Forge welding cable for Damascus....

[hbmasa]

What is the moment where you give up on welding certain strands? Some that look like theyve gotten black still go in. And how do you put toggether a big split in a billet. Lots of firm taps or can i hit it finally. Was tight but loosened up. Sometimes i hit a line "cooler" and it rips up the whole line from my weld but it made my rr track ping. 

Tx

Sorry, wrong place

[Les L]

Hbmasa, I’ve only forged a few pieces of cable, and am not an expert, but I only forged it at welding heat until I had a solid billet. I used a v swedge and rotated the cable in the direction of the twist while working it 

[Frosty]

Don't weld cable on the anvil's face. Do it in a V swage or the step between face and horn IF your anvil has a step. A V swage applies compressive force from 3 directions so the cable can't smoosh out and spread the yarns and strands on the sides. 

I like cleaning the cable thoroughly, not so much to get rid of oil and grease but to get rid of particulate junk, dirt, etc. The grease and oil actually make a good flux if it's NOT a high tech lube. I heat it up till it stops smoking and after it's cooled to reasonable I sluice it out with a solvent that evaporates completely acetone or toluene are good but white gas works.

Fluxing full depth is a challenge, I've never been one of those guys who heats to orange before fluxing, in my experience it just builds a layer of scale. I apply flux as soon as it will melt and let it find it's way in. Or I mix a saturated solution of borax in water and dip the warm cable. As the cable cools further capillarity draws the solution full depth and the water evaporates out when I heat it back up. 

Some folks tell me I'm crazy but I already knew that. 

Welding in V swages works better than round swages just remember to rotate the cable between blows.

Frosty The Lucky.