morgan.mary•23d agoProlific Poster

PSA: My first time trying to forge weld a chain link in my backyard shop went sideways

I was in my garage in Portland, trying to join two pieces of 3/8 inch round stock for a simple chain. I had my little single burner propane forge going, and I thought I had a good welding heat. When I pulled the first link out and set it on the anvil, I hit it with my cross peen hammer and... it just sort of crumbled. The metal didn't fuse at all, it just broke apart into a grainy mess. I realized I had let it get way too hot, basically burned the steel. I was so mad at myself for wasting the material. I shut everything down, cleaned up the scale, and just sat there for a minute. I ended up watching a bunch of videos on heat control before I tried again the next day. Has anyone else completely cooked a piece when you were sure you had the temperature right?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_cora23d ago

Honestly, that grainy crumble sounds more like a bad flux job than just heat.

barbaraw1622d ago

Yeah, could be old flux too! That stuff goes bad after a while and leaves a weird residue.

max33022d ago

Nah, that crumble is classic burnt steel, @the_cora. Been there, it's a brutal way to learn heat control.