[TheForge] Forge welding

[Chuck Robinson]

Hey James,
  My info came from Bob Patrick.
He told me, when he was a restoration smith  he did up to 120 forge 
welds  a day. He tried just about every flux available . He saw a 
discernible  difference between 20 mule team and anhydrous borax,  not 
accounted for by the W O C.
He said that he  finally tracked down a chemist who worked for the 
company that told him about the anti caking addition.
Since the borax is not USP grade I doubt it is chemically pure but the 
impurities are also not listed in the MSDS sheet, as long as they are 
not dangerous, toxic or carcinogenic.
I'm not an expert on the subject.
Chuck


On 7/26/2011 7:49 PM, James Binnion wrote:
> I have heard variations on this information floating around the blacksmithing community for years and it is just not so. The MSDS (http://www.rsu19.org/assets/files/safety/msds/20%20Mule%20Team%20Borax.pdf) lists only Sodium Borate Decahydrate . Even if the anti caking ingredient was a trade secret they would have to list it as such and a CAS # for it. 20 Mule Team Borax is just borax nothing else.
>
>
>
> On Jul 26, 2011, at 3:30 PM, Chuck Robinson wrote:
>
>> 20 Mule team borax has, in addition to water of crystallization, an anti
>> caking additive that melts at a higher temp than the borax, and can
>> slightly decrease the quality of the weld.
>> Anhydrous borax is a better flux.
>> Chuck
> James Binnion
> jbin at well.com
>
>
>
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