Tom, it's because I was useing cheapo, off brand vise grips and an igneous rock. I know George insists on only certain kinds of metamorphic rock and custom made vise grips made by a bhuddist master in the himalayas from special magical alloys and imported my llama train (not lama) , but I'm just a schmuck, unworthy, an embarassment to the trade, blah, blah.....
Nope. Just named after George. And after reading the other thread, I'm sure as hell not gonna say it's porous!
The bar shoe was just turned and welded. Rather than welding a circle I wanted to try a bar shoe. I learned why I've been messing up my pritchels. I didn't know I had to punch, drift, then pritchel on 3/8. In school we used 5/16 and skipped drifting. I've got to make a new forepunch. The one I have is very crudely made, and I want to shape one for E head and CH. I'll take a pic of the anvil later. Headed to my daughter's ballet recital today.
I'm still having a hell of a time with the "horseshoe sandwich" welds in a gas forge. I'm using Iron Mountain flux, but my forge won't do yellow heat.
What kinda scarfing do I need to do for that kinda weld? Or do I need to scarf? Would I just hammer halfway across, for the length of stock?
It might pay to heat the steel first Travis before bulging it to death. If I was a jury you would be hung for first degree murder & Mz Turner You really want to forget about those rubbishy anvils you have been trying to decide on & stick to a traditional shaped anvil. Learning how to use the horn properly for shaping your shoes . A properly formed horn allows you to place your metal straight on or angled to the horn to achieve any radios needed.
Personal I don't really care if a horse shoe is fire welded, arc welded or gas welded so long as its properly welded. I've seen a lot of fire welds admired that weren't & where nothing more than cold lagged. With a lot of Skill going in to hiding they where cold lagged. If you gamma rayed those cold lagged welds you would soon change your mind & opinion on what constitutes a properly welded piece of metal.
Is it possible that you're hitting the bar too hard when trying to weld it? It's a common mistake. Experiment some with your striking force. I'm not sure where scarfing would play a part in making the horseshoe sandwich - Pelting, per Mr. Bunting's contribution on HS. Regards
For the purpose of a bar shoe & the stress it is to take & the risks if it failed . yes it would be classed as surfactant. but with out knowing the temperature & what impurity's may have been trapped or faults with in the weld & metal whilst being welded. Just going by appearance alone is no guarantee its welded properly. Nice looking bit of work John.
The way i look at it Jack is if you can get 3 resets out of them and there is not a dicky bird out of them there welded for me
The right shaped anvil makes the job easier. makes working shoes easer & with making any horse shoe the more you can do before heat loss in the metal the less time wasted reheating. The less fuel wasted & the less wire brushing scale. Do you not like continental Anvils ? & if so why ?