amy692•1mo ago

Dropped a hot tenon into the slack tub and it warped the whole thing

I was forge welding a fireplace poker for a customer in Austin last Tuesday, and I got distracted by my phone buzzing. The tenon slipped right off the tongs and plopped into the slack tub. By the time I fished it out, one side had cooled way faster than the other, and the whole piece bent into a shallow S curve. Has anyone else had a project go wrong just from a bad drop like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

parker_bailey1mo ago

2300 degrees on a bad day. A forge weld needs even temp all the way through, especially on tenon joints. That drop probably saved you from a weaker weld failing later in a customer's fireplace.

uma3061mo ago

And that's EXACTLY why I always say, you can't rush heat. I once watched a guy try to save time on a wrought iron railing by cranking up his burner way too fast. He ended up with a tenon that looked fine on the outside but had this weird grain separation inside. The whole thing cracked right in half when he tried to test it with a hammer. He spent the rest of the week remaking that piece and cursing his own shortcut. So yeah, a dropped piece that saves you from a hidden failure is a GOOD drop in my book.