Hey yall, how in the heck do you pattern weld a horseshoe?Is that even possible? ive tried 18 times so far and i always end up with a giant metal spoon. Here's what i'm doing can someone point out where i went wrong, I'm using a cutting torch with a rosebud instead of a forge so im guessing thats whats throwing me off but i wanted to check.
1. Heat horshoe
2. Place in vise and bend in half by beating it with cross peen
3. Pound flat on anvil
4. Straighten out over anvil
5. Reheat and stick back in vise then twist with a pipe wrench
6.(heres where im having trouble) Heat either end to a bright yellow and attempt to hammer together.
7. Failed
8. chunk horseshoe at quench tank in frustration

hard to get enough heat with a torch.

Grind the steel clean before placing the sections together

Flux helps keep out air.

Get it welded before twisting.

I'm no expert on using rose-buds. I only use my acetylene torch for cutting, brazing and welding but I would be willing to wager you're winding up with it getting too much oxygen in there, either from the rosebud or the air. A good welding fire doesn't let much to any oxygen in contact with the metal. Any scale created will prevent a weld. You would also need a flux in this instance for sure, commonly just mule20 borax, to reduce the amount of scale. Do a quick search in the forum and homepage for forge welding if you haven't already and it will help you indefinitely. There are also some good free books linked on here too that give good advice.

can a blow dryer get a fire hot enough to forge weld? I have a forge at home i made from a tire wheel and some pipe but no anvil or any other tools, im in the process of aquiring them but for now im forced to use what i have in my Metal shop class

Put the billet making and forge welding off until you are set up and get some smithing skills..It is not a starting point on learning to forge. Work on basic skills..What you are doing will not let you advance.

Ive made some pretty nifty damascus using horse shoes, drew them out into a flat bar and laminated them with some higher nickle / carbon steel to get a hardenable steel mix.

Its not easy though! as mentioned you really need a forge that you can control the amount of oxygen in, and flux (good ol Borax for me),, and you need to be pretty competent at forge welding before you attempt it!

One thing that really had me scratching my head was I kept getting funny streaks in finished billets, then I realised that they put a tungsten stud (roadstud) through the shoe! dont start folding that into the mix :D

A blow dryer will generally put out way more air than you need to forge weld and as excess O2 will prevent welding....

Also you will not get much of a pattern welding the same material back on itself, you will do better to put something in between. Welding two worn out shoes into one good one was a standard US army Farrier's test; but it wasn't pattern welding---just forgewelding.

ok i know this will sound dumb but ...whats the difference between pattern and forge welding

Pattern welding is joining 2 or more different metals or alloys of metals, in a pattern, usuauly also involves cutting or twisting, so the finished project has visible layers, think mokugame (japanese for metal that looks like wood) or "damascus" steel

Forge welding is just that, take 2 or more pieces and joining them with heat from the forge and a small hammer (an integral skill to pattern welding) A difficult skill to master for consistient welds.

Don't feel bad, I just asked how to use a fuller.

mokume gane

Edited May 4, 200917 yr by steve sells

oh ok kool

Thanks pete, memory isn't perfect...