weld-fill mule hole?

[cncyana]

In general, is it feasible to weld fill one of the small holes toward the far end of the handle of a mule blank?

Like the stainless M390 blank for instance?

This is for recontouring/grinding the handle where a hole happens to be.

thanks

Romans 3: So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

[DCDesigns]

In general, is it feasible to weld fill one of the small holes toward the far end of the handle of a mule blank?

Like the stainless M390 blank for instance?

This is for recontouring/grinding the handle where a hole happens to be.

thanks

Romans 3: So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Need Answers? http://www.answersingenesis.org/get-answers

Im pretty sure its not feasable. Not without fuxing with the HT. You MIGHT be able to melt a little copper plug into it, but I wouldnt... Im no metallurgist, perhaps someone will have more insight. It' be great to be able to fill some holes and re-shape the mule's handle however you like. I have a couple regrinds where I had holes to dodge... good luck! post pics if you attempt it!

[jabba359]

Im pretty sure its not feasable. Not without fuxing with the HT.

Heat treat only really matters in the blade. Since cncyana's filling a hole at the end of the handle furthest from the blade, there shouldn't be any issue as far as HT is concerned.

[justinl]

I don't see a problem in trying it out, but you will end up with a weird looking not-quite-clear bit in the handle. And I bet if one isn't careful with the shaping/grinding, you'll end up with an indent where the weldbond is because it's softer than the rest of the steel tang.

[Pinetreebbs]

It could be filled in and ground flat. I would contact the steel maker, Sweden's Uddeholm, for a recommended filler material and welding procedure. Preheat and TIG welding would be my recomendation. Most likely you will be able to see a difference between the weld metal and the base metal. If you just need to fill a hole that will not be exposed you might want to consider brazing in a metal plug to fill the hole.

[dbcad]

Don't destroy the HT :eek:

[FlaMtnBkr]

I would probably not try to fill the hole but recontour the handle and then come in from the side to fill the 'divot'. Then grind all 3 sides smooth and repeat if there is a void. I would also put the blade in some water or wrap it in a wet rag at the minimum. You might see a difference in color when done but most likely you can get a finish where it is very hard to see the patch.

[bada61265]

I would probably not try to fill the hole but recontour the handle and then come in from the side to fill the 'divot'. Then grind all 3 sides smooth and repeat if there is a void. I would also put the blade in some water or wrap it in a wet rag at the minimum. You might see a difference in color when done but most likely you can get a finish where it is very hard to see the patch.

id think it would be better to fill the hole before grinding and reshaping the handle. lay it on some brass or copper flat stock and of course cover the rest of the knife with a wet rag or something to protect the blade from spatter. both ways could work though i think its somewhat more difficult to fill a gap welding the metal edge on.

[JNewell]

You'll never get a decent color match, I think. If you're going to put scales on the knife, what about filling the void with something like Brownells Acra-Glass with a heavy dose of stainless steel powder mixed in? It will probably stay in forever and will be incredibly durable...color probably wouldn't be too far off, either. It's a thought...lots easier than trying to weld up the void without screwing with the heat treat and cleaning up the area after?

In general, is it feasible to weld fill one of the small holes toward the far end of the handle of a mule blank?

Like the stainless M390 blank for instance?

This is for recontouring/grinding the handle where a hole happens to be.

thanks

Romans 3: So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Need Answers? http://www.answersingenesis.org/get-answers

[DCDesigns]

Heat treat only really matters in the blade. Since cncyana's filling a hole at the end of the handle furthest from the blade, there shouldn't be any issue as far as HT is concerned.

I wasnt sure what way he was filling it. If a torch is involved, I wouldnt. It would just take a couple of seconds for the heat to be conducted toward the blade. When Ive reground them, I was surprised how much heat can be transferred from one end of the blank to the other, happens pretty quickly.

[dsmegst]

I wasnt sure what way he was filling it. If a torch is involved, I wouldnt. It would just take a couple of seconds for the heat to be conducted toward the blade. When Ive reground them, I was surprised how much heat can be transferred from one end of the blank to the other, happens pretty quickly.

Absolutely. With my regrinds, I cooled the blade with every pass and I hardly touched the area close to the cutting edge.

[bada61265]

shure i agree that the heat transfer will be quick. thats why id wrap the blade end with a wet rag. id also probubly want to do this with a mig to make it as fast a weld up as you could get, a tig or torch would take too long and have too much heat transfer.

[cncyana]

thanks for all your input guys. I appreciate it. I didn't think about the discoloration. I may need to rethink what to do.

[DCDesigns]

Absolutely. With my regrinds, I cooled the blade with every pass and I hardly touched the area close to the cutting edge.

Yep, same. A whole lotta dunkin! I was pretty paranoid about it.

[JNewell]

True story. I used to work with a guy who would grind a little bit, then plunge the work into an ice cold beer, grind a little more, beer-quench, grind a little more...when he was done, he drank the beer. :o :rolleyes: :p

[dsmegst]

:) I'll bet that beer wasn't very cold by the time he was done.

[VashHash]

Wouldn't the beer also have some filings in it from the blade? Did this guy ever get tetanus in his stomach? It can be done if you do it quickly and it might not color the steel too much. If you scale it after you wouldn't see much of the discoloration. I'd say either smooth out the edges from where you cut off or use some epoxy or something to fill the gaps if you're using scales. It could be a good reasont to add some custome filework and really make that mule a custom.

[FlaMtnBkr]

id think it would be better to fill the hole before grinding and reshaping the handle. lay it on some brass or copper flat stock and of course cover the rest of the knife with a wet rag or something to protect the blade from spatter. both ways could work though i think its somewhat more difficult to fill a gap welding the metal edge on.

I don't think he would get a perfect fill and would have voids filling the hole first. I would MIG it from the side like I said before and fill it from the bottom, out. It's not sheet metal and is thick enough welding on the edge wouldn't be bad. He can always take some scrap metal and drill a hole and experiment which is easier with his skill and equipment. If he has stainless with a different alloy welding wire he can also get an idea of a color difference after it is sanded and cleaned up.

I would wrap as much of the knife and handle in a wet rag and even stick the blade end in a shallow tray of water. I don't think heat would be an issue at all doing those two things. There is also a paste you can buy that you put around the weld area and it is supposed to limit how far the heat travels. I doubt it would work better than the wet rag and I don't think its cheap either from what I remember.

[sal]

Hi Cncyana,

When I was forging blades, we were taught to place the edge of the blade in a pan of water maybe 1/4" - 1/2" up from the edge. (clamped upright) When messing with heat and the spine, this kept the edge cool.

sal

[VashHash]

Sal is there any possibility we could see the knives you've forged?