Rant: That demo at Quad State ruined my go-to damascus pattern

I was at Quad State last fall, watching this guy from Sweden do a live billet weld. He took a stack of 1084 and 15N20, hit it with a borax flux I've never seen before, and welded it solid in three heats flat. My usual process takes ten heats and still spits out inclusions. Now I'm sitting here rethinking everything I thought I knew about flux application and heat control. Anyone else had a demo totally wreck their old habits?

3 comments

3 Comments

smith.parker12d ago

Man that Swedish flux is no joke. Saw a similar demo at Blade Show and it changed how I prep my layers. Try cutting your borax with a little anhydrous boric acid, it flows way better at lower temps.

davidkim12d ago

Wait isn't that Swedish flux already a borax and boric acid blend?

evahenderson12d ago

Three heats flat" oh man I tried that after seeing a similar thing and ended up with a puddle on my anvil floor lmao. My wife still brings up the smoke alarm incident like it was some major disaster.