Found a weird trick for getting a cleaner weld on mild steel

I was having trouble with pitting on my forge welds for months. On a whim, I tried sprinkling a tiny bit of borax from the laundry aisle on the joint before the final heat, maybe a quarter teaspoon. The flux action was way smoother and the seam almost disappeared. Has anyone else tried something like this or am I just getting lucky?

3 comments

3 Comments

nancynguyen11d ago

Honestly, that's a solid find. I had a similar thing happen with some old-school boric acid powder from the hardware store. It just made the whole flow way more even and cut down on that gritty texture big time.

the_anthony11d ago

Actually that hardware store stuff can be super inconsistent. I tried a batch last year that left weird clumps everywhere. Sometimes the old ways just add more problems than they solve.

jenkins.reese10d ago

Right? That borax trick is wild. I used it on some scrap rebar last week and the bead just laid down so clean.