jlpservicesinc Posted December 31, 2021 Author Share Posted December 31, 2021 Das, nice job and a respectable time to boot.. The drop tong type of weld I find is tough when the tongs don't drop... I had to pick thru the tongs to find one that would loose enough in the joint.. Bluerooster.. Another good 1.. 3/16" sq starts to get tough.. You end up losing a lot of heat in the welds.. Please do film it.. I love to see all the variation that takes place.. Frazers video was awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 I dropped the basket part more times than i care to say.each time having to get them both back up to heat lol. It was my first times attempting that type of forge weld. I was cruising along till it came time for the scarves and forge welding. The basket welds took time but went well. I had planned on squaring the round stock shaft and doing the twist but it was late and I was just tired. It was definately fun. First basket handle and first drop tongs forge weld. So I'll take it as a win. Or atleast a success lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 I need to work on that weld my self, hence the reason i used my stick welder to tack the basket on. I can either drop the tongs or weld but not both. Nothing but time today and it is supposed to be in the mid 50's. Maybe try again here in a bit. Getting tired of trying to figure out what i want to do. I have been off all week and nothing to do around the house so it has been mostly shop time. Get a bunch of stuff to work on, no time to do it... time to do it, nothing to do. Ah well, so is life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 With practice it just becomes normal. Nothing worse than sticky pivots on the tongs though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 I stopped after my 8th or so try. I could get them to stick in the fire but could not get them to stick on the anvil. I even tried sticking them together in the fire and then to the anvil and just knocked them apart. Think i will finish this one with a wire wrapped to hold them together, then weld wire and everything together. Same way i used to weld on reigns for tongs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted January 3, 2022 Author Share Posted January 3, 2022 this is one of those great learning opportunities.. Personally what is when I stop and try to figure out why things are not working.. Be it a dirty fire, bad batch of coal, bad timing, to much heat, not enough heat. bad scarf.. If it's going really bad I'll know before this point and will call it quits for the day.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 I will say i probably had a bad scarf. I also had the pieces tack weld in the fire. Funny. I didnt try to line them up in the fire after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 Billy, when forge welding small items I have sometimes used the rim of my coal forge as an anvil to lightly tap things together. Even the short swing from the forge to the anvil can let small items cool to below welding heat. But sometimes it just seems to be the phase of the moon. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frazer Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 If your weld won't stick after a couple of attempts (and your fire is clean and it's coming out at the right heat etc.), try turning your hammer slightly and give it 1 (or 2) good hits in the center of your weld and 2 (or 4) good hits right on the toe with just the edge of the hammer. The parentheses are depending on how fast you're working. If you watch my video starting at 29:43 you'll see I'm only using the edge of my hammer to get them tacked together. Also, bring each piece up to a welding heat, then brush, then apply flux and back up to a welding heat (this wont take long), then weld. This leaves less time for the flux to "degrade" (-M. Aspery) The another thing is to make sure the piece that goes against the anvil is tall. That will give you a couple extra seconds before the anvil sinks the heat out. George brings up a good point too, I keep a piece of 1.5" sq. stock in the pan of the the forge just for that purpose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 So I did 6 baskets from rusty barbwire for Christmas presents. Didn't seem to have nearly the issues some of you are having! My coal forge method: 1 Clean the ends of the pieces to bare metal, wire the ends with baling wire or rebar tie wire about 3/4" from each end. 2 Build a welding fire and crank it up HOT and then stop cranking. Shove the first end in and let it come to fluxing heat with NO air! 3 Take it out and quickly wire brush it and flux the hot end and put back in the fire till just about sparking. 4 QUICKLY take it to the anvil, don't touch it to the anvil face until the hammer pushes it into contact. Several light taps with a light hammer till it sticks. 5 Wire brush and reflux and back in the forge with the same end. 6 Reheat and then reweld; working it a bit more forcefully. Repeat if not to shape. Chandler made from election sigh wire---about 1/8"- Heavier stock is easier than smaller stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frazer Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 A quick note: I would not recommend using barbed wire for your fire poker handles. Unless you don't particularly like the future recipient. In which case, best pick the extra rusty stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 Once it's been up to glowing; even prions give up the ghost! (Someone had mentioned having issues forge welding smaller stuff and barb wire is pretty small!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 Thomas, it is not the basket i am having trouble with it is the drop tong weld to attach the basket to the handle i am having a problem with. I have more of a problem with welding to much of the basket rather than the weld failing, the parts i do not want welded i have had to break apart when untwisting a couple times. I did think about using the block i have for setting on the forge to do the weld, but i figured by that time with my luck when i dropped the tongs they would land on the forge, the roll into the fire or something stupid like that. I am going with the moon was in the wrong phase and Jupiter in the first house for the reason of my failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 38 minutes ago, BillyBones said: the drop tong weld to attach the basket to the handle The first time I attempted that weld, I hit it so hard that the basket squirted out from under the handle, shot across the room, and burned a hole in my backpack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 11 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: Chandler made from election sigh wire---about 1/8"- Thomas that’s pretty cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted January 3, 2022 Author Share Posted January 3, 2022 Billy post up some photos of the scarf your using.. Also gas forge or coal forge? For certain things, (localized heat) a coal forge is easier.. A gas forge changes the way the heat is applied and often times modifications to a technique needs to be applied to get the results. With a gas forge sometimes the handle bars need to have a tapered stainless steel rod placed in the middle to keep the bars from welding where not wanted. This is done with tie wire to keep the first weld from getting fouled. the handle to shaft weld is made with the type of scarf shown in the "Basket handle for those that have not mastered forge welding" video.. There are hundreds of ways to skin this cat.. 5min's on the forge floor and I'd have you going like a pro.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Coal forge. My scrarf, i will get a pic, but is just a "regular" old scarf, kind of hooky looking. Like two cupped hands meeting at the heel of the hand, fingers on the wrist is the best way i can describe one i guess. I have already put a visit to your school on my bucket list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 IT STUCK! yay. Pretty happy about that. 1st try to. Ya, ok it is a little off center but for my first time i will take it. Here is another refined a bit more. Yes that is ice, 21* F today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frazer Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 Wooo! Nice! On your scarves, thin out the toe some more to make it easier to blend. Jennifer shows one way to do it in her video (8:50) and in mine it's at (7:15). It happens pretty quick, but she uses a cross peen and I use the far face (perpendicular to the working face) of the anvil. Both work well. This is the shape I make them... Notice the toe tapers in both directions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted January 8, 2022 Author Share Posted January 8, 2022 Frazer.. Nice description.. Here is a good video on it.. Mark does a nice job.. I call this type of scarf a European.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goods Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 Got a chance to give this a try after the hammer-in today. My time was a disappointing 2hrs and 8mins. Should have used 3/8” square for the for the poker. 1/2” didn’t match up well with the basket I made of 1/4” and it really didn’t want to weld. Thanks for setting this challenge. This was only my 2nd successful (after many attempts) drop tong weld, and third basket twist. Yes, I was fun! David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted January 10, 2022 Author Share Posted January 10, 2022 David,, That is great.. You did a nice job with the materials you used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lary Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 What I started with, 3/8 and 1/4 inch round, Folded the 1/4 inch in half and slid them together, Attempted to forge weld with charcoal and failed. At this point I managed to get the tip of the poker forge welded but kept struggling with the basket. So I mig welded the basket together, then mig welded that to the 3/8 shaft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lary Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 I lost track of time on this (meaning it took hours). I switched over to gas forging to have better control. But I still can't get it hot enough to forge weld. Sorry no video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted January 23, 2022 Author Share Posted January 23, 2022 Thats great.. Good go of it.. Love the glass ball detail. it's a good project skill wise for sure.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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