Finally got a forge weld to hold on my first try

I've been messing around with a small propane forge in my garage for about 3 months now, mostly just making hooks and bottle openers. Yesterday I decided to try forge welding two pieces of 1/4-inch mild steel rod together for a fire poker. I heated them to bright orange, hit them with a little borax, and tapped them together. To my surprise, the weld actually held after the first pass. I learned that having a clean scale free surface is way more important than I thought. Has anyone else had luck with their first forge weld or were you like my buddy who blew through 10 tries?

2 comments

2 Comments

gibson.sarah28d ago

Clean prep is the whole secret honestly, I spent my first few tries grinding the surfaces flat before even adding flux and it made a huge difference. Your first try sticking is a good sign you're paying attention to the little things that matter most in forging. Once you get that rhythm down it opens up a whole new world of projects, I just made my first chain using forge welds and it felt like magic.

mary_foster9228d ago

Man that's awesome, getting a forge weld to hold on your first real try is huge. I remember my first attempt I was so nervous I barely tapped the pieces together and they just fell apart in my tongs. You're totally right about the clean surface thing too, I spent like two hours one weekend just grinding and filing rod ends before I finally got one to stick, and now I always hit them with the flap disc until they're shiny before I even think about flux. What kind of poker are you making? I've got a forge welded twist going on one of my tools that came out way better than I expected after I got the hang of it.

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