Jack S Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Wow I need help. I cut up 3 pieces of a leaf spring and tried to forge them together. I ground of all the surface rust mig welded all the joints together. Then ground all the weld added a rebar for handle. I have a 2 burner forge with fire brick and have no problem heating to a non magnetic temp. Started stretching the metal it all looked good at first . Doubled length and width let cool and cut apart to double over and it just fell apart. Any suggestions [HELP] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 5160 is notoriously difficult to forge weld. There are some other threads about this here on IFI; take a look there for more info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Did not state what or how much flux you used, and non magnetic is no where near hot enough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Are you saying you mig welded solid all around the pieces that we're stacked? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 What JHCC said. Hard to weld, especially to itself. You're not alone, a lot of us tried it first. Also, just up to nonmagnetic may not be nearly hot enough. A lot depends on alloy, cleanliness, and pressure. Have you tried welding with something easier, like mild steel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jspool Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Difficult, but it can be done for sure if your metal is clean and you get it hot enough. Look at some YT videos to get an idea of what color it needs to be to weld. Pretty hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 12 minutes ago, Jspool said: Look at some YT videos to get an idea of what color it needs to be to weld. Really don't recommend this. YouTube videos rarely give accurate colors for glowing steel (especially at welding temperatures -- it overloads the camera sensors), and you'll probably end up either failing to set the weld or burning your steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 nonmagnetic is a bit less than 1000 degF too cold for most forge welding (1390F is a curie temp for low carbon vs 2300 degF for welding temp.) Now the alloy does make a difference but you are still WAY TOO COLD to weld! So: choice of a difficult alloy to weld to itself. + not knowing anything about the temps involved seems to indicate you need to learn more about the process. Also a "2 burner forge" could fit in a coffee can or have a train car fit into it. Doesn't tell us anything about size or what temps it can achieve---sort of like telling us you have 4 wheels on your car and ask if it can go over 200 MPH? I hope to be forge welding some trivets this weekend; stop by; it's *MUCH* easier to learn in person than from a book or the boobtube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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