My first forge weld finally clicked after 8 tries

I spent 3 hours last Saturday in my shop in Nashville trying to get a simple forge weld to stick on a fire poker. Kept getting cold shuts and scale in the joint no matter what flux I used. Then I noticed my forge temperature was reading way hotter than it actually was because my thermocouple was loose. Fixed that, brought it up to a nice bright yellow heat, and the weld took like butter on the first try. Has anyone else had their tools lie to them about temperature like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

keithharris1mo ago

Tools are always gonna do that thing where they lie just enough to make you think you're the problem... Had a multimeter give me weird readings for months on a buddy's truck, kept chasing electrical gremlins, turned out the leads had a tiny crack in the insulation from being stepped on. It's like that old saying about a bad craftsman blaming his tools gets flipped around too much. Sometimes the tool really is the one giving you the wrong story, but the kicker is you gotta figure out when to trust your gut over the reading. Everything from a thermostat in your house to a fuel gauge in your car will straight up gaslight you eventually.

mark_cooper1mo ago

Respectfully, I'd argue the tools weren't lying - they just wore out or got loose, same as any tool after enough use. A loose thermocouple is on you for not checking it before firing up.