Finally got my forge welds to hold after 8 months of trying

I've been hammering away at this little coal forge in my backyard shed for about 8 months now, and forge welding was just kicking my butt every single time. Last Tuesday I had a pile of scrap rebar sitting there and decided to give it one more go after watching a guy on YouTube talk about flux temp. I cleaned the metal super well with a wire brush, got it up to a pale yellow in a good part of the fire, and tried a lighter hammer blow than I usually do. The weld actually stuck on the first try, no delamination or anything! I pulled it out and it held together under a bend test, which I've never had happen before. It's just a simple stack of three pieces but for me that's a huge step forward. Has anyone else struggled with getting the right heat color for forge welding, or did you have a trick that finally made it click for you?

2 comments

2 Comments

grantnelson8d ago

Dude yes the pale yellow thing is legit. I spent months burning up metal at bright orange because that's what every forum said to do. Soon as I dialed back to that almost buttery color and stopped hitting it like I was mad, everything just worked.

ninaw889d ago

Yo that's awesome, congrats on finally cracking it. How long were you fighting with that flux temp before it clicked? I remember when I was learning forge welding, I had the exact same problem with heat color. I kept trying to weld at bright orange like a bunch of videos said, but it never stuck for me either. Then I heard an old timer say you gotta hit a dry pale yellow, almost like straw, and that lighter hammer tap is a game changer. It's probably the most common thing people mess up when starting out. You're past the hardest part now, it only gets easier from here.