Spent 10 years hammering hot steel without properly fluxing my forge welds

Last week I was working on a fire poker for a customer in Cleveland. I went to forge weld a joint like I always do, and it just fell apart on the anvil. For the tenth time that month. An old timer walking by my shop saw me cuss under my breath and asked if I was fluxing the joint before welding. I told him sure, I sprinkle a little borax on there. He shook his head and said I needed to heat the steel to a dull red first, THEN apply the flux, then bring it up to welding temp. Apparently I was putting flux on cold steel all these years and it was just burning off before it could do any good. Tried his way on the next weld and it stuck perfect first try. Anybody else learn a basic technique wrong for years before someone corrected them?

3 comments

3 Comments

kim3732mo ago

So was the old timer able to explain why so many people get that step wrong in the first place? Just seems like a real easy fix that nobody bothers to teach new guys cutting their teeth. Curious if you've run into any other blacksmiths making that same cold flux mistake since.

jordang3224d ago

Wow, I gotta push back a little on that one. I mean, from what I've seen, a lot of seasoned smiths actually prefer to teach that cold flux method because it's way more forgiving on thinner stock, and it helps new guys avoid warping stuff. @foster.charles kind of has a point that it's not always a big deal, since the real problem is usually bad heat control rather than the flux temp itself. Idk, maybe the "wrong" step is just a shortcut that works if you know how to adjust your hammering speed.

foster.charles2mo ago

Oh come on, it's not that big a deal.