Bad forge weld?

Gene Kimmi

KNIFE MAKER
I finished this knife up a week or so ago and have a question on one of the welds.

I started with 2 cubes of crushed w's that were 1" x 1" x 3/4". They were stacked on top of each other and forge welded together in 2 heats, squeezing them 2-3 times each heat in my press. Then the billet was laid down and forged out to make the knife. Once the knife was etched, the initial weld of the 2 cubes can be seen. In the 2nd picture you can see a silver line where the weld is.




The question is, what causes this? Is it a weak weld?

I think the answer to not have it happen again is to ferry flip ? (cut the billet into tiles at angles and flip on their side) the tiles so that all forging pressure would be contributing to a better forge weld.

Other than this weld, the knife turned out pretty good, but will stay with me because of this issue.

 
I had the same problem on some San mai the other day and was curious the same thing. Was just shy to ask. :D


With some San Mai you can get carbon migration that has weird (cool) lines at the junction of the 2 steels.

Don't be shy, the only way to know is to ask. Like in this case, I figure my failure is a great way to learn what I did wrong and the right way to do it.
 
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