Watched a guy at Quad-State Forge in 2023 weld with borax and it made me switch from that fancy flux powder

I had been using this expensive flux powder for years because some YouTube guy swore by it. At Quad-State last fall I watched this old timer from Ohio just use plain borax from the grocery store. His weld looked better than anything I ever made. Tried it myself that weekend and haven't looked back. Anyone else find that the simple stuff works better than the specialized products?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_jenny12d ago

$60 for a little jar of space-age flux and this guy's grocery aisle borax weld is sitting pretty. I've got three different fancy fluxes in my shop right now that I'm too stubborn to throw away but too honest to use anymore. Borax works so good I'm half convinced the expensive stuff is just borax with a fancy label and a marketing budget. Next thing you know they'll be selling us 50 dollar bottles of table salt for seasoning cast iron.

the_jason12d ago

You really think borax is gonna hold up to the kind of heat you'd use on a big structural weld though? Like I get it for small jobs and stick welding but I feel like there's a reason professionals shell out for the name brand stuff when things get serious. Just saying, I've seen too many cold joints and slag inclusions from guys cutting corners on flux.