February 5, 20224 yr Good Morning, When trying to learn 'Fire Welding', you have to ask yourself "How hard should I hit these 2 bowls of Jello?". Put your Forging Hammer down and pick up a hammer half it's size or less. Don't splatter the Jello!! You are trying to persuade these molecules to bond with those molecules, Politely!! Please and Thank You!! It is easier to start with thicker material. 3/16" thick material looses it's heat quite quickly. Neil
February 5, 20224 yr Ok, that makes sense. I have done a bit of forge welding, but not much. I think I’ll just try the 3/16 stock I have, and if that doesn’t work then I’ll buy some thicker stuff. I’ll just have to be careful and not let it cool down too much.
February 5, 20224 yr Someone on the forum has mentioned having a chunk of RR track in the corner of their (coal) forge so that they can pull the workpiece from the fire, tap the weld shut, and put it back in the fire for a second heat in about the same time it would take for them to go from the forge to their regular anvil. When IFI member Latticino was teaching me how to weld a tomahawk, he handed me a little hammer that felt like it didn’t weigh much more than a pound. He called it “The Magic Welding Hammer”. It worked really well, serving as a haptic reminder to hit gently in a way that a heavier hammer wouldn’t.
February 5, 20224 yr Hey now! that’s a handy idea! With the rail track in the forge,I’ll have to try that, of coarse magic welding hammers are cool too! Lol
February 5, 20224 yr I’ve got a little 1.25# ball peen I will try to use. Unfortunately, my coal forge is homemade and doesn’t have a good spot for my anvil. However, I can just stick the anvil a foot away and pivot. Now I just gotta wait for the weather to clear up
February 5, 20224 yr 1 hour ago, JHCC said: “The Magic Welding Hammer”. Experienced tools can make a huge difference for folks learning a craft. Deb was "managing" to knit but tinking almost as much. Tink = knit in reverse for those who don't knit) Anyway, my Mother gave Deb probably a couple hundred of her knitting needles. When Mother knitted it sounded like someone pulling a zipper slowly or maybe a Geiger counter. She was a knitting machine and would carry on conversations, watch a ball game, etc. Of course she grew up in a time where you knitted your own socks, mittens, hats, scarfs, etc. or went without. Anyway, Deb's knitting improved a hundred times in days sitting with Mother, chatting, and knitting with old well worn needles. Unfortunately Mother passed before Deb could get even with home processed and spun yarn. Experienced tools make all the difference, I know it takes a while to train new ones. Gentle firm dead blows set welds best for me but I've set fire welds by laying the joint on a brick and hand pressing it with another brick to prove the point. Frosty The Lucky.
February 5, 20224 yr A good tip I picked up on some older threads here when I was looking for some help with welding a bit of leaf spring to mild is to kind of tap your hammer in way that you fight the rebound a bit. Firm hits and not sharp hits. It worked really well, even with a heavier hammer. Next time I'll try some smaller ones too and compare how well it welds. I've gotten good at getting a welding fire so that is at least one of the hurdles gone. ~Jobtiel
February 5, 20224 yr Chimaera, I have got 12*F on my thermometer right now. That means that my anvil is also 12*F. You may want to heat the anvil a bit before trying the weld too. I keep a 15# cube of 4140 next to my anvil stand. I can use it for upsetting long bars or pick it up and set next to my fire for quick welds. Very handy to have just a lump of steel around when needed. I use the same ~3# hammer for just about everything and that includes welding. I see it as a matter of hammer control, but that is just my opinion.
February 5, 20224 yr On 1/20/2022 at 1:50 PM, Irondragon ForgeClay Works said: Also why do you keep quoting your post from 2 days ago without any new information? I saw one quote that has been removed. Sorry, I was having trouble uploading pictures from my cheap phone. I don't post much, mostly work.
February 5, 20224 yr 2 hours ago, BillyBones said: That means that my anvil is also 12*F I typically keep my anvil inside, and I can throw some hot steel on it before I get welding. Also far too cold for me to do anything right now :). I will wait till it’s warmer before I do anything
February 5, 20224 yr 14 hours ago, swedefiddle said: Good Morning, When trying to learn 'Fire Welding', you have to ask yourself "How hard should I hit these 2 bowls of Jello?". Put your Forging Hammer down and pick up a hammer half it's size or less. Don't splatter the Jello!! You are trying to persuade these molecules to bond with those molecules, Politely!! Please and Thank You!! It is easier to start with thicker material. 3/16" thick material looses it's heat quite quickly. I was blessed to learn forge welding from Bob Patrick many years ago. I remember he said "the iron wants to weld". Turns out he was right, if you let it happen, it will. Not magic, clean, heat, tap. If you have a large surface area then some flux helps, but I think people generally drown the work in it. I try not to let the iron hit the anvil yil Im ready to hit it. Another hint, if you want to weld with coal you must learn to run a clean fire; that is tje most important I think. Oh, and practice, practice, and practice some more.
February 5, 20224 yr So far today I've drilled 128 holes in L brackets for my Wife's raised bed, (actually 64 holes but I step drilled them). Had to stop and go inside to warm up a couple of times. I didn't bother going to the scrapyard today, all the "good stuff" is on the north side and so still snow covered. Next Saturday is supposed to be in the 60's degF and sounds like a much better time to peruse the scrap piles! My goal is to have my wife's raised beds ready by the time the weather gets better for shop work. I do have to say that having an electric drill sure helps for drilling a lot of holes in steel. Now when I get the drill press back on line I can stack them and drill a bunch at a time.
February 5, 20224 yr 54 minutes ago, hheneg said: learn to run a clean fire; that is tje most important I think What do you mean by a clean fire? Is that saying without contaminants, or a reducing flame?
February 5, 20224 yr Too cold and windy to fool around at the forge. So, I set about the task of fabricating a larger gas tank for the air compressor at work. The existing tank may hold a litre if you're lucky. I had a "mini keg" in the shop holds 1.32 gallons. So I got the idea to make a gas tank of it. and fabricate a bracket of aluminum. I still need to make the straps to hold it in place, and add anti chafe material.
February 5, 20224 yr You sure that that can withstand the pressures of an air compressor. I would be very reluctant to use anything that is not graded for an air compressor. ~Jobtiel
February 5, 20224 yr I believe he is making a gas tank for an engine run compressor, not the air storage tank. I would want at least a gas tank that would hold 5 gallon's, I made one for my generator because the factory one only held 1 gallon.
February 5, 20224 yr That Heineken tank sure looks larger than 1.32 gallons. Maybe 1.32 gallons of beer with a lot of expansion room for the propellant.
February 6, 20224 yr That's what I'm counting on. mabe 1.5-2 gallons? Oh, and one more thing. Ordered new glasses today. Trivex lenses, with IR protection. Came out cheaper than the same thing cost me back in 2006. At the same place. :D
February 6, 20224 yr I love my Trivex lenses, so much better than the old poly carbonate ones. I'm due for an eye exam on the 17th and if my prescription has changed that's what I'm going with again.
February 6, 20224 yr Do you have a speaker magnet with a solid core with a threaded hole in the center? I had a friend who was doing circles with a rig like that; but putting a center punched hole in the metal that would propagate as he dished it and so he was making "1 rivet pots". I gave him a small speaker magnet with a solid core with a hole in the center and he moved up to 0 rivet pots! (Easier to clean!)
February 6, 20224 yr I’ve got a few things that might work, if the need arises. We shall see. I am thinking of reducing the outer diameter of the ring around the bearing, if the present proves too bulky.
February 6, 20224 yr Spent some time working on my next knife. Got it forged out and cleaned up a bit. Then started on the guard. No, the guard is not going to be so ridiculously large. It was much large and needs a lot more. Keep it fun, David
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