Alchemy and Formulas

Here's a video I just shot and uploaded to YouTube. This is the process I use to make my own ferric chloride for etching San Mai and Damascus knife blades. The ratio is fairly simple, 2 parts hydrogen peroxide to one part ferrous chloride. The first step in this video demonstrates how to make ferrous chloride, the second step changes it rapidly to our desired ferric chloride. Perhaps someone will find it useful. J NOTE Proper safety protocols state to always add acid, so to make a correction to this video one needs to add the ferrous chloride to the hydrogen peroxide.

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I chanced across the following video from a YouTuber in Italy who has come up with a very interesting homebrew alternative to Evaporust. I have not yet tried it myself, but his explanation and analysis are very compelling. (NB: According to the YouTuber’s Patreon page, his name is Carlo, and he is a forensic expert witness in ballistics and mechanics. His main YouTube channel is devoted to firearms restoration. In the intro to this video, he also describes himself as "a wannabe chemist". On the face of it, I’d say he's a pretty good one, and I’m guessing that his background as an expert witness contributes to the clarity and precision of his presentation.) …

Thanks to the help from some of you here and other elsewhere I made up some "Blacksmith Juice/Goop" for a finishing coating on my forged items. I like it alot and it is a good coating having left some coated items outside in the rain for a few days I can see that it protects well. Here's how I made it.

I'm interested in getting a more reliable and easy-to-work CA glue solution than tiny tubes of super glue. I like the idea of a medium thickness glue with an activator spray. What I'd really like is to support a good business and avoid the onslaught of Amazon (and Google SEO recommended) options. I'm welcome to suggestion and stories about what what works best for you when making things. Note: If this topic was already discussed, then apologies. Currently when I try to search, the website throws an error.

If you were too busy being fed up with the bewildering nonsense, here’s some genuinely useful bits you might have missed Pi=3.14, just remember 3 is a close short measure Cross section of a round rod (area) is: Pi x Radius x Radius (x length for volume) So a 1” rod= .5 x .5 x 3.14= 0.785, note a 1” round rod can be hammered into a 3/4” square, a 1-1/8” round comes out to .9935”…handy to know off hand Circumference of a circle is the whole Diameter x Pi, so 1” rod is 3.14” around, wondering how much kaowool for a round furnace, there you go Steel weighs about 1/4lb/cubic inch, so a 1” round, 12” long weighs: About 3/4” x 12”=9 cub…

Good evening, beeswax is one of the most important ingredients in a lot of finishing pastes, and I don't know how many other beekeepers we have in the forums, but I got into it through mead making, and ended up with a fair amount of wax from uncapping honey. Unfortunately, with the wax, you often end up with a bit of honey, larva, pollen, and all other sorts of goodies in the mix, so I thought I would share how to clean up the wax to get rid of all the gunky crumbly bits in the bottom, especially for those of you that get wax indirectly. The next time I do this, I'll add some pics, but it might be next year. First, get a double boiler that your wife won't mind you de…

Hi all, I recently came across a video by Wood by Wright on how to make your own paste wax, since I was looking for some and didn't know what to get here. Do you have any experiences or recipes for home made paste wax that you use? For now I have made three different "hardness" of paste wax from beeswax and raw linseed oil, and it seems to work really well! I'm using it to wax axes and other rust prone tools too. The video in question: https://youtu.be/WiMw71UBj3M ~Jobtiel

About a week ago I was out making a knife for a family member and the sharpie I was using as layout fluid kept smudging so i couldnt see my scribe lines. It was quite frustrating so I decided to make my own layout fluid. I did some research and watched a couple YouTube videos. From what information I could gather it seems that most layout fluids are made from alcohol and a sort of lacquer. This is the recipe i found to work the best: 4 oz of denatured alcohol. 2 oz of Bullseye shellac. 1/4 oz of Feibing's Royal Blue Pro leather dye. Of course you could use other colors or even different dies but this is what i had on hand. I am not sure how…

Hey everybody I was hoping that some of you could help me out. I am looking to start an Industrial production business where I will be utilizing closed die forging hammers and forge presses, but I have one major problem. I don't know which machine weight class I should be choosing. Some of the parts I have in mind is a bit complex and would probably be forged by the hammer rather than a press, but how do I choose which ram weight? Is there a formula out there I could be using to choose? something along the lines of x amount of tons is required to forge x amount of mm ( yes I use the metric system ) These machines are very expensive and it would not be possible to buy…

This is a look at my journey into making my own repousse/chasers pitch. It started by me wanting to decorate the aluminum sail of the wind chime I made. Looking around on Iforgeiron and a couple quick searches I see that pine pitch is a main ingredient. I have pines aplenty so I go gathering and choose a old vague recipe from Theophilus' On Divers Arts to start the journey. "Grind a piece of brick or tile very small and melt some pitch in an earthenware dish and add a little wax. When these are both melted, mix in the powdered tile and stir it vigorously and pour it out into water. When it begins to grow cold, dip both your hands into the water and knead it for a lon…

What is yalls choice acid for etching steel? I have used a few different acids and I can get really good results with mild steel and ferric chloride but for high carbon steels it doesn't affect. What acids and process have worked for yall? I usually put a piece in for a long period

There is a difference between the 3.28083333333 US survey feet per meter, and the 3.28083989501 International feet per meter can make a difference. While this should not make a lot of difference of small projects, it could affect large projects. Whether you embrace the new foot or not, the old foot will be obsolete as of Jan. 1, 2023, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the agency within the Department of Commerce with the authority to fix weights and measures for the U.S. Reference NYT Article Reference Civilgeo

So the more I read here the more I see some really old school techniques for all kinds of stuff, I want to learn more but I also want to share what little I know from working in a paint shop many years ago. So if you want to preserve a chunk of wood, understand what it will be used for. If it's a fence, you have things like Thompson's water seal, which works fine if you re-apply regularly and it's fairly cheap. Exterior woodstains also do a good job, imparting color, but most of those can't be walked on. Polyurethane's vary, but most do better inside, and most require a very thorough surface prep to come out right. It ends up being very tough but will likel…

What is the ratio for graphite beeswax punching lube? Is it just regular chunks of graphite or is it something special?

Spent some quality time with the search function, but didn't turn up anything. I've got a project in mind for an early style barrel padlock, and I want to use some pipe for the barrel. The only problem is the only pipe of the right size readily avaliable to me is galvanized. I know all about the health risks of galvy, I knew about that long before I even thought about picking up the hammer. But though I've used galvanized wire a lot in the past for making chainmaille, I've never had cause to remove the galvanization before. I've got some Muriatic acid, and I thought that might do the trick, but I wanted some input first. Will it remove the galvanization, and shou…

What would you use as a rust inhibitoron grill sets and other item exposed to heat tripods, campgrills, and the like? I use a beeswax and linseed oil mix for my creations this far but wont that melt right off?

I use spray paint, bees wax, and used motar oils to color my metal. I am just looking for a good brand of patinas to use or anything. I usally work with mild steel if that makes a difference.

8 oz of brick dust 1 oz of resin 1 tbl of linseedoil Heated and mixed together. *

Two days ago I took down a 228D Coleman lantern that I bought at a flea market. I dropped all the parts into a container of vinegar to strip the varnish that had built up since 1953(date of mfg stamped on font of this lantern) and today I reassembled the lantern with parts that looked almost new. The lantern operates like new now. My results were way better than lacquer thinner or carburetor cleaner. I came up with an effective container: a large plastic coffee can, filled with vinegar, using a string across the lip to vent and the lid snapped on tight. Good for parts up to about 6 inches long. I have a 5 gallon bucket ready to go, but have not needed that large o…

I went to my friendly Lowes today to order my annual case of Val Oil and heard from them that Valspar no longer makes it/has none left. Does anyone know exactly what Val Oil was (nmaybe I could mix my own)? Any suggestions on a new clear, outdoor finish (that can be sprayed too?). I've tried clear permalac before and found it to be 3x more $ than val oil and hold up 2/3 as long.

I have no idea what I’m looking to buy here. Is this just a chunk of actual bees wax or am I looking for a product made from beeswax? I need to make some tools for the hardy hole in my anvil. Before I go banging a hot piece of metal into that hole, I figured I’d check to see what the YouTube had to say about it and, sure enough, it is recommended that you put some lube in there to keep the thing from becoming a permanent part of the anvil. So what should I be looking for here? In light of the current shut down, are there options I might have on hand?

Hey out there, I don't know where I got the tipp to remove the scale by sticking the pieces in a pot with white vinegar for a while. I tried it and it works. Thw most of the scale disappeared and the rest can easily be removed by wirebrushing. Very usefull on complicated works. However I got problems with quick comming up of rust. Even after brushing. After the acid bath in the vinegar I lay the parts into a tub with clean water, then brush it and after a few minutes I got rusty surfaces. What did I wrong

I'm attempting to etch a pattern on the 440c. Normally with ferric chloride I use krylon spray paint and OPI nail polish as a resistant. But neither ferric chloride nor muratic acid would etch the steel. So I tried 10:1 diluted sulfuric acid and it worked like charm. The first time I tried it got underneath the spray paint. The second time I tried using adhesive lamination film but I got the same results. I'm cleaning the blade with alcohol and then washing it with simple green before I put anything on it and the second attempt I re-sanded the surface down to 1000 grit. Anyone got any advice on what to use as a resistant?

So I forged a pair of tongs today . I found this metal and brought it home . They are on the left side of the pic. As I was hitting it to get the offset in I noticed it sparked green . What kind of metal am I dealing with? I don’t know how to even figure this out so I’m reaching out .