I just stop the weld, give everything a little time to cool down and for me to catch my breath.
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When you weld 8 hours a day you tend to go into a trance state and just keep sticking rods in your electrode holder hardly aware you are doing it.
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I welded 8–10–or 12 hours, clawson tank in clarkston ,mi, i know the trans state, like welding in my sleep. We welded about 6 --240 gallon fuel oil drums an hour all day long, after we loaded in the jig and tacked them together, me an one other welder, I think we used 6011 rod on those tanks.
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That’s what I use a angle grinder for. Lol
Bob
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a grinder and paint will make the welder you aint 
and don’t let anyone fool you, grinding out a weld that your not happy with, there is nothing wrong with it!
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Strive for excellence but realize when good enough is good enough.
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Hard for us ocd types but still perfection is not needed for a acceptable weld
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What i miss in welding skills,
-i gotta have in grinding discs.
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A weld without a grind is like a custom paint job without a cut and buff.
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I have even used bondo over my welds grind it down for that streamline look finish with high gloss black paint. That gasifier never came apart and the bondo held up to the high heat. When you burn through the super thin drier drum about 20 times and the holes keep getting bigger bondo is the trick to fix all.
Bob
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recycling of some bended stainles steel scrap for gasifier pieces on my little forge…
( made from a cooking stove cast iron plate, instead of some rings is the cast iron glow bowl-a piece from the stuff for cows for automatic water providing…nozzle -very resistant- from a old wooden cart wheel, the axle box, also cast iron…the pipe what goes down from the glow bowl brings the lot of ash from charcoal down to a box, so the glow plugs not up, under the nozzle is a grate…
but a question…has someone experience with forge welding, hammer welding, when this is the right word, welding only whith the fire of the forge…how does it work?,is a method also without borax?
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Yes, it is called forge welding Giorgio. The borax cleans the surface of the parts to be joined and prevents oxidation. Without it you could be pounding some impurities into the weld that would weaken it. I think borax is used because it’s cheap and readily available. There are probably other fluxes that I’m unaware of.
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What about Fluoride flux paste
I have oxy accet flame welded a lot of things with it and it does a good job of melting and keeping the surface from oxidizing.
If you have no borax might be worth a try.
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Giorgio, the answer to this question is similar to the question about the jacket on the electrode, so…
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There are lots of different fluxes. 
I was trying to figure out if the japanese sword was actually better by -todays- standards and what made it good. Without looking it all back up they used something simple that you wouldn’t even think to use. It was like just clay.
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Bone meal was used too.
S.U.
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this is very interesting, steve…the reciepes “must not buy” are always the most interestings for me…do you know more about application?
thanks to all for answers !!!
i tried forge welding once with glass powder of brown glass, melts at lower temperature than white glass, the try was so and so…and always a lot of other things to do, so i dont made more try…the metall used is also important, low carbon, like the old smith-iron…
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Hi Giorgio, i’ve tried some forge welding, not easy, very hard to learn (for me anyway 
) i have somewhere a old book with some good explanation and tips for forge welding theres also recipes for various flux.
As SteveU says, bone meal, very fine crushed, was used much, often for fine quality steel, springs for gun-mechanisms and like.
Also something very important is the heat used, hot!, yellowish, but not so hot it starts throwing sparks from the steel, then it’s starts to get bad.
For experimenting i use whats in Sweden often are referred to as Lancashire steel, which must old stuff that once was made by forging was made of, (old hinges, axles, parts from old horse carriages, OLD horseshoes) this is a very “plastic” steel, easier to forge weld.
Anyway, if i find the old book i will check for the “flux recipes” and post them.
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That makes a lot of sense
Glass was used as a flux to draw the impurities out of metals in the refining process.
In north Africa " King Solomon’s gold " was refined this way to very high standards.
Where I work we use Silica sand from local pits as a flux in the Copper smelting circuit.
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Thats a low carbon iron…
Flat iron as called in some places or puddling iron.
A process no longer used but it makes a very ductile steel like product.
The Eiffel Tower is made of this kind of metal.
Impurities that remained in it after the puddling process enhance its corrosion resistance properties.
Cast iron is weak in tension.
Lancaster Iron is very strong in tension its not like any high carbon product.
I can not back up this claim.
But in India there is the Wishing Pillar in Deli.
Its hundreds of years old made of a iron that was forged.
We still do not know exactly how it was made but it is very impressive.
It resists rust because of manganese If I recall.
How it was forged no one can say.
How they made and cast a piece of wrought iron that size is truly the question to ask
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