Learned the hard way that forge welding temps are way more specific than I thought

I watched a video from that guy Mark Aspery last weekend and he showed this chart with exact temps for different steels. I always just got stuff orange and hit it, but apparently 1375F for 1075 vs 1450F for 5160 is a real thing. I tried his method with a 5160 billet I've been messing with and it stuck on the first try after months of fails. The visual difference between a dull orange and bright orange is only like 50 degrees but it makes or breaks the weld. Has anyone else had this big of a change from just watching one tutorial?

3 comments

3 Comments

karen_roberts42d ago

Hell yeah, same thing happened to me with a 1095 billet. Exact temp changed everything.

the_eric1d ago

0.1% carbon difference in 1095 changes the decalescence point by like 15 degrees, so your "exact temp" is probably different from mine anyway. I've had billets fall apart at one temp and weld perfect at the same spot on the next run.

davis.ruby2d ago

Visual difference between dull orange and bright orange is only like 50 degrees" - yeah, and that's basically the difference between a perfect weld and a pile of slag. @karen_roberts4 probably has a whole rainbow of failed billets from the same mistake.