Rich Hale

I stole that cut, clean and stack from a past member here. JPH....more info than that weee little morsel is in his book The Complete Bladesmith and even more in the two he did after that. We can expect the flow to continue in book four when he completes it. And no I do not work for him or receive monetary compensation for this.... :) Theo you did not mention if you removed all the scale as you folded. From that I can only guess that low heat may be part of the problem?

http://www.sassda.co.za/info/documents/technical_data_3CR12.pdf

You did not mention how you prepped between layers,,or did you fold and weld?,,,,Looks like poor welds between folded or stacked layers...And I do have to wonder why you would try and see how low of a temp you could weld at...Do you have meters to show actual temps?

In pic it looks like drifted hole has parallel sides?

There is a lot of information on forges here....solid fuel and gassers...Bypassing that information did not work for you maybe doing some home work may get you where you wish to be with the least amount of time and money. Quite often on here we see the same thing,,, a Build that does not work and efforts lost. Not trying to be harsh,,but give the forums a fair try.

How about a foot pedal?

I have made some pattern welded rings,,,would never be able to type all the how to in here,,,nor would it be a beginners project.

Forge welding has been cussed and discussed a lot in the forums...I think if you prowl around the blacksmithing section you will have more than you need!

Now with a pic...I would open the holes up,,,clean the ends up with files and abrasives,,,include the full length of each surface of the slit then bring them back parallel. A correct thickness steel item in between would help and likely could be done cold if mild steel.

Whether to do a major trim on an abused/neglected horse is decided case by case. And may involve the assistance of a large animal Vet with horse experience. For those horse left go so long that they have rams horn kinds of hoofs a foot long or more a vet will likely ask for a dramatic trim...those can involve electric saws to get back to the point nippers can be used. For horses that are a couple of inches longer than would be appropriate. Bring back at least close to proper angles may be done right away. How the horse is kept plays a large part for me. If it is stall bound in deep bedding the proper angles are not quite as important as ,if like yours it is being ridden barefoot. Just being ridden changes the matter. When we climb aboard things are different. Then things like proper alignment of the joints at P1, P2, P3 are needed to keep lower legs healthy. I would also want to take a look at wot you describe as lamina stretching. Sometimes just long hoof walls will show that. sometimes it requires more study. A trained farrier develops a sense of feel for the trimmed sole of the foot and may be able to tell problem areas inside the capsul with fingers or hoof testers. So back to wot I typed above....I would not touch this horse with information gleaned from text or limited pics. However I am a strong believer in the "its yours shop,,your rules" approach, applied here its " your horse"

3 D I would suggest that unless you have been trained as a farrier you involve one. A good one..I take the time to type this as I believe if you are trained you would not have posted the one view pics and asked for ideas on shoeing/trimming tips. I have quite a background and would not even want to guess from the pics. From wot you say I believe it is a good thing you are involved in this horse's life. They are worth it for wot they bring to our lives....

Amazing how many folks had a childhood without the roadrunner and Wile E coyote!

I think there has been quite a few threads in the forges section on this site speaking of using charcoal...was any of it helpful?

Something you may, (or may not) wish to add to your testing: If you find that you can indeed fashion a grain directional pattern in the steel. and if it a high carbon steel that will undergo heat treat procedures for hardening and tempering. Wot becomes of the directional pattern when HT is complete?

All covered in the heat treat stickies! :)

I am not familiar with the last links you posted but can tell you that the links pointing out heat treat info on Iforge iron are shop proven by knife makers. The steps for the unknown steel you have in those files are not tough to follow..Do not require high end equipment or metallurgy degrees. In fact they are simple enough for me to do!. The biggest thing to do is to test your work, the steps to do that are in the heat treat stickies and in the knife making lessons on this site. Testing is proof you have it right,,,or not. To me nothing is more sad than a knife that looks good, feels good and should be a fine knife...and is not due to improper material selected or incorrect heat treat. And I am talking about not only home made but commercial knives as well. Just so you may desire to move ahead and grow into this. I would never quench a blade in that temp oil. I am extremely careful with oil temps and check it between each and every blade,,,making adjustments as needed. That may never make sense unless yoiu read the data.

Depending on what the pattern on a billet is that you wish...bottom fullers for drawing may enhance or degrade the finished pattern. For years I have used drawing dies on billets, a couple of years back I switched to flat dies. Not likely to go back...but kept the others anyway for drawing monosteel.

Good is the enemy of excellence. Talent is not necessary for excellence Persistence is necessary for excellence Persistence is a decision... This is my shop motto...I think you describe it as yours also.... Thanks for showing us your work!

Five threads down from where this is posted there is a thread on corn forge,,,really did not seem that hard for me to find!

Use scrap pieces and start twisting,,,see how it works and wot you have to actually do...yoi may find that after ten or so they work and look a lot different than when you begin...another way is with a rosebud on an O/A torch,,Clamp the paret you do not want twisted in vise and twist the other part. That small material will lose heat really fast. if done in forge

I am really old and it seems that a buy and sell in bold letters just above where you posted should not be real confusing?

That seam is a part of the weld that is not welded. Not a big deal for wot it is on and certainly a good outcome with a first weld. It is rather hard to weld that part of the joint for a couple of reasons: If you had tapered that way down before welding....It ir really hard to heat the thick part of the piece as well as the tapered part to the same temps. In both of your first pics you can see that the thicker end is hotter than the area where that bad spot is. Another reason is that a thin area loses heat extremely fast. By the time yiu pull from fire and move to the anvil you will lose heat that adds to the problem. A few thoughts that may help: Leave the end a little thicker. Before you even heat the piece, do a few dry runs, pull from forge,,have tongs in correct place so your do not have to turn or take any more time than needed. Have your hammer in hand so the face you need is right. This is not a race and if you see someone do it you may think it is done slowly...it should be a fluid motion...When I was learning I found that a flux from Cecil Swan helped me fix this very item. have not looked for it for along time..A flux mentioned on here several times..think it is called iron Mountain. It is said to weld at a lower temp than other fluxes. Back to the pics..the heated area needs to run up the bar toward the tongs a few inches. It stops at about the problem spot. .Maybe reduce air and let it soak a little longer...And a old time tip....After you have welded and wire brushed all scale from outside and it has cooled...hold with fingers up to your ear and tap it with a light piece of metal...it should ring..if not it is not welded solid. A mentor told me once that if every time I fire the forge I weld something,,it will get a lot easier.

I think my memory of the cotton grown near Goodyear is a wee bit different...I have always understood the material was used in tires for the cords. The rest of the tire was rubber. But this of course is another rabbit trail for this thread. It just about seems as if the original poster has left us?

In the knife making classes on here I forged a piece of spring into a blade using a 20 lb section of steel as and anvil.I was solidly supported on a stump. Your anvil would have worked even better I bet...but ya gotta support it.

You might,( or might not) want to look into the knife making lessons in the forum. Steve and I have put answers to this and other questions in there with lots of tips...I fo one am not likely to type it all out again,,,,