Forge welding

[Chuckbuckeye]

So I tried to forge weld for he second time today. I was feeling really good about it from the first pic but then on the second pic I was disappointed to see it coming apart . I tried to weld it 3 times and used a XXXXXX ton of borax . Still wouldn’t stick . So I decided to go with it and make something decorative . Can anyone give me any tips on what went wrong or why I couldn’t weld it back ? I had it sparkling and it just would stay . I grinder the metal where I tried to make the weld . Still wondering what went wrong . 

[Frosty]

Read about "scarfing forge welds". The place where the lapped piece is embedding into the body in the last picture is a perfect example of what happens when you don't scarf the join properly. The end is shearing into the steel it's lapped over rather than welding. The explanation is better in the how to videos.

Also if the end of a join shears it also shears along the weld for a ways and that's what's causing it to curl up.

Flux is NOT glue, it's only there to keep the stock from oxidizing and causing included crud to be squirted out when you set the weld.

Do NOT whale on it setting the weld, firm dead blows, not sharp hard smacks. Too hard a blow can cause the join to bounce open or shear sideways, preventing a weld.

And next time if a weld doesn't set don't forge it out into what you're hoping to make THEN try welding again. Stop as soon as it fails and re clean and prep again. THEN set the weld again.

When you heat the weld let it soak a while in the fire so it's hot enough all the way through.

Welding is a LOT easier than upsetting. LOTS!

Frosty The Lucky.

[Chuckbuckeye]

Thanks frosty ! That’s a lot of info and he hit the nail on the head so to speak about the hitting to hard . That’s exactly what happens . I’ll try again a little smarter this time . Lol thanks again! I’ll be looking up videos again for sure