Race taylor Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Ok to start I'm Race I just started with forging.a little back ground to my question. I was looking up information about flux and on it one of the items it listed was lime. the question I have is about lime. What kind of lime and I know it's not the fruit? The reason I ask this is because I know there is lime for farming, also for tanning and so on. so to further my question. What kind of lime and where would I get that from and how exactly would it be used in the forging process? And I also realize not everything is grammatically correct. Thank you for the time and help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 I've never used lime for flux but I'd imagine if you're gonna use it you'd mix it in with whatever other ingredients you might be usin and sprinkle the iron the same as any other flux mix. You can get lime at farmers co-op for just a few dollars around here but it may be different where ever you are. The lime is gonna be powdered and it feels and looks kinda like talcum powder. It has a pungent odor in large enough quantities so be ready for it when you open the bag.If you add you location to your profile someone more local might be able to help with where to get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 I've never heard of lime used as a welding flux but I believe it is often used as an annealing medium. I think it's the ordinary sort of garden lime available from hardware stores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Ive herd of it used as flux in industrial smellters, not forg welding or braising. As we commonly dont use wraught, and steels weld at lower temps many high temp fluxes are not used much any more (solica sand etc.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Welcome and please edit your profile to include a general location---what country you are in if nothing else. There is a lot of blacksmithing questions that are of the sort "it'll take 6 weeks of trying it on your own but i can show you and have you doing it pretty well in 1 hour---stop by!" Not to mention the "locating tools and supplies" questions.I too have not heard of using lime in a forge welding flux; I've been forge welding 30 odd years and use plain borax, borax + boric acid, or JPH's steel glue flux. (and sand or powdered glass for wrought iron when I was testing out some 100+ year old recipes..). When smelting in a bloomery I have not fluxed the charge as the fuel and walls seem to do an ok job of it for my small scale runs---under 20 pound blooms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoggy Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 (edited) Flux for iron smelting is I believe Limestone.....which is what Calcium Carbonate? While Lime as used agriculturally is Calcium Oxide I think. I know that Lime (slaked?) can be made from limestone or seashells and is also used for lime mortar.I think you may be confused with the smelting of iron ores, I'm not aware of any lime used as a forging flux. Edited October 31, 2015 by Smoggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Welcome aboard, glad to have you. Ditto your general location in the header an Iforge member might live down the street. It's happened more than once.Wrong kind of flux, lime is for the foundry. It'll prevent forge welds happening.Borax is a common forge welding flux and there are any number of other home brew fluxes. One of our guys here makes a dandy welding flux and calls it, "Alaska Flux". I've used it and it works a treat, better than the commercial flux in my tool bag.Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedefiddle Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Good Morning,Dolomite Lime from the Garden Store. It is a lot cleaner than Borax and easier to clean up after. You can use a flux-spoon or sprinkle it on with your fingers. The Blacksmith that I learned this from is John Adolph. John started his apprenticeship in Germany when he was 14. He moved to Canada and there wasn't a job for a Blacksmith, so he took a Machinist Job. He became a Machinist, after which he started pipe-line welding. Later on he was the welding Inspector. He retired from Dominium Bridge. John was a Demonstrator at CanIRON1 at the O'Keefe Ranch in 1997. He demonstrated making Logging Tongs from 1 1/2"-4140, using his Hand Hammer (an 8lbs. Hammer), He did all the 4140 forge welds with Lime as the flux. He also did a workshop on "Flame Straightening". He could make a piece of 4 foot structural Pipe twist like spaghetti. He did a workshop at one NWBA Conference where he suspended a 12 foot piece of I-Beam by supporting the two ends and bent it up in the middle. Defies Gravity, Magic.As an aside, the Lime also works very for Annealing something. Heat up what you are working on and sink it into a bucket of Lime. No smoke, No Fire, No Noise, it just works. The Lime is also, not hazardous to anything. I always have a pail beside my work station.Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoggy Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 ...and we learn something new again.......Dolomite lime would be Calcium Magnesium Carbonate, I believe.....I'm now wondering if the magnesium is a crucial part of the fluxing, I think it is (or can be) used to de-sulphur steel,. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yahoo2 Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 In ceramics, dolomite can be classed as refractory or flux at very similar temperatures depending on the form it is in at that point and path to get there. ie ramping of the heat, O2 levels in the kiln, calcination, time. As Niel says pre-heated steel and sprinkling it on in a reducing fire will get the best combination of gassing co2 and scavenging impurities and time before it starts to get that glassy tacky toffee like stickiness.Iron oxide is also classed as refractory or flux depending on the molecular form. So at a lowish welding temperature there can be an insulating layer between the metal surfaces or a catalyst that assists the start of metal bonding depending on what form it is in at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Race taylor Posted November 1, 2015 Author Share Posted November 1, 2015 I have updated my profile I'm at Perryville Missouri https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flux_(metallurgy)this is where it said lime as a flux Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 for smelting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 This is the first time I've heard of lime of any kind as a forge welding flux but I "don't know far more than I do know." I'll have to see if I can find some dolomitic lime and take a slash at it.Thanks for the link Race, good info at least as starting points for deeper research were a person in need or just curious. The uses of lime as flux are for smelting (refining ores) or foundry work as noted in this article. It's pretty easy to see how a person could get the wrong impression it's kind of jumbled.I'm good at unjumbling seeing being as I'm a pretty jumbled rambly kind of writer it gives me an advantage.Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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