New forge

opaul said:
I believe he said just a grinder finish.
Chris- what PSI are you using for those billets. You have a Mathew’s forge if I’m not mistaken.
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You are correct sir. About the same as John said above. My welding forge does not have a pressure gauge. My blacksmith’s forge does I just have never switched them. I bet its between 20-30. I just let it go until its white hot. Looks like the sun.
 
Chris Railey said:
You are correct sir. About the same as John said above. My welding forge does not have a pressure gauge. My blacksmith’s forge does I just have never switched them. I bet its between 20-30. I just let it go until its white hot. Looks like the sun.
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I bet it drinks propane ;)
 
Not as bad as it could be. If I were a patient man I bet I could get it to weld at lower PSI. I just crank her up and weld. After I set my welds I reduce it to forging range so it does not run that high very long.
 
Chris Railey said:
Who knew John had some rebel in him? Going against all established knowledge of cleaning, fluxing and major prep work for a forge weld. I am impressed! I have already forgone the whole cleaning with acetone stuff and I only tack weld the ends of my billets now because they are easy to cut off but you have gone further. What about when you cut and restack? What kind of clean up do you do there?
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First cut and restack is just a 60 grit belt finish. Everything after that I'd surface ground.

The less reduction I will be doing (like on final weld), the finer finish and better fit I strive for.

The dry weld thing isn't new and it isn't mine. Some of the highest end, top leaders in the Damascus game currently have been doing dry welds for a long time.
 
Well John after seeing your results you can bet my next billet will not have any time spent grinding 18 or 20+ plates. I do stick my billet in kerosene but it's just to keep it clean until welding. My welding pressure is 7 psi on a blown forge.
 
I have to agree with you, Mr Doyle. I went through a couple hundred pounds of 1084 and 15N20 back in my day from both Admiral and Kelly Cupples and never did more than grind off the abrasive-cutoff burr. Didn't experience any inclusions poor folding/pressing technique didn't cause.
 
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