[TheForge] weld question

Wed Apr 23 14:20:59 2003

Oh boy. Here we go. Couldn't agree with you more switz. I didn't want to open this pandora's box so I kept my mouth shut, til you commented. In my opinion, immediately opting to stick/mig/tig weld something is not the best choice. The obvious drawback is the weld that needs to be ground or filed. Not so with a forge weld. The added work in grinding or filing has a labor expense to it. It you don't grind the weld, well, I believe you cheapen your work. Why not just call yourself a welder and quit straddling both sides of the fence between smithing and welding?

I see lots of production gates, fence, railings etc., that have unground welds just sticking out. It makes me shake my head. Why draft, forge and assemble a nice piece only to defile the work with ugly welds? Sheesh. 

The other option of course, is to join pieces using a rivet or mortise and tenon. Remember, huge bridges were built and tall buildings erected without ever using a welding machine. It is possible. But the American psyche is to choose the quick and the easy, not necessarily the best. Look at the work from Samuel Yellin's shop through 1943. You won't find any electric welds in this body of work, and it is a huge body of work, and arguably some of the finest in the last century. Smiths joined iron for over 4,000 years without electric welding. They found a way to get it done, whatever the task.

No, I don't own an electric welder. But I am thinking about getting one soon. But it will not be my first choice when joining is required.

My guess is that many smiths choose electric welding first because they don't go through the mental process of figuring out how to join it without electric welding. That occurs, I believe, because they acquired their craft from OTJ training, without benefit of a journeyman to look over their shoulder to tell them that there is another way to skin this cat. 

This is not written to slam anyone. Thoughtful reflection is critical in all aspects of life, not just in our work. But reflection, or lack thereof, is most apparent in or work.

Reynolds

 --- On Wed 04/23,  < [email protected] > wrote:
From:  [mailto: [email protected]]
To: [email protected]
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2003 13:25:17 -0600 (MDT)
Subject: Re: Re: [TheForge] weld question

I know I have electricaly welded quite a few things that could have been forge welded Most never look as good as a forge weld and I have seen highly skilled smiths make similar forge welds faster than it takes me to get things set up to weld another way. I know it's not always the case, but I plan to make forge welding my first choice and onle resort to other means when that is impractical. I wonder how many hours of labor saved it takes to pay off a nice mig welder? And maybe that same time wouild be better spent learning to be a better forge welder? Just one mans opinion, but I just concider blacksmithing & welding to be two seperate crafts and I personaly feel like I cheapen the quality of my work when it goes out of the door with electric welds. > > You folks keep saying "forge weld" If you are trying to make money, why not mig it?Or as we say "jump weld"? Isn't mig wire A-36 ? So many of the questions asked depend on wheather you intend o
 n making a profit, or are you " giving it away as a Christmas present". But then again , about 90% of blacksmiths are hobbiest. Like Jeff Mohr told Saint Francis, "You're not putting 3 kids through school." YES, forge welding has it's place. Do you have a customer that will pay you for it? _______________________________________________ http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge theforge mail list group photo site is http://www.photoaccess.com Login: [email protected] password: anvil ___________

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