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A little experimentation.

+3
von Corax
Plum
Sir Nikolas Vendigroth
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A little experimentation. Empty A little experimentation.

Post  Sir Nikolas Vendigroth Mon Sep 22, 2008 6:44 pm

Right...lsat night's project involved shedloads of heat. As a matter of fact, i had 2 experiments to run.

Experiment one was into fluxless forge-welding, which'd make the whole process much cheaper and easier.

Experiment two was into fusing particles of steel together by the action of heat, and carburising parts of them using wood powder. I was expecting something like wootz.

SO RIGHT I made up five specimens for experiment two and two for experiment one, and chucked the lot into the fire. And piled on charcoal and air until it reached "******* epic" heat.

HOWEVER as soon as it hit 900'C or so...the sides of the forge crumbled. Literally one minute they were fine and the next they started coming apart. So, to stop the top from collapsing in on the fire, I propped the sides up with wood. Which caught fire.

So at this point, I had a stupid-hot fire in the forge, being held up by crumbling blocks and wood, and there were flames everywhere. Never mind.

So I pull the forge-welding specimens out and start bashing them. One seems to have worked, and fused together well. The other one, on my third strike, spat a lump of steel at about 1100'C out at my face.

This lump, about 5 inches long and 3/4 an inch wide sailed past my ear, getting close enough for me to hear it sizzling. Yeah, that's rather close.
Needless to say, that experiment failed.

Then, when I was hammerin' on the other one some more, the rivet that holds my tongs together snapped. And the tongs just fall apart in my hands, dropping this orange-hot lump of metal almost down into my boot.

So I hop around a bit, swearing, and waking up the young kids who live on either side.

Then I crank the heat up some more, and try to melt the other specimens. And instead melt part of the air-pipe in my forge. Which means more air gets into the hotspot at the expense of other spots, raising the temperature even more. Which then melts parts of the forge, and burns the specimens.

Eventually, once I'd turned the air off, I hook one of the specimens out with what's left of my tongs and bash it open, expecting to see shiny bright steel. Instead I get 'orrible black powder. Even the melted specimens had this black powder, and the clay was sort of vitrified.


So yeah. Everything I try turns to ash. Sometimes literally. Eh, well. there's always tomorrow.

Sir Nikolas Vendigroth
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Post  Plum Mon Sep 22, 2008 7:19 pm

Eeek! Was all this going on in your garden? Bet the neighbours loved the pyrotechnics.

At least the head didn't fly off your hammer too Wink
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Post  von Corax Tue Sep 23, 2008 7:13 am

Any experiment which leaves a crater must be deemed a success.

von Corax
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Post  JingleJoe Tue Sep 23, 2008 11:54 pm

von Corax wrote:Any experiment which leaves a crater must be deemed a success.
Or a successful failure Wink like when you make a giant trebuchet but upon firing it, it colapses in on itself and forms a black hole Very Happy The kind of failure that goes wrong but in a really cool way ...
You know I just realized I like failure but only huge failures that ... yeah ... leave a crater Very Happy
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Post  the indi Wed Sep 24, 2008 2:38 pm

And I thought I was careless and insane when I opened up a switch without taking the plug from the wall. That is seriously mental; I'm starting to realise why there's not many artists or intelligent people into cool stuff left on Earth anymore after reading that.

the indi
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Post  Sir Nikolas Vendigroth Thu Sep 25, 2008 12:45 pm

the indi wrote:And I thought I was careless and insane when I opened up a switch without taking the plug from the wall. That is seriously mental; I'm starting to realise why there's not many artists or intelligent people into cool stuff left on Earth anymore after reading that.

I'm not going to go extinct any time soon, you know =]

Sir Nikolas Vendigroth
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Post  patronsa Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:26 pm

Pact with the fairies?

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Post  the indi Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:45 pm

I didn't mean to suggest I'm some patron saint there, it was a throwaway name/comment is all.

My kind have been extinct for a long time. Nobody agrees with me about anything.

the indi
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Post  Shameri Fri Oct 03, 2008 5:41 pm

Ah, but as George Orwell says, "insanity is not statistical", being in a minority of one does not make you insane, the whole world could be wrong!

Shameri
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Post  neon_suntan Fri Oct 03, 2008 11:50 pm

I read the title of this thread and thought it was something else entirely...

*takes mind from gutter*

*gets coat*


silent

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Post  Elisha Rush Sat Oct 04, 2008 5:01 am

Having had my own phase of heating steel too hot and a grandfather who taught me the basics of blacksmithing after I settled down a bit... I've found that working at the lowest temperature possible is a preferable method... working steel while cold with a file is useful... oh, yeah - borax makes good flux when welding...

You might want to check out Centaur Forge, too - http://www.centaurforge.com/

So, should I throw in the Riddle of Steel?

Elisha Rush
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Post  Alain Raethorne Mon Oct 06, 2008 10:08 am

Elisha Rush wrote:So, should I throw in the Riddle of Steel?

Yes. Yes you should.

Alain Raethorne
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