a style very natural and compatible to forgework. I don't personally think that such welds can be practically upset. It's hard to tell, but is the thinner material on your fork around 1/8" by 1/2"? Not too easy to upset!

I'm not quite sure what you mean by the piece you are not holding on to versus holding on to both pieces.

Interesting video. I wonder if the extra homgenization of the weld is due to extra welding heats, or extra hammering (remember that stuff about peening arc welds you learnt at school?), or is it due to the "thermal cycling" implicit in this process? Might it not be the case that thermal cycling, appropriate for the alloy, which did not include bringing it up to as high as welding heat, would yield similar or better results. An electric welding manual would be a good place to start a study of post-weld treatment. Whatever the case, always allow your welds to come as close to normalization as possible. Quenching them will do them very few favours.

That there is a good idea.

No, the weld that is identical to the one you disparage in this very thread is the branch weld between the leaves. It is the exact same weld as is frequently used at the end of a poker. It's either very good or it's shockingly bad. I'm really just curious which description you want to go with.

How is this different from the welds in the video (not a rhetorical question)? I ask because you praise the welds shown in the video, while having taken the entirety of this thread to disparage one of the very same welds. It's quite peculiar.

Brian, I'm interested in how the branch welds holding the leaves together in the video are different from the weld that you are trying to address. They seem pretty much identical to me.

Thanks for the video. A very good explanation of solid practice.

I think part of what Basher might be saying is that number of heats does not necessarily correlate to time. For instance, John might want to take three heats in five minutes, Jack might want to take two. As long as the both get the job done in the alloted time, there is little odds between the two. There is also the issue of forcing the issue, and your body. The hotter it is, the easier it is to forge.

Funny, Joel OF, punching holes is the only time I might count heats as well. It's kind of a fun challenge. As to counting heats otherwise, well, it's either hot or it's not. Little point in beating on dull, hard iron, and it'll take longer to heat up again, too.

Very nice little things.