ray562•28d ago

My forge weld on a Damascus billet took three days to finally stick

I was making a chef's knife from 1084 and 15N20 steel, a project I've done before. The first weld seemed fine, but after drawing it out, a huge delamination opened up near the center. I spent hours grinding it back, cleaning, and re-fluxing, only to have it fail again on the second heat. The real fix? I had to let my whole shop cool down for a full day. My anvil and vise were holding so much summer heat that the billet was cooling too fast the second I took it from the forge. I finally got a solid weld on the third try after everything sat overnight. Has anyone else had a simple heat sink issue ruin a project for that long?

3 comments

3 Comments

emma_lee2228d ago

Oh man, that's the kind of problem that would have me pulling my hair out. You fight the steel, the flux, your own hammer swings, and it turns out the real enemy was your own anvil just sitting there soaking up heat. It's like your tools were secretly working against you the whole time. I never would have guessed that was the issue, but it makes total sense now that you say it. That's a brutal three-day lesson, but at least you figured it out.

shane_carter28d ago

Honestly I'd blame the steel or the welder before the anvil. A good anvil should be a heat sink, that's its job. Sounds like something else was off in the process.

dylanrodriguez28d ago

Funny how the simplest piece of gear can be the hidden problem. You see it all the time where the obvious answer gets overlooked for the complex one. Makes you check your basics twice.