TIL my forge weld failed because of a rusty piece of rebar I grabbed from a scrap pile last Tuesday

I was working on a fireplace poker for a customer in Eugene and used this old rebar I found by the railroad tracks. The weld looked solid at first but when I went to quench it, the whole joint just snapped clean off. Turns out rust and scale can trap impurities that ruin a forge weld if you don't grind them off first. Has anyone else had junk metal mess up a project like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

alicesingh10d agoMost Upvoted

That old rebar's got decades of corrosion trapped under the surface that grinding alone won't get out. You might need to heat it to welding temp and hammer it a few times just to expose the hidden junk before you even think about a proper weld.

dakota_nelson4310d ago

Read somewhere that old track spikes have the same problem with hidden cracks.