This study develops a method to simulate a full-scale inertia friction weld with a sub-scale specimen and modifies a direct drive friction stir welder to perform the welding process. A torque meter is fabricated for the FSW machine to measure weld torque. Machine controls are modified to enable a force control during the IFW process. An equation is created to measure weld upset due to deflection of the FSW machine. Data obtained from a full-scale inertia friction weld are altered to account for the geometrical differences between the sub-scale and full-scale specimens. The IFW are simulated with the sub-scale specimen while controlling spindle RPM and matching weld power or weld RPM. The force used to perform friction welding is scaled to different values accounting for specimen size to determine the effects on output parameters including: HAZ, upset, RPM, torque, power and energy of the weld. Increasing force has positive effects to upset, torque, power and energy of the welds, while reducing the size of the HAZ.