Frosty Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 Am I the only one who uses 20 mule team in the washing machine and dishwasher? Now I'm feeling older and more alone that ever. The flux you're asking about is for casting copper alloys D. The graphite scavenges the oxy from the melt or it won't make good castings. It should work a treat forge welding provided it doesn't have something else like powdered glass to form slag on the melt. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAG Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 Frosty, You are not the only one to add borax to the clothes washer. SLAG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 10 hours ago, anvil said: Iron dragon, that might be the old ezweld. Good stuff. I've still got a can of that and cherry weld as well. I knew I had a partial label from the box. It took me a while to find it and a picture. It was made by the Cortland Welding Compound Co., Cortland N.Y. Climax Welding Compound. They also made Cherry Heat Compound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 8 hours ago, Frosty said: The flux you're asking about is for casting copper alloys D. The graphite scavenges the oxy from the melt or it won't make good castings. It should work a treat forge welding provided it doesn't have something else like powdered glass to form slag on the melt. That's exactly what it was advertised for. You have to pay attention because some of them did have additives but there were more than a few that were 100% anhydrous borax. I usually add some baking soda to my laundry but for especially dirty loads I'll use borax or if something is bloody I use hydrogen peroxide. Pnut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 Thank goodness, I'm not alone in the new world Slag, pnut. Borax as a cleaning additive really helps hard water work with soap. Besides being a darned good cleaner itself. Excellent, Climax and Cherry Heat are the same flux. Cool that should double my chances of finding some at a yard, garage, etc. sale. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 I made them buy a box at the hotels I work at. I throw a cupful in whenever I do a reclaim load of laundry. It's definitely made a noticable difference. The chemical salesman that supplies the hotel doesn't like it but he's not the one doing the laundry. Pnut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 "Reclaim load of laundry" brings nothing pleasant to mind! I used to have coffee with a number of cops at my usual cafe and they got into telling about cleaning the rear seat (puker) in their cruisers. Evidently the clear plastic barrier between front and back seats is more to keep ejecta in back than riders. It let them take a pressure washer and steam cleaner to the rear without making the front wet. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 On 5/15/2021 at 7:16 PM, Irondragon ForgeClay Works said: Climax Welding Compound What a score. I've never had it in a wooden box. Mine all came in metal cans. They made three flavors, at least I believe all were made by the same company. Cherry weld, ezweld and Climax. I believe the iron content decreased from ezweld to climax to cherry weld. I might have them mixed up. Alas, all good things come to an end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aturgiss Posted October 9, 2022 Share Posted October 9, 2022 What kind of borax is used for forge welding? Does 20 mule team work or buy something else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted October 9, 2022 Share Posted October 9, 2022 Howdy from eastern Oklahoma an welcome to the forum! some people use 20 mule team borax right outside the box some dry it first, some folks blend their own flux ect… personally I use Peterson’s number 2 blue flux with success, there’s plenty of threads here that you can read over to get an idea of what to use an how to use it, take some time an explore the forum you’ll find quite a bit of information on flux, also if ya plan to stick around ya might wanna update your profile location so other smiths in your area can give ya a hand! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted October 9, 2022 Share Posted October 9, 2022 Welcome aboard aturgiss, glad to have you. If you put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many members live within visiting distance. You'd have a much better chance of meeting up with someone with experience so you can pick up forge welding in an hour instead of days or longer trying to figure it out yourself. What kind of forge are you using? It can make a difference. Yes, you can use 20 mule team Borax, it works but is trickier. There are lots of good forge welding fluxes offered by various suppliers I believe a good number are reviewed in the forge welding section of Iforge. While I was looking through my files so as not to make a mistake or run out to the shop and read the can Billy beats me to it. I use "Petersons blue #2" exclusively anymore. Petersens Yellow contains iron powder for those who prefer it in their welding flux. Its not my thing but you can't argue with success and I like Petersen products. It costs between 1/2 and 1/4 what some of the "forge welding flux" sold on blacksmith supply sites and included shipping at my local welding supply. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 10, 2022 Share Posted October 10, 2022 Just did 4 forge welds of 4 pieces of rusty barb wire to make basket icicles to hang on Christmas trees. I used 20 Mule Team borax mixed with a bit of Boric Acid, (AKA Roach Prufe). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted October 10, 2022 Share Posted October 10, 2022 Welcome from the Ozark mountains. I save the grinding dust from the 2X72 belt grinder and mix it with plain old 20 Mule Team Borax. One can use just about anything as flux, it's not magic or glue to stick metal together, might read this. https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/64750-what-does-flux-do-exactly-and-can-you-weld-without/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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