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Just finished the first step in making another tomahawk head (4th try so far), and it looks good, I just can’t tell if it successfully welded. I used borax and got most of the scaling off and then just hammered it shut and heated and hammered again, then I turned he forge off to ground rough edges. I got down flat on the edge and it seems to have welded, it’s flat and no crack I can stick anything into, but I can see the slightest line through the middle, a tiny line I couldn’t see it at first. Is this any indication that the weld is not closed? It seems like it obviously is I just don’t know if it’s something else, I’ll send a picture but it’s hard to see! also, some areas the line is easier to see than others, and some spots I can’t even see the line so maybe I just haven’t ground down far enough if this isn’t completely welded, would another couple of heats and hammers close it or is that window now closed?

Hey guys this is my first try forge welding/sanmai. I wrapped a piece of W2 between Aldo's low Mn 1075. I chose this method because I don't have a welder to weld the Seams. I fluxed the billet and "welded it" 3 times using light hammer blows. It doesn't seem like a very good weld. I made 3 cuts into it to view it. Please help me get my next welds nice and clean! Is this billet able to be saved or is it scrap? Thanks

I could have posted this in Metallurgy, or Design and Critique, but really I just want to show what's happened, more than seek specific advice. This is what I call Test article #2, made from Aldo's Hitachi Blue Paper #2 steel and wrought iron (Jigane). I've been trying a weld technique where I indent the iron first to create wavy "teeth", then open a channel down the length, and set the carbon steel bit into the channel, then squish it all together and weld. I'm unhappy with the gap that persists at the bottom of the teeth, happened on the first attempt as well. Next time I'm going with a straight laminate, but I may try channeling the high carbon underneath first, so the iron falls into the waves, instead of forcing them in the 'y' dimension. I'm also getting an interesting effect with clay - there is a distinct hardening line from the back of the heel as the tip was lower in the quench, but where I applied clay, there is also the ghost of a hamon-like transition, but the steel appears equally hard on either side. I ground enough away that this isn't a surface condition or decarb, it's in the metal - but barely visible at all. Blade is 6 inches at the edge, spine is 3/32" at the handle, 1/16" at the dive. Scary sharp. Anyone else doing interesting work with this steel?