I made a billet ,ended up etching and seeing some unexpected patterning ,decided to cut bar into 4 and reorient , but now I will have a very rectangular billet to weld in my squaring dies , question is ,can I weld this by flipping on the diagonal and get a complete weld or should I do this as a two step process ?
I can't picture what you mean..... making only assumptions here, are you welding "end to end" pieces? Are the weld line diagonal in relationship to how they fit in the dies? End to end welds don't usually work out well with squaring dies....the steel tends to "press" out the front and back of the dies without applying enough pressure end to end. The other part of the equation is that IF you "butt weld" pieces, then try to draw them out in a press, you often end up blowing the welds due to the "drawing" action.
Ed Caffrey, ABS MS
"The Montana Bladesmith"
www.CaffreyKnives.net
|quoted:
I can't picture what you mean..... making only assumptions here, are you welding "end to end" pieces? Are the weld line diagonal in relationship to how they fit in the dies? End to end welds don't usually work out well with squaring dies....the steel tends to "press" out the front and back of the dies without applying enough pressure end to end. The other part of the equation is that IF you "butt weld" pieces, then try to draw them out in a press, you often end up blowing the welds due to the "drawing" action.
Sorry Ed ,I was less than clear . Bars would be welded in same orientation as if I had four square bars that I had tack welded together and that actually were sized properly to fit in squaring die , not an end to end weld , but due to the rectangular nature of the bar do not fit perfectly in dies that I have .
Oh! OK. Just take it gently, and things should work. Chances are very good that by the time you're done, the billet will match the "square" of the dies.
Ed Caffrey, ABS MS
"The Montana Bladesmith"
www.CaffreyKnives.net
