MadHammerForge Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Forge welding tips and tricks. Might not belong here not exactly sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Ivan Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Search "forge welding" in the search bar. You get 134 results related to those tags. If you can't find an answer in there, maybe be a bit more specific about what you are looking for. Welding is a very broad topic. Welding what, with what type of forge, what type of joint, application, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Madhammer guy. If you put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance. Believe me you could spend days worth of time teaching yourself how to forge weld and I could teach you in about half an hour. No fooling an hour with an experienced smith is worth days, weeks, maybe months trying to figure things out yourself. Sometimes the secret is as simple as which side of your mouth to hold your tongue on. Nothing wrong with being self taught I'm mostly self taught not that that's a recommendation. However if you really want to do it yourself you really need to follow Ivan's advice, pack a lunch, something to drink, pull up a comfy chair and start reading. I don't think a person could speed read the high points of the forum in a month. Of course I could be wrong. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 You cant get it too clean, get it hot enough but not too hot, don't hit it too hard and weld it 3 times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basher Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Frosty has it , better learned than mashed at. lots of ways to skin a skunk , don't worry about peoples ideas of what is the wrong way to do it, look for peoples very different ways of doing in rite and somewhere in there you may well find your way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intrex Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Charles, That is the most constructive and concise forge welding sentence I have ever seen. I think you just need to add "apply flux" somewhere in there and you have a timless winer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 you anvil has to be facing the right direction for a new rising moon on the first saturday of the month.. Just joking the key to a good weld is a even saturating heat. Flux Heat one hit . do this three times, each time the hit can get a little harder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Then some fool will point out that they weld with out flux.... The fact is I just pointed out my commonest mistakes. If it didn't stick or stay stuck it was one of those. Tho I do have better luck with charcoal, lol (cleaner) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Coke Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Greetings Mad, The simple answer is in the name... Forge welding.... It all happens in the forge.. Learn to read your fire and metal first... Than just tap and re-heat and forge it together ... If it will not stick in the forge it won't stick just hammering it on the anvil... Caution with the flying flux.. Safety glasses a must... Just my 2c Forge on and make beautiful things Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnicusJoe Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Oh oh oh oh, Charles, I'll gladly take on the role as the fool who points out he can forge weld without flux. Ok, let me prepare for this.... Hey all, let me you tell you something!!!! I can ................................................. (suspense, wait for it.......... here it comes)..... forge weld without flux! I can forge weld without flux, because I am such a cool hardcore smith, and y'all's skills are inferior to mine because I forge weld without flux!!!!! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ok, now my serious response. Here are few tips of mine, whether you use flux or not. I actually don't use flux for most welds, exceptions given, but that shouldn't matter in this discussion. A few tips: -keep the forge clean; check for clinkers, dust, impure fuel, other metals that could accidently be pushed into the fire. You will notice this while welding. -keep the stock clean. -if you're welding small stock, weld on a preheated block so the anvil doesn't suck out the heat. -if it doesn't work, it's either an issue with the stock that can't be welded, in combination or without a poor maintained fire. Or and yes, it just works like this: you're doing it wrong. Wrong being: being too slow, hitting too hard, wrong heat in the wrong place, not clean enough, too hot, etc. when I teach people forge welding, I will let and make them fail their forge welds in a few different ways; -too hot -too slow -striking to hard And more, so they can have an insight as to what NOT to look for. Because they already know what not to look for, they pick up forge welding quickly and quite well. The keys to doing anything right (=obtaining the desired result) is know what will not give you the desired results so you can already avoid that. And so work towards what is your desired result. It all takes time and dedication to develop. Just look at my YouTube videos of 7 years ago and where I am now. Cheers, Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 At one SOFA meeting they did a forge welding demo where they added a penny, fly ash from the base of the chimney and sulfur to the fire and proceeded to forge weld a chain link that withstood placing a rod in it and twisting. Billy Merritt does welding demos using a hammer handle to weld up the billet. So as much as I would like to say there is *1* way to do it; I can only say what factors seem to help me the most: Temperature---not too hot or too cold. Cleanliness of stock and fire (fire to prevent oxidizing through clinker blocking air save in spots). Air not too much air, or too little---a hot reducing fire needed. Not too much snap to the hammer---you want a firm blow to stick it together not a blow that bounces it apart. I generally use flux for as another smith has said "flux is cheap"; if it saves 1 weld for you then the time saved has covered a big box of the stuff!" (of course I am generally welding billets so clean up is not a factor...) I found it an immense help to have a good welding smith work me through my first forge welds so I could see the correct temperature and fire. I still remember him yelling at me "don't look at it; hit it!" about 32 years ago now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Joe, you sir were whoI was imagining, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 I would suggest before worring about forge welding, get a forge up and running, and read the site a bit rather than jumping around posting lots of questions that have already been asked and answered on this site. You would have these answered if you would only spend a little time looking for the answers. We are here to help, but you also need to try to help yourself a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnicusJoe Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Sorry, I was what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 "Who I imagining" lol. Your an impressive smith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 about everything mentioned above is critical to a good forge weld. I'll add keep your green coal out of the coke around your iron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel OF Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 The best and worst advice I've had about forge welding was from a no nonsense Yorkshire-man master blacksmith who said "forge welding is a piece of xxxx, you've just got to do it right". Didn't exactly tell me how to do it but it's true that if you're not patient and don't do it right, it won't work. (Piece of xxxx is a British colloquialism for easy). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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