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

I have heard of using silica sand, but never tried it. Play sand is silica sand

 

Thanks

Josh

not all sand is the same.  try the borax, then move to sand if thats what ya aim for,  dont make it harder on yourself than needed

Andy,

 

Not sure about on your side of the pond, but here I can get 20 mule team borax at the grocer's or hardware store as a cleaning supply.

 

Eric

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.

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.....

Thanks for the update Owen, it is some time since someone brought some in to show me that they could get it quite easily,

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

I have a question. I have some borax that is finely ground. How long is it good for? Does it have a shelf life?

  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.

Old timer at last saturdays  hammer in mentioned  using borax, but adding a little salt to mix to improve it.... Dunno... Have not tried it yet.... Don't know what salt to borax ratio should be...

 

Dale

 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.

Thanks for the temp correction Frosty, I'll pass it on to guy I heard it from.

I'm gonna try the borax I have and see what happens. It's been in a coffee can but I don't know for how long.

Someone mentioned adding roach killer to borax to make it better. I'm just not convinced I would want that turned into something I could inhale in my shop.

technicus joe uses silica sand if i am correct.