[TheForge] A36 vs 1018

[Peter Fels & Phoebe Palmer]

With A 36 ,I imagine we are back in the position of smiths of yore where 
each piece of material varies from the last in unknown ways.

Paul N wrote:
> Thanks to all that are participating. I was about to give up on forge 
> welding with it "forever" until I found some words of encouragement :-)
> 
> I'd have to say that when I've had success forge welding A36, it's 
> generally been on "the first attempt". I've made some really nice welds 
> with it. Sometime so nicely, that I've been proud to hand over to 
> someone, even someone who understands the craft and ask them if they can 
> find the weld point.
> 
> And I'd also agree with "once you bugger it up, it seems impossible". 
> And this is what confounds me. I don't really know if I buggered it up 
> or if the reason the first weld missed was because there was a problem 
> with the steel in the first place.
> 
> With different concoctions of alloys, I'm going to guess that it's 
> probably pointless to attempt to determine if the problem is too much 
> heat, too little heat, soaked too long/not long enough, etc. As the 
> cause may vary from sample to  sample. Any comments on what others may 
> have noticed when their welds failed to take with A36?
> 
> I've heard people mention that the metal can  be "too hot", but if 
> that's the case, unless some transformation takes place, I would expect 
> it to become suitable for a weld as it cools through the proper 
> temperature. This doesn't seem to happen. (So my assumption is that it 
> either was never suitable, or it substantively changed)
> 
> What I have learned it the importance of my scarfs. I need to keep a 
> "horizontal flat" in the so the pieces don't slide off of each other. 
> The A36 seems to tend toward being more "slippery". That is, rarely do I 
> touch 2 pieces of A36 together at the anvil and have them immediately 
> fuse. So having a flat allows a couple tacking hammer blows to get the 
> pieces to join.
> 
> The "Bad example" would be something like:
> 
>    ______________    _____________
>                  \   \
>                   \   \
> ------------------    -------------
> 
> Where the "good one" was more like: (The tapers wouldn't be as steep, 
> but I hope I expressed the idea)
> 
> _________________      ___________________
>                   \     \
>                    ---   ---
>                       \     \
> ----------------------      -------------
> 
> What I found so frustrating, and prompted my initial question is that 
> the weld was a true "faggot weld" of a "bundle" of rods. No scarfing 
> necessary. Just heat 'em up and tack them together. In fact, aside from 
> the very first time I did this, I don't think I ever had such an epic 
> failure welding a basket handle together.
> 
> Lots of good information being discussed,
> thanks,
> **pn
> 
> 
> Andrew Vida wrote:
>> I've had very little trouble welding A36, but one thing I discovered was 
>> that once you bugger up a weld with it, it is very difficult to get 
>> things back to a state where welding will happen for the piece in 
>> question.  I have no idea why this would be so, but so it seems to be 
>> the case in my experience.
>>
>> I agree with the opinion that advocates buying decent materials like 
>> 1018 in the first place.  In the end it costs you less in both money and 
>> stomach lining.
>>
>> David Childress wrote:
>>> I know there are a few smiths that weld A36 consistently, but their
>>> skill level in general is so far above mine that they are just a spec
>>> up in the sky to us common mortals.  Around here I only know of three
>>> smiths that almost always get good welds on A36.  I have asked two of
>>> three what the "secret" is and they claimed that they did not know.  I
>>> doubt that I will ever be that good.
>>>
>>> David Childress
>>> Rocky Forge Blacksmith Guild
>>>
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