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Tried forge welding with a wire brush inclusion, ended up with a cold shut mess
I was working on a damascus billet last weekend, 15 layers of 1095 and 15n20. Got to the forge weld stage, heated it up to a nice orange, and put down the hammer. When I went to clean the flux off with a wire brush, some of those bristles broke off and got stuck right between the layers. I hammered again before noticing, and it created a cold shut that split open after the third heat. Ruined about 4 hours of work. Now I always inspect the billet surface with a magnet before any hammer strike. Anyone else had brush hairs mess up a weld?
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ryan_carr594mo ago
Yeah try using a brass brush instead, it's softer and won't leave steel bristles to ruin your weld.
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ninas704mo ago
Brass brushes still leave bristles sometimes too, but they're softer so they usually just bend instead of breaking off. A magnet check like you're doing now is the real trick, that'll catch any stray metal bits no matter what brush you use.
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