A piece of scrap steel from the old mill taught me more than any book ever did.

For years, I was sure my forge welding problems came from not getting the metal hot enough. I'd watch the color, wait for that bright yellow, and still get a cold shut more often than not. The tip off came when I was cleaning out my grandfather's old shop in Scranton. I found a box of his old practice pieces, some from the 1950s. One was a perfect weld on two pieces of plain mild steel. The secret wasn't just the heat, it was the flux. I'd been using borax straight from the can, but his notes said he mixed it with powdered iron oxide from the mill floor. That extra bit of iron in the flux cleaned the metal in a way my pure borax never could. It was a simple trick lost between generations. Has anyone else found an old method that solved a modern problem for them?

3 comments

3 Comments

jordan_young10d ago

Ever try adding a little sand to your flux?

piper_reed20d ago

Grandpa’s old lard can flux recipe works better than anything new.

the_hugo20d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, you're using actual lard? That's wild.