Polymarkos, Again

Don't know the composition of either piece of steel. Might be just the wrong type. Neither piece sparked seriously when taken from the fire, but I did flux the xxxx out of it. Shaped the coal mound like a tall cone, was in about a third the way from the top. Thanks for the input. Likely it was too much heat. But the clip did start severely cracking at lower heats after the first attempt at welding. It was just falling apart. It amazed the xxxx outta me.

It might be that tiny cracks were the case with the leaf spring, but I don't think that was the case with the clip. But to have two completely unrelated pieces of steel behave the same way? I think more likely it's something in my process.

Using my coal forge, I wanted to weld an eye from a spring steel clip used on railroads. I brought the material to a good orange heat, beat out one end, scarfed that end, and then bent it back to form a loop. I then fluxed it with straight borax, buried it in the coal fire, and brought it up to a yellow-white heat. When I took it to the anvil, one tap sent the entire unwelded eye to the floor. It literally fell apart from a tap. The steel showed some cracking, which was not there when I shaped it. I tried another piece of spring steel, this from an automobile leaf spring. I drew out the end, scarfed it, folded it around in a loop, and then fluxed with straight borax. I buried it in the fire and brought it up to a yellow white heat. It looked like a good temp to weld. I took it to the anvil as quickly as I could. Before I even tapped it with my hammer, it fell into two pieces. It just disintegrated. Does anyone have any idea what I did wrong? Too much heat? Borax eating steel? Bad ju-ju?

A good source for scrap--if they're still working--is at NANA Construction, on Big Lake road. They are a fabrication facility for man-camps and modules for North Slope and mining applications. They generate TONS of scrap, though it is mostly structural steel types. Also, I have perhaps 4 TONS of scrap I collected when I worked there. If you want any, come and get it. I live in Wasilla, at the North end of Lucille road.