My forge weld on a simple gate hinge turned into a two-day nightmare

I was making a basic strap hinge for a shed door, just a simple fold and weld. My fire was perfect, the steel was clean, but the weld just WOULD NOT take. I spent over 14 hours across two days trying to get that single joint to fuse, trying different fluxes and heats. It finally stuck when I ground the pieces to a much sharper angle than I usually do. Has anyone else had a simple weld fight them for that long? What was your fix?

3 comments

3 Comments

milaprice1mo ago

Used to think prep was just about cleaning the steel. Had a similar fight with a simple T-weld on a truck bumper bracket. Spent a whole Saturday cursing at it. Finally ground the meeting faces to a point, almost like a knife edge, and it fused on the first hit. Now I always cut my angles way sharper than feels right. That extra surface area seems to be the trick.

the_riley1mo ago

Overthinking it, milaprice. Just hit it harder next time.

david_rivera423d ago

Blew through a whole box of rods once trying to weld a rusty trailer hitch. Kept getting these cold laps that looked fine until you tapped em with a hammer and they just crumbled off. Idk man, sometimes it feels like you gotta trick the metal into behaving. My grandpa used to tell me to treat it like a stubborn mule, you gotta show it who's boss but also be patient enough to find the right angle. Maybe it's just me but I swear some of my best welds came right after I stopped caring so much and just let the arc do its thing.