Forge Welding
Sculptural Art Railings

b y :     e n r i q u e

Natural plant joint

Natural forge welded joint

"As artists and metalworkers we have to look at all the various techniques that are available to us so that we can recreate certain aspects of the forms we find in nature. I do not attempt to reproduce nature, but I do attempt to give a natural sense to the objects which I produce."

scarfing pieces to be forged welded

The upstairs railings for the Jessie residence have two plant-like forms with seed pods joining the main trunk. The solid brass pods are soldered to stems that have been forge welded to the main trunk and I would like to show you the steps I have taken to bring the natural beauty achieved by forge welding these pieces instead of arc welding them. Even though the joint between the stem and trunk is a small detail of the overall design, it is important because of the visual effect the transition has over the whole design.

Forge welding is one of the oldest forms of joining wrought iron. It is also one of the most natural looking and strongest of joints. A properly made forge weld will long outlast any modern welding technique because the pieces being joined become homogenous after heating them to melting temperatures and bonding them with repeated hammer blows.

Prior to making the forge weld, each of the pieces to be joined have to be scarfed. Scarfing is accomplished by tapering the end of the bar to a point and leaving a center ridge line throughout the joint area. The reason for this joint design is to prevent the flux and impurities which accumulate during the heating of the iron to become trapped in the weld while hammering the joint.

applying flux prevents oxidation of weld

After forging each of the pieces to be welded, I lay them out on the work table which has a scaled tracing of the piece and use stick welding to tack weld each stem to the trunk. This allows me to have accurate placement of the pieces to be forge welded. The tack welds are small and will not be visible after forge welding the joints.

The forged pieces are then taken up to dull red heat in my coal forge and are hand wire brushed and fluxed using a commercially premixed flux containing silica and iron filings. The silica, or sand will melt and form a coating over the iron to prevent it from oxidizing. The iron filings help visualize when the proper melting temperature is reached. I also use this initial preheat to get the heat throughout the joint and to help the flux stick to the weld joint.

The piece is then put back in the fire and heated uniformly to a "white heat". Forge welding can only be accomplished if the pieces to be joined are heated to between 2400° - 2800° Fahrenheit.

One way to tell that the piece is at welding temperature is to see the joint area become glassy. Another way is to look for the beginning of sparks above the fire. The weld joint should also be about the same color as the hottest coals, an almost white color. Then it is time to make the forge weld!

The saying, "Strike while the iron is hot!", is of utmost importance during the brief time you have while making the forge weld. Remember there is only 400° temperature variance to bond the irons. Any forging done below the welding temperature will not give you a better weld. It is only used to finalize the form.

Forge welding stem at white heat

finish heat shows sound weld joint

After the first "white heat" I usually follow with a second welding heat to finish forming the transitions between the various pieces and to make sure that all members are joined with each other. You can tell whether they are joined by looking for a variance in color as the piece cools down. A good weld joint shows the same color throughout the entire joint.

This last heat is also used to remove any excess scale or flux, and do any bending close to the weld joint. A natural progression of the curve can only be done at the weld joint if the heat is throughout the joint.

So, is it worth the trouble to forge weld this type of joint instead of using modern electric arc welding processes? I think so! Not only can you provide a beautiful transition between the trunk and stem of this plant-like form, but the actual time it takes to forge weld versus the time it would take to arc weld, then grind and reheat for the natural finish, is equal or less than the arc welding process.

• Digital Design - Introduction
• 1st Floor Railing - cattail newel post
• 2nd Floor Railing - perspective
  • Scaled Elevation view
• Dragonfly Split Level Railing
  • Tracing perspective
  • Creating Scaled Elevation
  • Skewing for perspective
• Outputting Scaled Drawings
  • Image Transfer

• Forged Texture Reflections
  • 25 lb. Little Giant Demo
• Silver soldering cattails
• Applying Verde patina for color
• Metamorphosis of an Iron Dragonfly
• Yin and Yang of twisting wrought iron
• Forge welding for natural form
• Basis for a distinctive newel post

• Installed railings
  

"Modern arc welding processes do not allow for a natural transition to take place, and grinding the welds can never match the natural hammer texture achieved in the creation of this form. This small detail is what makes the difference between a well crafted artistic form and one that mimics and strains to be natural!"

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E. Vega Studios

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apex, north carolina

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last refreshed Mon, Sep 14, 1998
© copyright 1998 E. Vega Studios