basher

I would refer anyone who is interested to the book :- The Solid Phase welding of metals By R.F.Tylecote and it's geeky but good , I think I will read it again. (xxxx just looked it up on amazon and its a £170 book! think its available on google books though!) In the process of hammer welding mild steel and wrought iron the material is often taken to a point where the outside of the material melts , from a practical POV this allows the ejection of the iron oxide on the surface. Iron oxide has a slightly higher melting point than iron so the use of a flux can lower its melting point. however even though the material is molten at the surface this is not a necessary state for forge welding (if the surfaces are free of oxide). any liquid will be by definition ejected when you hit the piece with a hammer and it is the solid t solid material that is joining. The material must be solid to transfer force from one piece to the other liquid will flow away from the pressed surfaces. you are looking at 3 main factors when solid state welding heat, pressure and an oxide free surface. In industrial processes such as roll welding it is often pressure that is the main factor , materials are free ox oxide and clean, excessive heat is expensive and under normal circumstances produces oxides. so welding as low as 300C is often done (thousands of PSI) . to an extent the pressure and heat are interchangeable dependant upon the exact application and material limitations (also extreme pressure often momentarily produces heat in the material) However in a blacksmiths shop heat energy is more available than huge tonnage . so we tend to defer to very hot welding using borax or other methods to remove (hopefully) the oxide layer formed when heating. The borax is not an essential part of the process and infact has to be ejected from the joining surfaces or it will cause problems. Its not necessary if you keep material clean and protected from oxygen (welding up the seems or putting in a canister , using argon etc ) then the forge welding can happen at a much lower temp, well within normal forging range , for some materials this is beneficial because of the grain growth problems associated with high temp. A lower Temp also means that more force from the hammer blows is going into putting pressure from one piece of material to another as there is less plastic flow...so potentially the welds are stronger..... I am lucky that I have learned numerous ways fo forge welding as a blacksmith in the UK (non borax welding at sparking heat), from Americans using borax at slippery heat and then using borax at a much lower heat ....a few different versions of that over the years . then again in America canister welding with a drop of oil to remove oxygen and same using argon . also seam welding up billets to exclude oxygen and finally my preferred current method. which is " bare back welding" using a reducing atmosphere and no borax..... so I don't look at the subject as a single process. forge welding is a whole bag of tricks all with their own benefits and limitations.... I do love forge welding ...feels like magic...However its is a well understood process in industry and more about being methodical then mysterious! and I guess that there is no need to know why its working if what you are doing works!

I hear what you are saying but it’s simply not the case....and definitions have not a lot to do with it.. no liquid or partial liquid involved. It’s simple solid state fusion . I forge weld at the same temp I forge! . But anyhow. It does not make a lot of difference to the practice of the process.

Not appropriate in that definition either I am afraid . Forge welding is solid state fusion. Thereis no liquid involved apart from flux if you are using that. I looked up liquidious and it means completely liquid;- ‘I forge weld material with a melting point of between 1400C and 1500C at 1200 to 1300 C...Totally solid The solidus is the highest temperature at which an alloy is solid – where melting begins. The liquidus is the temperature at which an alloy is completely melted. At temperatures between the solidus and liquidus the alloy is part solid, part liquid. The difference between the solidus and liquidus is called the melting range. forge welding of carbon steels is way below Solidus. Mild steel will withstand being brought to it’s melting point but does not have to be that hot, to be forge welded.

In most cases this is simply not the true, especially pattern-welding carbon steel where you are welding 2 or 300C below the melting point of the material. It's a solid state fusion no liquid metal at all. directionality is important when using borax for billet welding , work from one end to another with overlapping blows , with a hand hammer , power hammer or press. I hit hard to set patternweld if working by hand .hard quick overlapping blows. On a hammer or press I go a bit more gentle so as not to spread the billet like a pack of cards first hit. you have to think of it like the last bits of toothpaste in a tube of toothpaste.

what is wrong with the moderators here ? someone is looking for a supply of oil? how the xxxx are they supposed to find it if you remove links. I persevere with a presence here because I have a strong passion for the craft and feel like there should be at least a few professionals to offer advise amidst all the noise, most of them left a long time ago..... but xxxx its hard work.

have a look at the exel range , I use their fast , standard and marquenching oil. rape seed oil (canola) also works very well. Commercial link removed.

The log splitter seems to work fine for what its is. smaller bites would make much faster working. I would be a little concerned about the frame flexing but really its soooooo much better than by hand.

yes exactly that. the alldays and onions hammers and pilkingtons work like that, bigger pistons and a simpler valving.

hi Frosty , the valving shown above does clamp...I have one of those hammers.clamping just needs air to the top of the slave piston and none below. my suck and blow hammers with only air above the slave piston all clamp as well...its not very useful though!

Mads do you have Mark Kraus's book? It may help. this sounds like a complicated thing to fix, but some more infl may help. does the hammer have pressuer under the front piston or just on top. a flow diagram would help. the valving for an alldays and onions hammer that pulls a partial vacume above the front ram is very diferent (and much simpler) from that needed to controle pressurised air/ vaccume that is above the front ram as well as below it like on a sahinla or nazel.

I have used rye oil 50, they have no spec as to the cooling characteristics of the oil. I asked and they had no info..I bought some anyway and its not as fast as parks 50 and definitely not a comparable oil. the other fast UK available oil I have used is the Exel fast oil which is fast ish , faster than rye 50 ..... I am not convinced by the rye oil. I think you would be better with Canola (which I also use) or a HT oil that has actively been developed for heat treating.

I think a counter weight on the crank mounted at 180 degrees to the crank ofset would alter the response back through the foot pedal and smooth the whole rotation out . I would experiment with adding weight untill the rotation smoothes out. on the spring hammers I have owned there is also quite a bit of flywheel post clutch and the counterweight is not in anyway equal to the weight of the ram. the more flywheel pre clutch and post clutch will help with fine control.

looks like a good build, is there any counter weight to balance the tup? and I think you would get much better response at light blows if there was some kind of gap between the dies at full tup down. my 90lb mechanical and my 60 and 150 all had a gap of 1 to 2" between the dies when the tup was down , this allows for the spring to help feather lighter blows. my 90lb would cycyle without the ram touching the pallet and could give the lightest blows. all of my 100lb ish hammers have run from 220 hits a minute up to 320 so a lot faster.

I think the 9" grinder is one of the most usefull metal working tools...they need guards and apropriat PPE and need to be used carefully but I use mine on a daily basis I have one set up for cutting and one for grinding and one with a cup wheel for hogging. like a power hammer they are potentially dangerous but also like a power hammer they can do a lot of work and be used with precision.

I am afraid that I no longer have records for the 2 spring manufacturers I used one in St Ives and one in NE London. both were prompt and did good work. there are lots of them around though I would just do a search...

I kill em all....I have had makita and bosh and dewalt give good service but they all die. going for a pro model over a cheapy makes them much nicer to use but they still die! I treat them as a consumable.

the oonly time I have seen brassy dust is when my hammer threw an oil cup and wore out a bronze bearing.....but it was not a small amount.

I use these knives in the kitchen as well as a lot of other carbon steel knives and some stainless steel clad and stainless steel knives and in use they are just fine. You have to clean them and dry them (imediatly) and an acasional wipe down with 10000 grit micro mesh brings the pattern back. I much prefer carbon steel kitchen knives and have tried some high end stainless steel ones and find they do not sharpen as easily or get as sharp as the carbon steel knives. but they do require no care and can be thrown in a dishwasher! With damascus kitchen knives the trick seems to be having a bolder pattern that is easier to clean back and get contrast so these fit the bill. the things that will not work in the kitchen so well are the 1000 layer knives with fine pattern. I get a lot of good feed back from customers and I think people like the relationship that comes with having to put a little attention and care into somthing.

I had promised myself more "development" time this year and have been playing with some patterns . One I really wanted to visit is the feather pattern...here is my take on it. Trying to make feather that looks like a feather (amoungst other stuff!) somthing a little bigger with silver ferrule and some offshutes ying tang feather! and a bit of zebra! its been fun!

I have been playing with patterns...I took an iron jewelry class with Janos Gabor Varga earlier this year ( a great class) and it got me thinking about some patterns...a bit of experimentation and a few mistakes later this came along! Helter skelter pattern... what do you recon?

Hi temperature and low temperature salts are a standard modern way of heat treating. Using the high temperature salts at austenising Temp (800C up to 1050 for some stainless steels) and then quenching into low temperature salts (often preheated to 200+ centegrade) . the low temp salts can also be used for tempering or banite formation. there is very little oxidisation and internal circulation gives a very even heating....however there are associated dangers with liquid salts.....liquids at high temp being a lot more dangerous than the solids we are so used to dealing with.

I am interested in trying one. . I have used the greaseless finishing compound and did not find it useful...However it should be noted that the people I now who use these are generally making soft clad blades (san Mai) and only usint these to finiah..and I think there is a world of difference when grinding these blades as opposed to full carbon steel. with my bladesmithing school I get through 1000+ belts a year ...I would love a more eco or economic alternative!

Hi frosty, I have had a few mechanical hammers break springs (3 to date two 60's and a 150lb) in each case there was not a simple break but the spring broke into multiple pieces some shards much smaller than your guards. holes. I had the hemmer springs wrapped in leather and there was no problem or risk at all...all the shards were contained. I have seen similar spring wraps done with with fire hose .

thats the idea, damascus is great I still love making it even 25 years after my first billet.

This is the latest collaboration sword from myself Petr Florianek . We wanted to make another fantasy sword yet at the same time keeping a firm grip on reality. This a very much a “real” sword but also a dragon slaying hero’s sword! The sword blade takes inspiration from early Saxon blades, marrying that history into Tolkien’s middle earth and the world of the Rohirrim horse lords. The blade was made by myself and the handle and scabbard are Petr’s work. The blade takes inspiration from early Saxon patternwelded blades and has a lenticular section giving it the heft and strength needed when fighting dragons! It is important for me that anything I make has a functional reality to it. A reality based upon the imagined purpose of the object . This is the sword of a mighty horselord hero with the pride and fate of his people behind him. A sword for battling a dragon. Bryneleoma has a patternwelded blade 3 core bars twisted anticlockwise, clockwise and anticlockwise, the core bars are wrapped in a high layer damascus edge . The bold core pattern contrasting the fine layers of the edge. In Petr’s words… I wanted to make a truly heroic sword and when given Owen’s mighty blade, I had enough inspiration to get the feel of it. The blade is hefty and long so I immediately started to picture a mounted warrior; a hero on a horse, a proto knight if you will. The inspiration for this sword is firmly set in Tolkien’s Middle Earth, in the world of the Rohirrim horse lord. The motives for ornamentation are simple – he dragon on the pommel as the most powerful enemy but also a symbol to ward off evil. On the handle a series of knots representing fate being spun by higher beings. The knot on the guard symbolises oath, the oath of the horse lord bound to his people as their protector. An oath from sword to swordsman, the guard of the sword being there to protect its heroic master. I love doing these pieces with Petr, and always look forward to getting the finished piece. He has a way of bringing a blade to life.....