Damascus in the induction forge /Texas farrier supply

Blacksmithing
#1

walker the new guy here

do we have any copper tubes beg enough to make serviceable Damascus billets in the induction forge? if not how would i go about making one/finding and paying somebody capable to make one?

also, a stroke of luck. yall told me about a bunch of places to get supplies and texas farrier supply was the last one yall mentioned. turns out, its exactly a mile from my house and i drive past it every day. for anybody not willing to make the trip, i am totally down to be a pack mule if i can trade it for training and advice.

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#2

Yes, there are coils big enough to make a pattern welded billet on the induction forge. It’s been done before.

Not easy, but possible.

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#3

excellent. dosnt need to be big. i only want to be able to make a big enough bar that i can cut rings from it. my family has a big event coming up in a month and i want to be able to give everybody a set from matching stock

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#4

You’ll find this challenging to implement on the induction forge. The main reason: oxidation.

Ideally, one would have a “neutral” or “reducing” fire wherein all the available oxygen has been consumed by the fuel, leaving little/none to oxidize the hot metal.

In the induction forge, no oxygen is consumed in producing the heat, so the metal oxidizes easily, interfering with the weld, even with flux.

In addition, the heat zone of the induction forge Is quite small, so getting anything over a couple of inches long all up to welding heat at the same time is difficult.

Welding temps and a neutral fire is actually easiest to achieve in a coal/coke fire.

I have successfully done welding of mild steel using the induction forge (small welds for wheat twists and to make a poker), but I don’t think I would try a pattern steel, multi-layer weld.

With pattern welds, you usually lose a bit off of each end, And you may have the odd inclusion, so don’t go too small in your plans by assuming 100% of the steel will be usable in the end.

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#5

good note. i have a small hellsforge i bought off etsy and put together, but i think ether i built it poorly or dont know how to use it well enough to not leave oxygen in it. is the one we have at the makerspace able to do the job?

#6

The two burner propane forge should be able to handle it. It’s made by NCTool. I have a similar forge made by the same company (same burners, different door arrangement).

The DMS coal forge can handle it, too.

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#7

Chiming in even though I have no idea what I am talking about (there;s a soft pitch for anyone that wants it!):

I am reminded about some process where sparks might occur and create an explosion, so the solution is to blow inert/noble gas of e the work to prevent something incendiary from happening.

In the same vein, would bathing a workpiece in the induction forge with a stream of appropriate gas theoretically remove any air/oxygen in immediate vicinity of piece being forged, thereby solving the oxidation issue?

I am not suggesting this as an immediate practical solution to OP, but just wondering if even the theory made practical sense for this tool/process?

#8

i know that that is a thing for some super high end metals, but if i remember right not in that forge.

#9

If there’s powdered steel in a canister damascus there and the welds aren’t tight it will blow sparks in the forge. The inert/noble gas is to keep the exposed metal from oxidizing which would prevent the layers from sticking.

#10

This is the purpose of the “shielding gas” used in MIG and TIG welding. It would take a tremendous amount of shielding gas to cover the heat zone in the induction forge. If an enclosing box were made which could be filled with shielding gas, perhaps…

In Blacksmithing, a powdered or liquid flux is typically used, which both shields the metal surfaces and helps to flush impurities out of the joint.

Borax or kerosene are popular cheap fluxes. There are also commercial powdered fluxes (eg Iron Mountain flux) which may include some finely powdered steel along with the oxygen-blocking properties. Some steels (like 1080) don’t weld well to themselves, and the powdered steel additives can help.

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