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I Forge Iron

First Forge Weld!!!


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Yesterday I tried out charcoal for the first time (Cowboy brand lump charcoal). Hithertoo I've just used scrap wood in my trench forge, with varying results due to the varying fuel size and quality. Getting beyond orange heat has been elusive. I ran the charcoal first with the fuego style bellows I made, worked well enough, but took a lot of work sitting there pumping it. I still used maybe 50% scrap wood in the fire along with the charcoal. A few small chunks of construction lumber, and a bunch of hardwood drawknife and hatchet shavings. So for comparison, I got out the electric fan. That worked better, and the steel I was working came out looking "semimolten." It was a bright 102 F afternoon so color was hard to see accurately. So I got a short piece of 3/8 round bar, scarfed the ends, bent it into a ring. Heat to red, dump on some Borax, heat until it looked "semi molten". Take it fast to the anvil, rapid hammer blows, now it feels like I'm hammering one piece. Clean it up a little over the horn, maybe it actually worked?!!! Maybe another heat or two of cleanup, I forget. Then let it cool slowly. Later I stuck it in the bench vise, put a pry bar in there, and yank until the bench moves. Feels solid! Whack it with a hammer some, feels solid. Now, I have the ability at work, to pull test this with a 20,000 lb load cell and big chain pulls, and see how it actually fails. But I'll just keep this one as a victory piece....
Maybe I should make this into a properly shaped chain link, and try to add a few more links to it?

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DSCN5267.JPG

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Looks like you got the scarf backwards. It should be oriented with the flatter side on the other side of the join with the end of the scarf curved SLIGHTLY into the joint so it bonds first.

Frosty The Lucky.

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