Dry Weld Damascus Billet ~ No Flux ~ Wednesday In The Shop

Today I'm forge welding a billet of Damascus steel using 1075 high carbon and saw mill steel, plus forging a little.
My Website:
firecreekforge.com
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[@machomie]

Thanks for this video! I just started forging using a coal forge I built. I used a 9 layer stack, alternating 1095 and 15n20 and welded sheet metal around it as you did and the welds came out perfect.

[@FireCreekForge]

Nice! Thanks for watching!

[@richardparker1699]

Stay safe. Good work on the billet. Will wait for your next vid.

[@FireCreekForge]

Thanks for watching!

[@antoniopoydras57]

oh i see sealed billet that'll work for me

[@Aaron_Barrett]

We need not flux, but right flame. You can burn steel even with borax or "magix self-weld flux" if You can not control reducing atmosphere

[@FireCreekForge]

Yes, the forge atmosphere is certainly important in forge welding

[@kubby5189]

This may be a dumb question but will the grit of the sandpaper effect how the steel welds together

[@FireCreekForge]

I can say down to 40 grit it doesn't. Of course the tiny grooves are mitigated during the pressure of the forge weld.

[@steveschlobohm5793]

sweet!! is one of those billets for my knife by chance? it would be cool if I had a video of you making my knife. I don't know if you can tell or not but I'm excited to receive it. I already have my next knife pick out, just might order one of everything and have your hole collection. thanks, my friend! stay safe.

[@FireCreekForge]

Thanks Steve, yours should be in a week or two. I don't know if it will be a video, possibly. Take care!

[@gregmaggert8561]

What is the name or style of that hydraulic press your using in the video?

[@FireCreekForge]

It is an H frame design

[@melvinalvarez6313]

Hey buddy I just started making nice and I want to see if I can make A Damascus billet and I’m not sure what type of materials do I need to purchase

[@FireCreekForge]

Check out my damascus 101 video, I would start with 1080 and 15N20 steels

[@emmanuelcirino4409]

How much time did you leave the billet in the forge? Thanks!

[@FireCreekForge]

15-20 minutes probably

[@emmanuelcirino4409]

Thank a lot for the answer!!

[@andyjota8906]

What are the pros of dry billet weld as opposed to a fluxed weld ???? Delaminition reduced etc?????

[@FireCreekForge]

Less chance of delamination, no scale formation, no decarb, overall clean billet and trouble free

[@andyjota8906]

@@FireCreekForge Makes you wonder why they started using borax in the first place??

[@FireCreekForge]

@@andyjota8906 back in the day there wasn't an easy or efficient way to encase a billet, or other weldements for that matter, making flux necessary...

[@sonoffenix3399]

@@andyjota8906 Our *understanding* of iron-carbon-oxygen thermodynamics, and how to engender them was scant for almost all of the history of smithing. We discovered empirical ways to make it easier, of which fluxing agents was one, but we had poor mechanistic understanding of *how*. Equally, for most of the history of smithign, we didn't have mass-produced low carbon sheet steel, nor home-shop arc welding Now we do, we can, on a scale our forebears couldn't imagine.

[@christopheburr2220]

I don't see how you work with so much clothing on. I'm from the south but I love cold weather. It would have to be 20 to 40 below for we to wear all of that.

[@m.d.customs3751]

Try doing dirty damascus

[@antoniopoydras57]

why'd you go and do that to a fine looking billet

[@antoniopoydras57]

yeah i like your content and you're an excellent blacksmith with great craftsmanship see you on the next billet yes sir and by the way I'm from Spokane

[@leemitchell3020]

Love your content but your welding drives me nuts. Rod angle sucks. If you have a DC welder get a bottle of argon and a basic TIG rig and learn to fuse weld, trust me you'll love it. Any DC welder will TIG, no foot pedal, learn to scratch start and snap off.

[@FireCreekForge]

TIG would be nice for some stuff..