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Hypercon
Welding
Successful welding with a coal fired forge is without question an artform in and of itself. The two pieces must be brought up to an extreme heat that permits the surface of each piece to become semi-molten. Then the pieces are joined together in such a fashion that the connected ends or edges exchange surface molecules and become joined through the blended metal.
The fire must be deep and sealed along its exterior surfaces to allow for the highest pressure in the air flow path and therefore the containment of the heat generated by the interior walls. This area must be clearly defined because the pieces to be welded must be placed into the fire at the point of maximum heat concentration.
Essential to forge welding is the prevention of excess oxygen and impurities. Restraint must be used on the bellows. While a fire can be raised to welding heat by quickly pumping the bellows, oxygen levels become too high and the iron will scale and become unweldable. For most metals, welding heat is reached when the fire interior reaches an incandescent white color. If this temperature is reached slowly, the amount of oxygen and other impurities will be kept at a minimum and a weld will be possible.
Preparing the Metal
There are a variety of ways in which two pieces of metal can be joined. The most common is lap welding. The ends of two pieces are cut at a diagonal. The surface of the ends should be generally convex. (Concavity permits gaps between the pieces during welding). These two surfaces will then be joined along the common diagonal allowing for a greater surface area of joinder than had the ends been cut perpendicular.
Two objects of unlike size can be joined by a butt or T weld. These welds, particularly the butt weld to plate, can be exceedingly difficult, especially in a small forge.
Iron must be clean before it can be welded. The easiest way to accomplish cleaning is by the use of flux. The pieces to be welded are placed over the top of the fire and brought to a red heat. A generous amount of flux is then sprinkled on the edges to be welded. The pieces are then reinserted into the fire, this time at the center of the heat, and slowly brought to welding temperature. The two pieces are then quickly removed and hammered closed. On a lap weld, the pieces to be joined are hit first in the center to force the iron from the concave middle out to the sides. The piece is then rapidly struck on either side of the first strike. Properly done, the two pieces are now welded together.