That fancy forge welding flux I swore was a gimmick...

I've been shoeing horses for about 12 years now, mostly out of a mobile rig in rural Ohio. A couple summers back, this old timer from up the road handed me a tub of some expensive flux powder for forge welding, said it would save me headaches. I laughed it off, figured my regular borax mix was just fine and he was trying to sell me something overpriced. But after about 3 weeks of fighting with welds that kept cracking on a draft horse's heavy shoes, I got desperate and tried his stuff. First weld with it stuck perfect, no pits, no recracking, and I couldn't believe it. Turns out the higher melting point really does make a difference when you're working with bigger stock and not just your average light shoe. Has anyone else found a tool or supply they were dead wrong about, and what changed your mind?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_morgan26d ago

Hold on, you were fighting with cracking welds for three weeks before you even tried the stuff? I'd have caved after day two.

lindaw1226d ago

Three weeks of fighting welds sounds brutal. I'd be throwing tools by day three, maybe sooner. It takes a special kind of patience to keep at it that long when nothing's working. Hope the fix held up for you in the end.