Thomas just explained that it does work that way.  also there is nothing wrong with a few hammer hits between twists

Yes, but its a theoretical thing. "Can it be done welded with no hammer blows being delivered." I dont think im conveying my thoughts clearly enough, or maybe im misinterpreting what Mr. Powers wrote. Its been a very long day, maybe critical thinking isnt my forte right now lol. Idk. Its just a speculative thought anyway. 

Depends on what you are wanting out of the process.  I don't think twist welding would be sufficient to close up all the voids and so would not be sufficient for say blademaking.  It may be fine for ornamental work. I would not trust the welds for load bearing.

The little experience I have welding cable I did as Thomas says. I did a couple welding heats with nothing but tight twists and it made it fairly solid. I did go back and weld it with the hammer to consolidate it the rest of the way. The twist did give good initial welds that helped. Something else I did, may not work for everyone, I turned the piece as I hammered it so that each gamer blow was pushing the twist down tighter. Imagine holding the cable in you hands you see the twist going on a clockwise direction (maybe counterclockwise) down the length. As your hammering turn the cable as if it were a screw and you were removing it from a piece of wood. If that’s not clear please tell me and I’ll get some cable when I get to the shop the next time and demonstrate what I mean. 

Thomas

That is sort of what i figured. It would be interesting to try though, and see just how strong it can be. Ill put it on my several kilometer long "to do list." Lol. 

Michael

No, i think what you wrote makes perfect sense. I also imagine that it would help drive out flux and any scale from the voids. Sort of like how the flutes on a drill pull the chips away from the working area. Thanks for the tip. 

I like the drill analogy. I might have to use that next time.