Forge welding nickle

S

stefanj

Joined
Aug 5, 2007
Messages
748
Well I just did my first cannister forge welding of pure nickle powder today! It didn't turn out all to well but good enough to learn a couple of things but there is obviously a lot I still need to figure out!
Now that I have a good silver dollar sized piece if nickle how hard is it to forge weld it to say some W2?
I was thinking about cutting off another chunk of W2 (about a domino and a half size and forging it togather to make some nickle W2 damascus.

Any advice? Do I need to use a cannister for this also?

Thanks
 
A can would be easiest. Pure nickle will forge weld easily (what is easy) to 10xx steels which w-2 is. It can be difficult to weld to itself or any chromium bearing material. The can reduces the difficulty making an inert atmosphere.
 
A C Richards said:
A can would be easiest. Pure nickle will forge weld easily (what is easy) to 10xx steels which w-2 is. It can be difficult to weld to itself or any chromium bearing material. The can reduces the difficulty making an inert atmosphere.
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cannister welding the pure nickle powder took some heat and flux with some hammering.

I will try to forge weld it to a small cube of W2 and see what I can make.
 
After its up to temp you need to soak it.I soak my canisters from 40-120 mins depending on the steels used.
 
Absolutely. The can needs to soak for at least 20 minutes after the color normalizes to the forge color. Like McAron, I soak for 30 minutes min and up to 60 for larger billets. I have not gone as long as 120 but it might be a good thing esp if you are forging nickle. You should not need flux though with a can. I sometimes put a little on to prevent the can from scaling too much.
 
The reason for flux (without a cannister!) is to protect the steel from oxidizing in the fire. When force is applied to the billet the flux is forced out of the joining surfaces. IF it gets trapped in there, it will result in an inclusion (flux, impurities, etc.)

If the steel is inside a can, then there is no worry of it oxidizing. And, the flux has no way of getting OUT of the can, and will guarantee some bad spots in your billet.



I'm also not totally following on what you're going after with this Stefan? Pure nickel powder is most often just used to highlight details in a powdered billet. It is usually a very small part of the make-up inside the can.

If you want to add nickel to a regular damascus billet, it's easiest to get nickel 200 strips and add them between the layers. I personally don't recommend putting it in blade steel... but it's fantastic in handle hardware. :)
 
NickWheeler said:
The reason for flux (without a cannister!) is to protect the steel from oxidizing in the fire. When force is applied to the billet the flux is forced out of the joining surfaces. IF it gets trapped in there, it will result in an inclusion (flux, impurities, etc.)

If the steel is inside a can, then there is no worry of it oxidizing. And, the flux has no way of getting OUT of the can, and will guarantee some bad spots in your billet.



I'm also not totally following on what you're going after with this Stefan? Pure nickel powder is most often just used to highlight details in a powdered billet. It is usually a very small part of the make-up inside the can.

If you want to add nickel to a regular damascus billet, it's easiest to get nickel 200 strips and add them between the layers. I personally don't recommend putting it in blade steel... but it's fantastic in handle hardware. :)
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I'm really just experimenting with nickle. I have seen some blades with nickle in them and WOW do they look nice. Their functionality? But cool it is and I wanted to learn/play around with nickle.

I also have some nickle/4800 combo powder.

Thanks
 
I've heard nickel powder is highly poisonous.
 
Larrin said:
I've heard nickel powder is highly poisonous.
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Larrin is right!

It can kill you and/or cause serious health problems.

In a fine powder form, it can become air bourn. Do not inhale the fumes!

I have a couple cans and have been too scarred to use any, and I don't scare easily :)
 
I have forge weleded nickel powder all by itself it a canister several times. It is dangerous to inhale the powder but after its in the canister it is incapsulated. I found that it shrinks quite a bit so start big. Im working on a vest pocket knife with all powder nickel fittings.
Dont put flux inside the can. It will most likely show up inside the nickel.
 
Larrin said:
I've heard nickel powder is highly poisonous.
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That sucks!

I just did some research since I was getting worried.
Something I found
What effect might nickel and compounds have on my health?
This depends on how much nickel a person has been exposed to, for how long, the nature of the nickel compound(s), and current state of health. A small amount of nickel is probably essential for humans, although a lack of nickel has not been found to the health of humans. An allergic skin reaction is the most common adverse health effect in people who are sensitive to nickel. People can become sensitive to nickel when jewellery or other products containing nickel are in direct contact with the skin. Once a person is sensitised to nickel, further contact with nickel will produce a reaction, most commonly a skin rash at the site of contact (dermatitis). Less frequently, some sensitised persons may have asthma attacks following exposure to nickel. Some people may react when they eat nickel in food, drink it in water, or breathe dust containing it. People who are not sensitive to nickel must eat very large amounts of nickel to show adverse health effects.

Exposure to nickel salts can cause 'nickel itch', which causes burning and itching sensations in the hands, followed by abnormal redness of the skin and nodular eruption on the web of fingers, wrists and forearms. Nickel salts act as emetics when swallowed. Workers who accidentally drank water containing very high levels of nickel (100,000 times more than in normal drinking water) had stomach aches, and blood and kidney disorders. Nickel dust is irritating to the eyes, nose and throat. Lung effects, including chronic bronchitis, reduced lung function, and lung cancer, as well as nasal effects, including rhinitis, nasal sinusitis, nasal mucosal injury and sinus cancer, have been observed in workers who breathed high levels of nickel while working in nickel refineries or nickel processing plants. Nickel platers exposed to nickel sulfate and welders exposed to nickel oxides have been linked with asthma. Evidence for the carcinogenicity of nickel metal and other compounds is relatively weak or inconclusive, but insoluble dusts of nickel oxides, and soluble aerosols of nickel sulfate, nitrate, and chloride, have been implicated as potential carcinogens.

What effect might nickel and compounds have on my health?
 
dont know if this is already asked, but why didn't you put the w2 in the canister with the w2 in the first place and weld???

andrew
 
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