3
Tried using a potato to fix a forge weld and it worked
Had a stubborn gap in a billet last week. Couldn't get it to close up. My buddy joked, 'Just shove a potato in it.' Out of pure frustration, I did. Cut a chunk of spud, jammed it in the crack, fluxed over it, and hit the heat. The steam and carbon from the burning potato actually sealed the weld. Took three heats to clean it up, but the billet is solid now. Anyone else ever use a kitchen item as a last-ditch forge tool?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
owens.nancy21d ago
Forget the weld, now I'm just wondering what that shop smelled like. Burnt potato and hot steel is a wild combo.
3
anderson.jason21d ago
Okay but like, are we really out here using vegetables for serious metalwork now? That just sounds like a good way to waste time and get a weird mess. If the weld was that bad, maybe the heat or the prep was off to begin with. I get being desperate but a potato fix can't be reliable for anything you actually care about. Feels like a funny story that worked once but you'd never actually trust it.
-1