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?

2 comments

2 Comments

kim37317d 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.

foster.charles17d ago

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