Saw a massive difference in my forge welds after switching from borax to anhydrous borax last month

I tried it on a whim after a guy at the guild meeting mentioned it, and now my welds stick on the first heat instead of needing three or four passes - has anyone else made that swap and seen better results?

3 comments

3 Comments

uma3061mo ago

I mean, you're not wrong about the results being better, but just a heads-up-anhydrous borax can actually pull moisture out of the steel if it's too dry, so sometimes you gotta watch for cracking on thinner pieces. It's a solid upgrade for sure, just keep an eye on your heat control so you don't burn through the flux too fast. Glad it's working for you though, that first-heat stick is a game changer.

brian_jackson1mo ago

Slower preheat saved my bacon too, I lost a fillet knife before I learned that lesson.

nora5351mo agoTop Commenter

Feel you on the cracking issue, I messed up a thin chef knife blank my first time trying anhydrous. It was heartbreaking watching that thing split right down the middle after the quench. Took me a few heats to figure out I needed to let the steel warm up slower (like, really gradual) before cranking the forge. The payoff is worth the fuss though, once you get that heat control dialed in it's hard to go back to regular borax.