Welding in a gasser

[Rich Hale]

There are a lot of thoughts on forge welding in a propane forge. I have taught a lot of folks how to do this and it is not that big of a deal. And before the day is out there will be other posts that tell how to do it someone elses way. Just try a few methods and see which works for you. I have three different forges on gas, a single burner a three burner and a two burner. The frist two are comercial and the last is homemade. At times each of them needs maintenance maybe clean out the jets, new floor of new liners. Each will weld when in good shape. I live in a mild climate but even now I lay a warm plate on the anvil to take the cold off before using it and I begin with some forgeing to get me in the right state of mind and to further warm the anvil. If you put hot steel on a cool or cold anvil it sucks the heat right out of the steel. I can only imagine how it is for you that live in an area that is real chilly. Small stock is even worse about losing heat. Mild steel for learning I feel should be at least 3/8" in thickness or larger. Square stock folded back onto it self a couple of inches is a good place to begin as the two surfaces to weld are in place and if the bar is long enough you can hold the cooler end without tongs. Lets weld it. bend and fold until the a couple of inches are folded back to lay along side and make contact with the long bar. heat until it starts to show a bit of red color and sprinkle with flux I use barax powder for the laundry. sprinkle all sides well. back into the fire until the flus is runny and shiney take the piece out with one hand an have hammer in the other ready to tap. A quick move to the anvil and as soon as the piece touches the anvill tap it a couple of times and remove from the anvil.. Wire brush it real well and flux again. When you do it this way the etal gets to the pooint that it will stick together and seems like it forms a little hot surface contact wat the seam. If you hit it hard at that time you will see a lot of hot sparks come out and spray all over. That usually is not a good thing. Brush flux and next time tapp a couple of times.. BAck in the fire and the next time it gets up to welding heat and you bring it out go again straight to the anvil and tap a couple of times on both sides. Wire brush and look it over, it should be welded pretty well at this point, wire brush again as while you are looking at it scale is forming, flux and back into the fire if is not fully welded tap again if it looks good foreg to shpe. Remember the longer it is out of the fire the more heat you lose. I heard you lose 3 degreesf per second. Not sure if that is correct but you can stand and watch the colors darken rapidly. Be ready to tap and do not lay the piece on the anvil while you find a hammer. I was told you can stick a weld with the handle of a hammer so I tried it, it worked just fine I held the hammer verticle and came down on the piece and tapped it,,it stuck just fine. This only says that you do not need to force a joint together,,tap it and you will do better. Work with this size stock or lthicker until every weld comes out right then drop down a little bit. Starting with stock that is small loses heat and will give you more problems that thicker stock. Half inch thick stock holds heat real well Most of the time one heat to tap it togerther and the next heat finish the weld and forge to shpe works just fine. Enjoy

[Pault17]

Rich,
thanks for the knowledge. I was at our latest abana chapter meeting, hearing all of the "coal" smiths grumble about not being able to weld in a gasser" and lo-an-behold, the demo guy (chapter president) made a clapper for a fire extinguisher bell.

He pretty much followed your exact explanation too.
thanks, again.

[Ted T]

Very well said Rich
Most blacksmiths I know will tell you that you cannot forge weld when using a gas heated forge.
Some will say that you may be able to forge weld with a gasser, but only if you use a recuperating type gas forge.
Over the years I have spent a lot of wasted money to watch demonstrators who said that you cannot forge weld by using a gas forge. Frustration set in because at that time I knew that you could forge weld with a gasser.
When I first started into blacksmithing about 54 years ago. I had never heard of a gas heated forge. We used coal and coke solely where I lived at that time. When gas forges came out, we still had an abundant supply of coke in the area where I lived, so there was no reason for me to change over to gas.
But then the steel mills closed down about 10 years ago, and coke was no longer available at a reasonable price. I was forced into considering using a gas forge.
Then about 4 years ago I saw the blacksmith from the UK demonstrate that forge welding could be done if done correctly! He confirmed what a Knife maker friend had already taught me at one time.
In fact, this very skilled craftsman from the UK pulled two heated pieces of steel out of a gas forge (with no flux) and slapped them together across the anvil face and they bonded into a weldment! Wow, what a shock to my knowledge base. So I bought a whisper Daddy II gasser and speedily put it in storage.
I still avoided using a gas forge although I knew that you could forge weld with them if you knew what you were doing.
But I did not want to deal with the problems of the flux eating the lining of my forge.
I did not use my gasser until this last year. I liked it so well, not only did I start using it, but I also built me a single burner gasser.
I am presently developing a 3 burner that can be used as a 1, 2, or 3, burner type gasser. It will be designed a little different from the existing forge designs I have seen. I want to develop a forge design big enough that I can place a piece of stock in it that has an existing large bend.
I feel it is better to have firebrick lining the bottom of the forge for reasons of slowing down the degradation from the use of flux. It seems to me that it is easier to replace.
Thank you for that step by step explanation of how to forge weld with a gas forge.
Be safe!
Old Rusty Ted

[Ten Hammers]

Yeah Rich, thanks. I actually don't forge weld a lot but your knowledge is not wasted. :)