Tried a weird old coal mix for a leaf spring knife and got a surprise

I was messing around with a piece of old truck spring and decided to try a coal mix my grandad wrote down, 80% bituminous and 20% anthracite. The forge welded way cleaner than I expected, left almost no scale. I learned sometimes the old notes are worth a shot even if they sound odd. Anyone else have a weird forge recipe that just works?

2 comments

2 Comments

fisher.adam1d ago

Got to respect the old notes. My uncle swore by adding a handful of hardwood charcoal to his coal bed for welding, said it made a more reducing fire. Sounds like your grandad's mix did the same thing, cutting down the oxygen. Sometimes the weird ratios just click, right? Makes you wonder what other little tricks got lost.

lindab491d ago

That's wild it worked so clean. Did the notes say why he settled on that exact 80/20 split, or was it just a trial and error thing?

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