Vent: Spent 5 hours on a forge weld that should have taken 30 minutes

Kept getting cold shuts no matter what I did. Finally realized my fire was running way too lean and I wasn't letting the billet soak long enough. Anyone else waste a whole day on something that basic?

3 comments

3 Comments

walker.julia12d ago

Oh man, I was reading this article the other day about how modern gas forges run different than old school coal setups, and it was saying how easy it is to mess up the air/fuel mix without realizing it. I had a similar thing happen with a san mai billet last month, kept getting these little cold shuts on the edges and couldn't figure out why until I checked my burner and found the air gate was almost shut. 5 hours is rough though, I think I only wasted about 3 before I gave up and went inside.

angela_morgan12d ago

Yeah check the air gate first thing. I've done the same thing with a propane forge where I thought it was dialed in but the flame was all lazy and oxidizing everything. Also make sure your burner tube isn't too long for the forge body, that'll mess with the mix too.

wells.christopher12d ago

Oh man I feel your pain! I spent almost a whole weekend once trying to figure out why my welds kept failing before I realized my burner was just way too rich. Once I dialed in the air mix right everything stuck on the first try.