Woody

To condense this down to technical terms, it's whatever works for the particular smith. If the weld sticks, it's magic, if it don't, it's bad karma. I use boarx for everything, however I have never tired to weld some of the medium chrome alloys etc. For that you might need something more agressive and much more toxic.

This may be of some help to your http://www.iforgeiron.com/Stories-000-100/s0002.html

Boric Acid H3BO3, Borax Na2B4O7. Sodium, Na, is an alkaline metal, it would tend to neutralize the "acid" in boric acid. The basic function of a flux is to protect the metal from oxidization and float off the impurites. Many smiths weld without flux, some weld with the dirt off the floor, some have secret recipes that are closely guarded.

The basics of forge welding are start with clean metal. Flux lightly if you use flux. Bring to welding heat and use light hammer blows to set the weld. Most welds fail to take because of insufficient heat or hitting the metal too hard or starting with dirty metal.

Flux will not lower the melting temperature of metal as far as I know. It has been stated on another blacksmith forum that if the metal were perfectly clean it could be welded at room temperature so perhaps the cleaner the metal the lower temperature at which welding will take place.

If you want anhydrous boarx, roast 20 mule team borax in the oven at 200 degrees for a while, that will get the moisture out of it. Then you can crush up the clumps. Only problem is anhydrous boarx starts drawing moisture out of the air as soon as it is exposed, keeping it in a tightly closed container helps.

Coil springs are good steel for knives. I use a lot of it. Yes pound it into a flat bar and then shape it. You are not wasting your time starting with round stock. Enjoy yourself and keep a record of what you do, that way when something goes wrong you won't repeat the process and when something goes right, you can repeat the process. Check the knife forum there is much info there on bladesmithing and heat treating.

Welcome to the dark side.

I am wondering if it wasn't welded at all just stuck together with flux. We really could use some pictures of it though.

Dale, our prayers are with you and your family and all who have suffered in the fires.

Woody & Jackie

That is a nice setup, unless you need to work in the middle of a really long piece steel.

Very Nice Finnr, I like the guard and pomel you don't give yourself enough credit.

I just got a call from Annalise she was on the way home and she said she is "just fine" things went very well. Thank you all for your prayers and support

Woody & Jackie

A quick test for steel type, grind a small spot on the race then try to file that spot, if the file cuts, it's case hardened mild steel, if it won't cut it, it's 52100. I had a friend who didn't check first and made a beautiful knife that wouldn't harden. And as Craig said the way it moves is a clue too. 52100 moves reluctantly. I have some roller bearings that are about 2 inch dia and 2 inch high. They do not move easily into a usable shape.

I just talked to my daughter, they started the infusion about 10 AM CST. Annalise is doing well and is very happy. Her favorite nurse in the Pediatric ICU is on duty and is her nurse. Thanks for all your prayers.

Oh and the other little girl, Ainslee, that I requested prayers for a while back, had a checkup in Houston on Tuesday. She has had 2 open heart surgeries and just had an angioplasty a couple months ago to expand the artery to her left lung. The artery hasn't grown in size since the angioplasty but it hasn't shrunk either and there now some blood flow to that lung which is great news. She goes back for another check in 2 months and they are hoping for a 30% flow to the lung by then.

Woody

Craig, nice knife.

Tech, some bearing races are case hardened mild steel, others are 52100. 52100 is not an easy steel to work with. It is very unforgiving and it is easy to stress crack if you work it even a little too cold. If you work with it, expect some failures in the learning process it does make a great knife.

Cable is usually quite high in carbon. How did you determine that this stuff is not? Is that just someone's opinion or did you actually do some hardening tests to see? If not take a small piece heat it to just above non magnetic and then quench it in oil. then put it in a vise and try to scratch it with a file. If the file cuts it, it's not that high in carbon. If the file skates, it is high carbon.

If you don't understand something, then no question is dumb. It is better to question first and act later or you could end up with an new address in 17 differnt zip codes.

Have the regulator checked out there may be something blocking it or causing it to stick. Propane is very cold and a bit of moisture in the regulator will freeze into ice. Often a piece of teflon tape used on the threads will become dislodged and clog a line or an valve.

Please remember my granddaughter Annalise in your prayers. She has had 4 open heart surgeries and her immune system is quite comprimised so tomorrow she starts a series of IVIG treatments. This is an infussion or some immune system builder that takes 4 hours and is done in the Pediatric ICU she may be in the hospital for up to 24 hours. She will recieve one of these treatments every month for an indefinate period.

I love the pattern

Woody

Do you have an abundant source of cheap fuel? If not hauling may be the better alternative.

Do a google search on torsion bar "steel composition" you can get the complete analysis from one of the many hits there. Then go to principalmetals.com and look under tool steel, see if 5160 is listed there or check Machinery's Handbook and see what it says about 5160.

Holzkohle;

Check the safety forum thread about linseed oil, also linseed oil hardens like varnish I don't think it would be suitable for the flexing a bellows would give it.

Perhaps disolve some bees wax in solvent and paint it on the canvas then let it dry and the solvent will evaporate leaving wax impregnated canvas. Do this in a well ventelated area of course.

DO NOT! paint canvas with linseed oil. Linseed oil oxidized as it dries and generates heat. Frequently linseed oil soaked material will spontaneously combust. Any rags paper towel etc soaked with any vegetable oil, linseed oil is a vegetable oil made from flax seed, will do the same thing.

work it from bright yellow down to bright red and then back in the forge. Work it any colder than that and It wants to crack on ya. Even at that heat it don't like to move too well.

You get Boric Acid in the drug store just ask for it. I use plain old 20 mule team boarax. It does everything I need and it becomes "anyhdrous" pretty fast when it hits red hot metal. You can bake 20 mule team into anhydrous borax in the over but the problem is it starts absorbing moisture out of the air as soon as it comes out of the oven.

Oh and by the way boric acid powder in the drug store is much less expensive than Roach Powder.

I don't recommend it, mild steel does not have enough carbon in it to be hardened sufficiently for a knife blade. A lot of people use a plain high carbon steel like 1095 and a nickel steel like 15N20 or L-6 for damascus. This gives a lot of contrast when etched.

Many things affect steel prices like all other materials.

1. Supply and Demand. With the world economy the way it is, demand is down in most places. Prices have come down considerably in the last year or so. Still if you are bididng a project, current pricing is esential and placing a time limit on the bid price is crutial. Prices can change enough in a short period of time to make a project much less profitable.

2. Proximity to the source, transportation costs are a major factor in the price of anything these days.

3. Where it was produced. Several years ago I priced some steel for a project my daughter in Texas was considering. I called several suppliers and one told me that if I wanted to use steel from Pakistan it would be cheaper than stuff produced here.

4. Competition is also a factor, those who live in more populated areas with many sources of supply are more likely to get a break on prices than those who live in rural areas with only one or two sources.

You are wise to shop around. A couple phone calls can save you a lot of money.

Another thing to consider is if the steel is stored inside or out. I bought some channel that was stored outside from a different supplier than I normally use. This stuff was so rusty it took me several days to clean it up so that I could use it. My normal supplier was out of what I needed and couldn't get the material by the time I needed it. Time is money.

don't know nett, some virus programs read embedded codes as virus no matter what the code is. Norton once read the embedded header on MS word documents at a virus. All the header consisted of was the name of the company I worked for at the time. Incidently the only time I got a virus was when I was running Norton, it didn't recognize it when it came in, found it but couldn't deal with it in a scan, and it cost me $150 with the geek squad to get rid of it. McAfee wasn't much better, all it did was make things run slow. I have "The Shield Delux" now seems to be a great program, scans everything including web sites before it will connect.