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Am I the only one who thinks fire welding with a coal forge beats gas every time?
Overheard some guy at the last hammer-in in Denver say gas forges are just as good for welding. I tried it on 3 seperate jobs last year and got cold shuts every time. Has anyone else found coal just gives way more control on the heat?
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sandrat2420d ago
Tbh I gotta push back a little on the coal vs. gas thing. Gas forges are actually really good for welding if you set them up right with the right burner and refractory. Cold shuts happen when you don't have a neutral or slightly reducing atmosphere, which is way easier to mess up with gas than coal. You need to keep an eye on the flame color and make sure you're not getting too much oxygen in there. A lot of the guys who say gas can't weld just haven't dialed in their forge properly, it's a learning curve but it works once you figure it out.
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west.henry19d ago
Okay, you got me. I used to be one of those guys who swore by coal for welding and thought gas was just for heating up stock. I never really gave it a fair shot. But you make a solid point about the flame color and the atmosphere thing (I've definitely messed that up with coal too, honestly). Maybe I need to stop being stubborn and actually try tuning my gas forge properly. I've got a buddy who welds damascus in a gas forge and his stuff comes out clean, so there's gotta be something to it.
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