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Cable Welding

Bigfoot - Friday, May 14, 2010 - 3:58pm
Blacksmithing

Ok i just made two cable billets from wire rope. It was only my second and third forge welds, but was SOOO easy. The pattern is eye popping and the welds were almost perfect (the end didn't take though). Other then that there are only some minor flaws on the edge that I ground out. It was really easy to get done in my gasser. To weld it i heat up the rope to burn out the grease and such. Then I heat to orange, open it up, wire brush, flux, tighten, reheat, tighten again, and then heat to welding temp. Then I weld it up. So far it works like a charm. I will post pics ASAP. Thanks for all the help fellows and in your face Mr. Waugh! Welding wire rope is easy, you just need to get clean stuff that isn't rusty. :P It just takes confidence and a high heat.


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Bigfoot's picture

pics:

Bigfoot - Friday, May 14, 2010 - 7:12pm

pics: PhotobucketPhotobucket


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Bigfoot's picture

Cable Failure

Bigfoot - Sunday, May 16, 2010 - 2:32pm

As I was working on this knife i realized the cable doesn't harden enough in water or oil (it got re HT'ed). So today I welded up a cable mascus san mai blade. The core is a piece of W1 or 5160 (To be honest, I can't remember). either way it hardens and works. The edges didn't take so it is going to be a bit smaller then I had planned, but oh well. It is still something to be proud of.


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Stefani's picture

Pics

Stefani - Friday, August 6, 2010 - 1:55pm

I wish you had pics of your process. Some of us artists types are visual learners. I would liked to have seen what you are talking about.


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Will Jones's picture

Nicely done!

Will Jones - Monday, May 17, 2010 - 1:32pm

Wish I'd found it as easy as it seems you did the first time (or even the umpteenth time!)Confidence is a VERY handy thing to have in the toolbox!

Reckon you ought to put in the real hard boring work though now, and polish and etch them so you (and we) can see the pattern better.

I was pretty obsessed with damascus for a while. Think I stopped messing with it a) because I hated all the grinding and polishing and b) because no matter what I did it was never perfect enough for me - there was always some tiny fault....oh yeah and c) had to get on with some paying work once in a while....
somewhere in the A.M. archives theres a piccy or two of the flintlock pistol I made for myself with a wrought iron/mild steel pattern welded barrel and welded cable fittings.
Nice....but just about enough pattern welding to satisfy me for a year or two.

Keep on heating it and thumping it !

Will Jones


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Yeah, i need to polish it

Bigfoot - Friday, May 21, 2010 - 10:43am

Yeah, i need to polish it some more, but come on, its my first 'mascus! this is really a one off piece. in the future i plan to stick with simple steel knives as A. They work better B, they are easier and C they are cheaper for me to make. Compared to some of the rusty junk i tried to weld a while back, this was a cake walk.
Happy Hamering!
Greg


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