Finally got my forge welds to stick after 6 months of trying

I've been fighting with forge welding for AGES. Kept getting cold shuts or just plain no bond. Then I tried cleaning my steel with a wire brush RIGHT before putting it in the fire instead of letting it sit. Total game changer. Also started using a bit more flux than I thought I needed. Anyone else have a simple trick that turned their welding around?

3 comments

3 Comments

ellis.victor20d ago

Read somewhere that borax based flux works better than the regular stuff for this exact problem.

the_jason19d ago

Yeah man, @ellis.victor is right on the money, borax flux was a TOTAL game changer for me too.

martin.jamie19d ago

The wire brush trick is huge, but I found that heating the piece up to a dull red before fluxing helps a lot too. @ellis.victor mentioned borax flux, and that's what I switched to after fighting with plain sand for months. I also started hammering a little lighter and faster once the weld sets, keeps the scale from getting trapped.