Subject: Re: Forge welding flux

From: Dave B <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 6 Jun 1996 22:56:56 -0500

At 22:36 6/6/96 -0400, you wrote:
>At 08:15 PM 6/6/96 -0400, David C. Hufford wrote:
>
>>As for forge welding flux, I've used anhydrous borax.  The 20 Mule Team 
>>laundry borax is hydrated and "foams" when applied to hot iron due to 
>>release of water; anhydrous will not.  Anhydrous is available from 
>>chemical supply companies, but more expensive than the grocery store 
>>stuff.  
>>
>>D.C. Hufford
>>
>>
>I have read, but not tried myself, that you can heat laundry borax over an
>ordinary stove and drive off the water.  I think you have to grind up the
>resulting mass.  I'll look  it up if anyone's really interested.
>
>Bruce Freeman
>
>
>
I've done this.  What you end up with is a fluffy powder.  There may be some
clinging together, but grinding isn't necessary, unless you cook it to hot
and turn it into glass.

Dave B

---

From: [email-masked] (Frost, Jerry)
Date: Thu, 06 Jun 1996 23:22:14 -0800

> clinging together, but grinding isn't necessary, unless you cook it to hot

I don't know about borax specifically but 240f is the standard 
temperature used in the materials lab to drive off hygroscopic moisture 
in virtually all tested materials. A toaster oven should work fine for 
producing small batches. As with any anhydrous material it absorbs any 
available moisture so has a limited shelf life, keeping it in the 
welding rod dryer should extend the shelf life.

Another thing I heard a guy talking about was keeping a pot of borax 
molten in the forge while welding. I don't know about this, I just 
caught the tail end of the conversation and didn't get to talk to him. 
Might work though.

	Frosty
-- 
If it ain't forged
It ain't real
wrought iron is
The FROSTWORKS