I like how you did "everything wrong" and still managed to create something useful and good looking. That gives us beginner smiths encouragement to keep trying even if things don't go the way we see more experienced smiths doing it. Thank you for making this video.
man, i have tried forge welding 1 time in my gas forge and that was a disaster. I used regular borax instead of sure weld. You made it look rather easy! great video!
Borax is a little tricky, but it will work. My best advice is to preheat, descale and flux hot, reheat then brush and reflux. Borax has a high moisture content, and all of that has to boil off before it starts to work. As an added bonus, it will release any scale on the part and is the easiest way to clean it properly for welding.
Very nice job. Great video this week. Hopefully you get some good use out of them. Can't wait to see more videos soon. Keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work my friend. Forge On. Fab On. Weld On. Keep forge lit. Keep Making. God Bless.
A bit of advice on a couple points. First is a Nail Header shouldn’t be flat faced, it should either be domed or rounded in shape on the top or even faceted so you can easily make the rose head nails. Second is try drilling a pilot hole first then drifting if with the square punch turning the round pilot hole into the square hole you want. One last recommendation although not entirely necessary is flip it over and over size drill the hole halfway through so only the top half is the size needed for the nails you intend to make with that header. While that last suggestion isn’t really necessary I’ve done this with the last few I’ve made and the nails are easier to remove
Thank you! Remember, the faces are spring steel so at the very least you would have to wait for it to air cool before drilling if not a full annealing cycle. (This particular piece of spring is still pretty hard to drill unless it's annealed, which is why I chose it.) Hot punching on the other hand can be done right away. Also, there's no need for back drilling the hole when you use a tapered punch.
@@strangeblacksmith yeah like I said relieving the back by oversize drilling it isn’t really necessary but I find it makes it easier to remove the nails, my H13 punch is tapered but not a big taper, it’s more gradual so that’s why back drilling it works better for me
So, the purpose of flux is to prevent oxidation (forge scale) to form on the steel. It’s not a glue. As someone who soldered decades ago using flux, I would half expect flux also helps the metal flow together. As such, I wonder why you put flux on top of the steel.
Yes, with the right kind of fire you can forge weld without flux at all. I think Rowan Taylor might have done a video on it. I know Joey VanderSteeg did, but much of his catalog has mysteriously disappeared. It's the same principle for soldering as well. Especially for red metals like brass and copper. They oxidize almost immediately after applying heat, and the oxides more or less repel molten solder. Actually, the mask I'm wearing in my profile picture is aluminum I welded with an oxy/ace torch and a special flux. Talk about oxidizing fast. Lol
But with soldering there is no homogenization of the joint. The molten solder molecules flow in the gaps between molecules of the parent metal. However, I'm not actually sure how forge welding works. lol
Oh, I suppose I probably should have explained that. lol The leaf spring is for longevity. It will take a lot longer for the hole to deform and lose its size and shape.
I like how you did "everything wrong" and still managed to create something useful and good looking. That gives us beginner smiths encouragement to keep trying even if things don't go the way we see more experienced smiths doing it. Thank you for making this video.
Thank you, I appreciate that! Sometimes perseverance is better than experience. 😂
man, i have tried forge welding 1 time in my gas forge and that was a disaster. I used regular borax instead of sure weld. You made it look rather easy! great video!
Borax is a little tricky, but it will work. My best advice is to preheat, descale and flux hot, reheat then brush and reflux.
Borax has a high moisture content, and all of that has to boil off before it starts to work. As an added bonus, it will release any scale on the part and is the easiest way to clean it properly for welding.
Forge welding is about the only thing I haven’t mastered whilst teaching my self to blacksmith 🙂 but that’s on the list to change hopefully this year🙂
Very nice job. Great video this week. Hopefully you get some good use out of them. Can't wait to see more videos soon. Keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work my friend. Forge On. Fab On. Weld On. Keep forge lit. Keep Making. God Bless.
“Watch longer, Jack. Your answer will come.”
Thank you!
Also would be great if you replied to your own comment, Jack. LOL
A bit of advice on a couple points. First is a Nail Header shouldn’t be flat faced, it should either be domed or rounded in shape on the top or even faceted so you can easily make the rose head nails. Second is try drilling a pilot hole first then drifting if with the square punch turning the round pilot hole into the square hole you want. One last recommendation although not entirely necessary is flip it over and over size drill the hole halfway through so only the top half is the size needed for the nails you intend to make with that header. While that last suggestion isn’t really necessary I’ve done this with the last few I’ve made and the nails are easier to remove
Thank you!
Remember, the faces are spring steel so at the very least you would have to wait for it to air cool before drilling if not a full annealing cycle. (This particular piece of spring is still pretty hard to drill unless it's annealed, which is why I chose it.) Hot punching on the other hand can be done right away.
Also, there's no need for back drilling the hole when you use a tapered punch.
@@strangeblacksmith yeah like I said relieving the back by oversize drilling it isn’t really necessary but I find it makes it easier to remove the nails, my H13 punch is tapered but not a big taper, it’s more gradual so that’s why back drilling it works better for me
Next time set up barbs on the mild steel it will help you on the no initial weld
Good idea! I'll have to try that!
So, the purpose of flux is to prevent oxidation (forge scale) to form on the steel. It’s not a glue. As someone who soldered decades ago using flux, I would half expect flux also helps the metal flow together. As such, I wonder why you put flux on top of the steel.
Yes, with the right kind of fire you can forge weld without flux at all. I think Rowan Taylor might have done a video on it. I know Joey VanderSteeg did, but much of his catalog has mysteriously disappeared.
It's the same principle for soldering as well. Especially for red metals like brass and copper. They oxidize almost immediately after applying heat, and the oxides more or less repel molten solder.
Actually, the mask I'm wearing in my profile picture is aluminum I welded with an oxy/ace torch and a special flux. Talk about oxidizing fast. Lol
But with soldering there is no homogenization of the joint. The molten solder molecules flow in the gaps between molecules of the parent metal.
However, I'm not actually sure how forge welding works. lol
why use the leaf spring?
Oh, I suppose I probably should have explained that. lol
The leaf spring is for longevity. It will take a lot longer for the hole to deform and lose its size and shape.
Pekerjaan yang bagus ,👍👍