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I Forge Iron

Made this today...


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The second attempt didn't hold but it was much bigger stock. I could see a crack in it which is where the weld failed. But took some wollaping to break.

The first go (the smaller piece) held perfectly, but that started as much smaller stock.

This is my first successful forge welding attempt. I've tried and failed several times with no luck but today it worked!

Got to say I'm well chuffed!

I tried using sand as flux but this just would not melt no matter how hot I could get it. What sort of sand should I be looking for?

I know I can get borax off eBay though.

Cheers
Andy
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Try without the flux and see what happens, then if you must use a flux, borax is probably the better way to go, some Tesco stores stock it as a whitening agent in the detergent/washing aids aisle, or the guy in Plymouth who advertises it on ebay does a good deal, some chemists may order it for you, or you could use some BOC Saffire brazing flux, which is an expensive way of buying borax (look on the packaging for the contents)

 

SIlica sand can be used, as can the rocks from the Mendips when ground down.

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what kind of forge are you using?

 what material are you welding?

 what are you making?

 borax is now illegal as a cleaning agent in the EU (due to boron poisoning of a lot of ground water). but it is readily available on ebay (or from pottery suppliers.) anhydrous is best pentahydrate next and decahydrate next.....

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It's a home made forge and this is just mild steel. Im not making anything in particular owen, its just a skill i wanted to learn. gave up on the sand and did it without anything on.

This has just been a learning session, I wanted to achieve a weld and I have. Now I need to build up from there. It will definitely be baby steps.

Found some borax on eBay easily enough.

Andy

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  If it's the storebought laundry type, the worst it will do is clump up on you, which can be mildly annoying.

  As far as the anhydrous type goes, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that if it's not well sealed, it may absorb moisture and turn into the pentahydrate and then the decahydrate forms.  I hear the anhydrous works better than the storebought laundry stuff, although I haven't had the opportunity to try it myself.

  I also hear that you can bake the laundry stuff on a cookie at about 350 F for an hour or two and you'll end up with the anhydrous stuff, although your house will smell horrible afterwards.

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 Laundry borax will foam as the water boils out causing problems for some folk's welds. Anhydrous just melts and coats the join.

 

The temp to bake it to remove the hygroscopic moisture is 230f. Cooking it hotter isn't helpful, it's going to stick needing to be ground again regardless but the hotter it gets the harder the clumps.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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