Handle problems, well, a different handle...

McClellan Made Blades

McClellan Made Blades

Well-Known Member
Hey Guys
I have a been having this problem every time I have attempted to make any Damascus of any kind, as a rule I generally keep my billets small, mainly because I don't have the bigger equipment needed to forge a huge stack of steel into a thin little, although long, billet. So I stick to what my equipment can (barely) do. But the one thing that keeps on plaguing me every time I attempt to make a little bar of Damascus, is the HANDLE! I make enough extra on the end to sacrifice that part so that I can get real good penetration so that it will stay stuck on there, right!?!?! WRONG! Never one time has a billet ever stayed stuck! It is driving me crazy! Now I'm no welder, I'm more of a
"Steel Sticker Together(er)", but I can get a decent bead most of the time when I have been welding a little more often than not, meaning practice. I use a very low setting on the edges and the end, then using re-bar as my handle, because I've seen others use
re-bar, from what looked like a more successful weld, so on one of my many ventures at the scrapyard I have found several pieces of varying sizes, one piece is like an inch and a half round! Way too big for most of what I do, but I didn't think I'd get the chance to buy any of that anywhere else for .25 cents a pound, so I grabbed it! And another that is about 3/4", a better size, and one that is about a 1/2", a good size too, for me anyway.
So the million dollar question is, how do you get the handles to stick to the billet?
Remember guys I don't get to work for long hours any more, on the days I CAN go to the shop I get, maybe a couple of hours a day, at best! So when I get to go to the shop to do some real work, I'd love to spend that time forge welding instead of mig welding! One more question, can getting the weld holding the billet on get too hot while heating the billet? I have felt like that may be a problem, but wasn't too sure about it. I've watched loads of videos, and never seen anyone have any problems with it or even mention it being a problem, I know editing can fix that if they did, it just was never mentioned as a problem. Thanks guys I am hoping I can get some good tips. I appreciate any and all help I can get, Rex
 
Heh, I have the same problem, the handle keeps giving out, usually right in the middle of a critical weld. My 'fix' is to re-weld the handle on after every fold (actually in my case cut and stack), whether it needs it or not...:) Lately when making pattern-welds my theory is to anticipate the problems and squash them before they have a chance to happen, I'm tired of wasting time, fuel, and steel.
 
I usually use a longer piece of the actual stock as my handle so the handle is part of the billet and not welded on. When done, I just cut it off.
 
I forgot picture - In this case the handle is just a long piece of 1084 that actually part of billet
 

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When I was able to have a forge, I weld have a friend mig weld a small billet and I would use a rebar for a handle , he would turn the sitting up on his 220 mig wire feed welder a liitle hotter for the handle. It would come off on the third or fourth weld, I had him star useing a 220 stick welder and it fixed the problem. He told me that the stick was getting better penetrating weld.
 
I had these same issues when I was using a "stick" welder (old lincoln "buzz box") This welder was an "AC-positive" welder, what I finally figured out was to use a DC-negative rod.....it works well. That's been a number of years ago. When I got my hands on a "good" MIG welder, all those issues went away. Personally, I think it's all about the penetration of the weld(s). If you're using one of the little 110v welders, especially if it's flux core wire, you will need to make several overlapping passes. Those welders are only rated for up to 1/4".

The other "trick" is to make sure you grind the mating surfaces clean....."new", shiney material is what you want to lay the weld down on.

That MIG welder I mentioned earlier (the one I got my hands on) is a Lincoln SP 200.....it's a brute of a welder, and will weld up to 3/4" material.

Finally, another thing you must consider is that you're trying to weld dissimilar materials......and that's always an adventure. I don't have a good answer for completely solving that one, however, once the SP 200 came my way, just it's ability to penetrate solved most of the issue for me.

I often refer to myself as a "Pile it" welder........pile on the weld material until I think it's gona work! :)
 
Stick your bit of rebar in your forge for a while then knock the end to a 90 degree bend at the end - now when you weld it to your billet you have a longer area of rebar that will contact against your billet. :)
 
McClellan, what welder are you using? .5 rebar your going to want a hot arc to penetrate deep. 035 wire about 180 to 200 amps and about a 45 for wire speed. Im sure this has already been resolved though. Lol
 
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