That expensive forge welder I bought was a total waste of $350

Bought a fancy gas forge welder from a big name brand thinking it'd make joining billets easy. After 3 tries and a cracked anvil face, I'm back to my old coal forge. Anyone else find gas forges overrated for welding?

3 comments

3 Comments

rose_reed14d ago

Swapped to a smaller torch tip and it welded fine on the third try.

the_claire14d ago

So you got it on the third try, but what was different besides the tip size, @rose_reed? Was your gas flow way off before, or did you have to mess with the pressure too? I've seen people swap tips and still have problems if the regulator isn't set right for the thinner metal. And did the bead lay down smoother with the smaller tip, or did you have to slow your travel speed way down? Just curious what the real key change was.

tarabell14d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, did you try welding with the regulator set to "vibes only" like I did on my first attempt? I had the gas cranked way up and still got porosity. I finally realized my pressure was for 1/4" plate, not the thin junk I was hacking at. Travel speed was fine once I stopped pretending I was building a bridge.