Ok, so I have welded cable before... and made a couple of other simple welds... but this is my second try at welding cable and it turned out horibbly. The first time it welded cable into a billet I had absolutedly no problems... since I assume you canlt wet charcoal to make it stick the way you can coal, I just make a nice mound of charcoal od shove the piece in... usually I can get it just before welding heat and place it on top to finish coming up to heat. But for some reason, on this go at welding cable nothing seemed to go right... first off the steet heated faster than my previous try, so it burned... second the majority of the sttands in the cable didn't weld, only the very inermost... and third when I tried to re-heat for a second try the metal itself caught fire and ruined the entire billet... it almost looks rusted but a different color. Any advice any1 can give from these observations would be apreciated... and if any1 on here lives in central florida send me a private message so maybe we can arrange something.

Is the new cable laid the same way all the way through? Is it possible that there are contaminants in the new cable - dirt, threads, etc?

you can wet charcoal, works for me.
too much Blast?maybe

http://video.google.com/videosearch?sourceid=navclient&rlz=1T4GGLF_enUS310US310&q=welding%20cable&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wv#q=welding+cable+blacksmith&hl=en&emb=0

Edited July 20, 200917 yr by Sweany

cable got to be clean....i soaked mine in keroscene for days ...then i took the cable apart and scrubbed it

It sounds much like an uneven heat and perhaps not enough flux. In any case, do it over and over until it becomes second nature. Keep in mind, never hurry; never dawdle!

Assuming it's all laid in the same direction (I forget if that's cable or hawser laid ), the technique I've found easiest is to get it red hot, flux, get it to welding temp, clamp one end in a vice, and twist it in the direction of the lay. This works very well with the stuff I've used to set the weld. Once you've got it set, take it to the hammer.

Edit: You may want to mig weld or otherwise fix the end that you're clamping so it doesn't spread.

Please excuse me if you already knew all that, and good luck with the next welds. :)

I have been thinking about this one. What had me was that you said it welded in the centre but not on the outside. First I thought not hot right through but that is not right, obviously it was hot enough in the cnetre to weld. THEN I reread your post and noted you said it heated up really quickly and burnt a bit. I think that is it, if the outer layers burnt they will be hard, if not impossible, to get a weld on.

It sounds like your fire may have been too hot in the first place. If its too big and has too much air then it will heat the outer layers of your material too fast and burn them before the centre gets hot enough. In your case it did burn them but the centre was OK. I would try reducing the air blast to get a steadier/smaller fire that will soak the metal to the correct heat. It takes a bit longer but the metal is heated right through evenly. Then give the cable a twist in the vice and bang away.

Worth a try?

Good point Rob. :)

I just clean my cable in the fire.

there is a great knife maker Jims web sight is salamander armoury. Cable is fun to work with your temp for welding is brite orange not yellow. and the slower you go the better light hits compacting it until it ia a solid then you can turn up the force of forging have to get all the air spaces out of the billett first. It will pop on you like a balloon.