Last weekend, I had the pleasure of demonstrating at a Scouts BSA Camporee called Thunderbase. It was like a mini jamboree and I was asked to share my skills of blacksmithing to the scouts and leaders. After I set up my forge and display, I looked at my stock and could no decide what I would work on the next day.
Now my normal go to for demo is an S hook or a fire steel. Fire always draws a crowd, and I can make a stellar striker in a little more than five minutes. But this time, I was looking for a fun challenge. I don’t know why it popped into my head, but I decided that I would try forge Welding again. It was not my first attempt, and it has eluded my skill set for a few years. My goal is to get a good skill and comfort level with forge Welding so I can make tomahawks and axe heads.
That’s when I popped on my phone and didn’t quick search for the finer tips and trunks. I knew the basics, but I wanted to see if there was an easy way to get a solid skill down. And that’s when I found a video that suggested that chain is a good way to learn to weld. It s a small single piece of iron, and the two ends are easy to bring together and make into a link.
The first few links we a little mushed and mangled as I worked to get the hang of the process. I also did not find the exact temperature for the weld on the first try. I saw a few sparks, and the metal was white and looked sticky but I don’t think I knew the exact way to work it. Experience is the best teacher and I kept at it. I made two links, then joined them with a third. Two more links, and then joined those with a third. A seventh link joined the two sets of three, and I had a chain of seven links. Wow, I started having fun.
Now at this point I hung those links on an S hook, stepped back, admired the work and wondered what to demonstrate next. But the crowd liked that cool show. Those sparks and hot metal looked cool. Sometimes an air bubble got trapped in the metal because the gap was a little more open, and that really caused the sparks to show. That is what people think of when they see a blacksmith. So I decided to find more iron and keep making welds and lengthen that chain. As I added more links, the process got easier, the welds were better, as well as my knowledge of the process.
In the end, I finished a chain of four feet in length, and added two hooks, making a fairly useful work chain. With this little learning project, I think I can apply this to other projects and add some welds to my iron work.