Is there any way to forge weld with a peat coal forge.

[forgersplorger]

I am a new smith with a home-made coal forge. The coal available in my area is charcoal but I cant seem to get any forge wels on it. Im pretty sure the temperature is hot enough, I can get the metal (rebar steel) sparkling hot. but everytime I try to join the 2 together it fails. every time I try to inspect the well there is a lot of scale and ash in between the welding surfaces. 

 

does anyone know of anyway I can get around this if any additional information is required then I will be more than happy to provide. 
 

Also is it possible to first fasten the two weld surfaces together and then heat them so that nothing can get in between could that work. 

[anvil]

Peat is far dirtier{blacksmith dirtier} than charcoal so you would most likely have a harder time forge welding, if its actually possible, with peat. I believe your problem is experience, not fuel source. 

[Purple Bullet]

Anvil has it right, but let me try to add a little from my experience. If you can get the metal “sparking hot”, you have enough heat. The problem may be too much heat all at once.  If the outside is burning before the center reaches welding heat, you won’t get a good weld. You don’t really want to see sparking. Learn how the metal looks just BEFORE sparking. One or two sparks may be OK but if it looks like a sparkler then you’ve burnt your metal and will need to cut or grind off the burnt part before you can use it. 

Yes, cleanliness is important. Flux will help keep scale from forming and provide a carrier to carry impurities out of the weld when you strike it. I use plain laundry borax. I’ve heard lots of discussion about the virtues of anhydrous (moisture baked out of the borax) but I guarantee you, once the regular borax gets over 212 deg F, it is anhydrous. The only gain I see is the loss of heat it requires to get to that point which in most forges, is negligible.

And yes, start with getting the metal faces together. Drop tongs welds are not for beginners. Heat the metal to maybe just above cherry red, wire brush it and flux it. Make sure the melted flux covers the joints. Reheat slowly until yellow-white. Colors are subjective, so again, it may help to heat a piece of scrap until it sparkles, then heat your weld to how it looks just before it sparkles. The only time you really want to sparks from a weld is when you hit it. BTW, don’t try to hit too hard. If the weld is incomplete, you can always wire brush, flux it again and reheat to welding heat. 

Hope this helps, forgerslorger. You might wish to add your location to your profile. There might be someone nearby who would be happy to show you how it is done. 

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you put your general location in the header you'll have a better chance of meeting up with forum members living within visiting distance. You'll learn much MUCH faster with an experienced smith showing you how. I teach forge welding as a 1st. session exercise and I use a propane forge with all the negative hype you hear from folks who don't know how.

What kind of steel are you trying to weld? I highly recommend you spend a few dollars on a known steel from the steel store. That way you can focus on the simple but important rules for making good welds. Evaluating salvaged or found steel is a whole different set of skills but it's necessary for welding. Make sense?

It's not hard once you know the tricks as mentioned above. I forge weld a little differently than most folks, I never wait till the steel/iron is at orange heat before fluxing. By then scale is forming fast enough to watch, heck faster than you CAN watch. Depending on the shape of the stock I flux before wiring or tack welding the joint together. Then I brush and flux again before it reaches red heat. This works best on welds that have a wide joint surface, say 3/4" wide and long joint. 

The most important rule of forge welding is CLEAN, make the joint shiny polished clean if you can, if not a vigorous wire brushing or filing is good and get it fluxed as soon as it will melt and stick.

Remember flux is NOT GLUE, it's easily possible to get a joint so loaded with molten flux the halves shift even under careful movement or the lightest tap of a hammer. This is a B A D thing. 

Forge welding with Peat? The Vikings smelted, refined, forged and welded in peat fires for a long time. Just to say I'd done it I did a little forging including welding using moose poop for fuel. Oddly enough it didn't even smell bad at all but worked a treat. 

Charcoal is a premier solid fuel, it requires much less fire management than coal and far less air blast. Practice is the secret (SHHHHH )

Stick with us, we'll have you up and abusing steel to your heart's content in no time.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Welcome from the Ozark mountains. As Frosty said charcoal is the premier fuel for welding. However something not mentioned (unless I missed it) is the type of charcoal. If you are using BBQ charcoal briquettes it will be very difficult to get a good forge weld, due to the impurities and fillers used to bind the briquette together. 

Hardwood lump charcoal is what is needed. It is available in most super markets and big box stores by the bag. There are several threads about making your own lump charcoal in the Solid Fuels section. This is a good one. https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/59604-charcoal-she-retorted/

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