What flux to use?

K

Ken H>

Joined
Dec 31, 2011
Messages
4,676
Hello all, As ya'll know I've done just a tiny bit of forge welding for San Mai which I dry weld by doing a seal weld all around the billet. I would like to try forge welding about 8 or 10 layers for a Damascus billet. That seems a bit thick for a seal weld - what flux would give me the best chance of a good forge weld? Plain old Borax? OR - I've read about commercial flux - would any of the commercial forge welding flux give better chance of a good forge weld? No more forge welding than I plan, forge damage is not so much of a concern.

Thanks for any insights.

Ken H>
 
I’ve only used borax, but from what I’ve been told anhydrous borax works better, cause it doesn’t bubble up as bad when you put it on.

All that being said, the professional blacksmiths I know use commercial flux... so maybe it does make a difference.
 
I use wd40 prior to putting into the forge. It works just fine 20+ layers in a chili forge and using a coaliron works press. No borax for me.
 
John mc c said:
I've only done some San Mai and had great success with kerosene.
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John, are you using a press or power hammer? OR - like me, "Arm" hammer power. I had read a bit about using kerosene and WD40, but was a tad concerned with my "Arm" power. I don't mind ordering some commercial flux if it's any better.
 
I’m in the same boat where the only way to make my hammer a power hammer is to eat a heartier breakfast. I’ve done a few billets by hand in the 8–10 starting layer range, and I’ve had good luck with WD40. I welded the first one all gobbered up trying to seal it like with a stainless San mai. It worked but was a pain. I’ve done a couple since with just tack welding a strip on the corners and spraying down with WD40. Worked just as well with less hassle.

The only thing that didn’t work for me with wd40 was when I tried to do multibar. I figure that had a lot to do with not getting the bars flat enough and their thickness being enough that they didn’t fully come together in the first heat.
 
I've used regular borax and anhydrous. I much prefer the anhydrous because of the way it melts. Haven't had any problems with it.

If you do buy a commercial Flux, be careful that it doesn't contain iron/steel powder. Many do and it will show up in your pattern. They do sell some that doesn't have it and oftentimes it is meant for damascus.

Been meaning to try the wd40 as it would let me do some welding in my other forges that aren't covered in borax. But I might wait until it's time to reline the welding forge.
 
C. Killgore said:
I've used regular borax and anhydrous. I much prefer the anhydrous because of the way it melts. Haven't had any problems with it.

If you do buy a commercial Flux, be careful that it doesn't contain iron/steel powder. Many do and it will show up in your pattern. They do sell some that doesn't have it and oftentimes it is meant for damascus.

Been meaning to try the wd40 as it would let me do some welding in my other forges that aren't covered in borax. But I might wait until it's time to reline the welding forge.
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I don't mean to go off topic, but I haven't seen your name pop up for at least a few years. Are you still making knives? I'd be curious to see what you've been working on. I'm familiar with you from your YT channel if you're wondering lol.


(Sorry Ken)


~Paul
My Youtube Channel
... (Just some older videos of some knives I've made in the past)
 
coldsteelburns said:
I don't mean to go off topic, but I haven't seen your name pop up for at least a few years. Are you still making knives? I'd be curious to see what you've been working on. I'm familiar with you from your YT channel if you're wondering lol.
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Still making! Had some health issues that limited my shop time for a couple years. Always interesting to find people that recognize me from YouTube! Haha. I was surprised how many people watched those videos.

Got a couple bowies in the works at the moment. I'll see about posting them up when done.
 
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