[TheForge] Re: flux additives

Sun Aug 17 20:57:00 2003

Hey Bob, You might want to try adding a pinch of sal ammoniac also.
When I talked to Jim Hrisoulas many years ago he used to add red iron oxide
and a pinch of sal ammoniac to his fluxing formulas.
Chuck
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Rackers" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2003 7:15 PM
Subject: RE: [TheForge] Re: flux additives


> Heck, I can try that flux right away.
> I work in a pottery, and just happened to have had them order for me some
boric
> acid and red iron oxide.
> Matter of fact, I can try both fluxes, considering I also have the borax
and
> "slag".
>
> I'll try them and report how they work.
>
> On a side note, as an experiment, I took a clay pot and rolled it around
in
> some forging scale (after crushing it to relatively small particle size).
> It creates a really neat effect. So neat, in fact, that we're doing it
again
> next week on a very large pot. In the pottery shop we call it "Ingredient
X".
>
> Bob
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected]
> [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of David E. Smucker
> Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2003 7:42 PM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: [TheForge] Re: flux additives
>
> <snip>
> I too find the "Japanese bladesmith formula" for flux: 1 part borax, 1
part
> boric acid and 1 part slag from the anvil interesting.  Yes, I would
assume
> the anvil slag to be scale which is a rather pure iron oxide.  Some smiths
> in this area use a flux that is 50 percent boric acid and 50 percent red
> iron oxide.  They use roach poison for the boric acid and iron oxide from
a
> pottery supply house.  I still not quite sure of the chemical reaction of
> the iron oxide -- in helping the flux work.  Yes in the reduction
> environment you will get free iron and form CO or CO2 but how does this
help
> the weld?  Does the free iron particles from the reduced iron oxide help
the
> weld "stick"?  I have seen Lynda Metcalfe stick some difficult welds using
> this flux -- and it made it look easy.  Her flux had no borax in it at
all.
>
> In a interesting side note, the steel industry produces tons of scale in
the
> hot rolling of steel.  This scale is either sold for some chemical
processes
> as iron oxide or most is sent back to the blast furnace as a very pure
iron
> ore (100 % iron oxide).
>
> Dave Smucker
>
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