Torch Welding Question

Greg Covington

Greg Covington

Joined
Oct 28, 1999
Messages
1,563
Pardon my ignorance here but I have just never gotten into welding.

Would an oxy-acetylene torch kit be adequate for welding rebar onto the end of a damascus billet to use as a handle? What type of rod to weld with?

If not...what would you recommend?
 
Yes this can be very easily done.

Put your billet assembly into your vise and you may be able to just fuse the billet pieces together without adding wire, maybe :eek:

As you're going to grind the weld wire away later, for Oxy/Fuel welding, I don't see any reason why you can't use coat hanger for filler wire to attach the rebar to the billet. While forging this weld area will start to weaken due to the heat build up and forge scale. Be prepared to add more weld wire as your forging progresses :eek: but yes coat hanger has been used in the past.

:D :D :cool:

If you've never done this type of welding before, remember, establish a molten puddle on the base metals (rebar/billet) before adding wire/add wire to puddle, not into the torch flame. Use a # 3 lense on your weld shield, or a dark pair of sunglasses.

DO NOT use sunglasses for electric Arc Welding. Besides looking like a racoon in negative, you'll be blinded for a couple of days!!
 
Yup! Larry's advice is spot on. I'll add one caveat... a MIG welder would get you back to forging in 1/10th of the time...

Just a thought. If you have access to a MIG, they are definitely handy.
 
Another yes, but I think a mig would get you back working in a lot less time than !/10:D
 
I am a retired welder after 40 plus years. I would highly reccomend anyone using an Oxy-Acetylene torch, whether cutting or welding, use at least a #4 lens and do not use sunglasses. Using a torch over a period of time without the proper protection can result in damage to the eyes. Electic arc will damage the retina if proper lenses are not used and this can be immediate. I once had an opthamologist tell me that more welders damage their eyes by using sunglasses when using torches than any other way.
 
A stick welder is available at low prices and is far better, IMHO than a torch, with which I never managed to weld steel (just get a crusty nasty pool of molten slag :(
No matter how much flux I put in there... :(

A Mig welder is even better.
 
I don't know how true it is but it sounds like torch welding is very much like using a TIG welder, which is my favorite with the very limited time I spent on one.
I suppose the elecric arc is more dangerous than the torch, but I used a regular electric welding shield and don't think I would want anything less. Your eyes are important, and at least for me, its nice to have your whole face protected because there is a tendency to want to lean down right over your work. Its hard to see whether your getting a good enough pool of molten metal without getting close enough to see past the light coming off the electrode, and I have a feeling the flame on the torch is the same way.

Stick welders don't cost too much, but are hard to learn. Especially for the type of weld your doing where your basically do all the welding in one spot.
MIG's are very easy, but I've alway been told that you have to get a gas shield kit for them to be worth using on anything significant and that bumps the price up a good bit.

Since you already have the torch outfit, I'd say go for it. It might take a few minutes longer but you can do a lot of other things with it as well. And a little practice will probably make things a lot faster.
 
Thanks for all the advice. I think I will go with the torch setup because it will go double duty as a cutter, etc.
 
do yourself a favor and buy some uncoated weldiing rod. Don't use coat hanger. Coat hangers are crap.
 
Forgot to add that given your base metals aren't anything too exotic, you shouldn't have any trouble finding the right rod to use. I don't know exactly what rebar is, but I think its pretty much a mild steel, and your other stuff is high carbon. So if you find some welding rod in the middle ground you should be set. They give pretty good descriptions on the box.
 
Greg I see
no reason you can't pick up a 5 # box of 1/8" 6011 rod and use it
with a Acetylene/Oxy torch.
you can get that right at your Napa auto parts store
at least you can here..retails for $12.99
and should last a long time.
 
Originally posted by Graymaker
Greg I see
no reason you can't pick up a 5 # box of 1/8" 6011 rod and use it
with a Acetylene/Oxy torch.
you can get that right at your Napa auto parts store
at least you can here..retails for $12.99
and should last a long time.
Click to expand...

uh why not buy the correct rod?
 
Originally posted by Sweany
do yourself a favor and buy some uncoated weldiing rod. Don't use coat hanger. Coat hangers are crap.
Click to expand...

Originally posted by Sweany
uh why not buy the correct rod?
Click to expand...

flux,? price,? an alternative ? it's the way I do it? it's an opinion ?
I don't Know ,, you tell me?? :confused: :)

you can buy uncoated from Napa at $37.99 for 10 pounds min.
then buy Flux..? sure you can do it that way too.:footinmou
I should keep my mouth shut,, I'd get more work done:)
 
Granted, if I were going to weld something that I expected to last, I'd use the best wire that I could get (not coat hanger). For something that would be ground away (ie rebar to billet), I guess it doesn't matter what type of wire that I'm using.

Through my limited experience,forge welding will cause much scale to form at the weld connection and this will probably require weld to be added to as # of heats increase. Of course this is just an opinion of mine.

Price Coat hanger $0, 10lbs of real weld wire...I don't know.
High carbon, I don't even know what wire to use. Most wire that you get is not used for high carbon stuff, ie 7018, 8018, etc. which is coated wire, you can probably pick up uncoated ie 70S2 much cheaper.


:D :D :cool:
 
Sorry Graymaker didn't meean to upset ya.

uncoated welding rod 5/32 36" length is 1.20 a lb or so. Air gas co.

Box of twenty mule team and ya got it. I just figured if the man was trying to learn this, it would be esier to use the right stuff. If you are going to the weld store anyway...??

One tip on welding handles to billets is to make sure you get a full penetration weld not a butt weld.

my .02
 
ok, not to be difficult, but why not just use bailing wire and tongs and save yourself alot of extra trouble grinding and welding?

Heck, I just use old wire coat hangers that my uniforms come on from work, costs me zero.

I would still buy the torch, but mig, tig, or brazing sounds like a big PITA to me. Just my $0.02
 
Your're right, sometimes I tend to babble :footinmou . I use the stick welder.

I don't even have a good set of tongs! :eek: I really hate it when I'm using tongs, and a piece of red hot steel comes flying by my head after I strike with my hammer!! :eek: :eek:

Not a big deal. :D :D :cool:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top