Alchemy and Formulas

I am forging 304 stainless steel. It has a hammer textured surface and want to remove the blackened surface but not remove the hammer marks with grinding. My goal is to remove the blackened surface and then wire wheel to brighten the surface. I soaked it overnight in a citric acid bath. The solution is a concentration of 1 pound citric acid/ gallon of water. There was no discernable change in the blackened surface. I did get some cleaning benefit using BarKeepersFriend (Oxalic Acid). Any suggestions?

Does anyone know what happens to Ferric Chloride if it freezes? Does the chemical compound change and it turn ineffective or is not and just fine to use after it thaws? I live in Alaska and sometimes we have to turn our house off when we leave and let it freeze, I don't want to be a burden to others by needing them to keep it while we are gone.

Do any of you know of a good alternative to epoxy. I have developed a sensitivity to it and if I come in contact with it my face swells and starts weeping. I have tried tyvec suit and full face masks with respirators. I need something else that will hold up. Thanks in advance for any advice

I was surfing the web and came across this interesting study from the association of metallurgical engineers of serbia. They diluted molasses with water to the viscosity of 40wt oil and used it as a quench for high carbon steel. From the info provided, it looks like the molasses quench hardened better than the oil. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post PDFs to the forum so if the moderators need to delete or move this post please do 139-126-2-PB.pdf

Hi all, I was wondering if there is a formula that can be used to determine how much stock you need if you are going to be drawing out to a certain length. For example, If I were making tongs out of 3/4" round stock, what length of bar would I need to draw out the reins to a given length and a given diameter? I'd greatly appreciate some help with this matter, I'd like to better be able to predict how my metal will move. Thanks, RidgewayForge

There are differing opinions on cleaning old metal with molasses. Just thought I would post a pic of a big lump of old wrought iron (40mm diameter) which I found in the scrap a while ago. It has been sitting in a 20% molasses solution for about 9 months. Gave it a wash and a quick brush with a wire brush and here's how it looks. I like the texture. No idea what to do with it other than admire its lustrous texture. Anyone else using the molasses clean?

Every now and then I shun my endless responsibilities, and do something fun, on a whim. Does anyone care to comment on what is happening, based upon the empirical evidence shown in these photos? The particular species of plant is key. Cheers, Robert Taylor

Visiting a smith recently at a historical site and he only had bees wax in a can. Hard bees wax. In a can. I wasn't sure what to do with that, outside of peeling the tin can away. He apparently uses Burt's Bees hand salve. So I tried that. I guess it's ok. But real oily. It contains six (or seven?) oils along with other greases, bees wax and flavorings. Anyone tired that? Not something I'd peruse as the cost is quite high. And oily.

Friend of mine gave me two bags of refractory cement, no info on them about mixing etc help a youngbuck out gentlemen.

I read in a previous discussion someone suggested using graphite powder to prevent punches and drifts from getting stuck in hammer eyes. I was wondering if anyone can comment on their experience using graphite powder / provide advice re usage. The products I've looked at have an upper temp limit of 850f which is well below forging temp for punching a hole in 2" 1045 so not sure if I'm seeing the right product. Also, it's pretty pricey stuff - like 30 - 40 bucks for a small amount. I've seen people use coal dust but I don't run a coal forge and charcoal dust doesn't seem to do much good. So ... any thoughts on graphite specifically or other methods to prevent locking…

I have been playing around with a length of car axle for a month or two. Just realised that it doesn't seem to be rusting like a piece of mild steel would, and it has me a little intrigued. The metal is almost certainly 4140 (of the Australian steel manufacturers, the couple I found that provide info say that is the grade of high tensile steel they supply for use in axle shafts). The spec for 4140 says it has small amounts of chromium in it, about 1%, way less than the minimum 10% for a stainless steel. Firstly I noticed a bit I had beaten into a flat bar and left sitting on the workbench (outside) was still essentially rust free after weeks of expo…

I found a brake grease that claimed it was fire proof up to 3000°. It is silicone with ceramic. So I thought it would make an amazing punch lube. Wrong! It caught fire, gummed up and like all silicone made everything within 5 ft. slick. After a wipe down with contractors solvent I pulled out my old can of anti-seeze compound. WOW!! Need I say more? Don't waste your time or money. I hope this helps at least one person. Hammer On!

When finishing interior household items that will be handled from time to time or possibly brushed past with light coloured clothing, what's your method for determining that it's clean/dry enough to not mark/stain skin or fabrics and is ready go to the client?

Hello, I'm using a Benzomatic butane torch and making jewelry with rebar tie wire which is carbon steel wire according to the website. I've made several oval loops and want to join the two ends together. The ends have been filled down so they meet end to end and I've used steel wool to make sure the ends are clean. I've tried using Batterns flux for silver, gold & Platinum and Oatey flux No. 5. Then for solder I've tried Bernomatic solid wire solder !00% lead free and just the regular silver solder that I have in soft, medium and hard (used the soft and medium). I've tried placing the solder on top of the joint and also in between. I heat and heat and it does lo…

I was looking to mess around with color case hardening a bit. I am hoping someone has a local (to Cincinnati, OH) source for bone black/bone charcoal. Or an online place that isn't prohibitively expensive on price and shipping. I think I can just use the wood charcoal for grilling from the local hardware store though I will probably need to crush it to a smaller size, and it may be more expensive than in bulk. But at least it is available close. Brownell's sells both but for $120 for 125 lbs. of the bone black and $44 for 10 lbs. of the wood plus shipping.... They say that they have bone black in 10x28 sieve size and wood in #6 size. But …

I was told that soaking in molasses is a good way of cleaning rust metal. I was a bit dubious but I gave it a try. About 20% molasses to water and the rusty objects were left in for about 3 months. Here's a before/after pic of wrought iron railway spikes. I think it worked pretty well so I've thrown a couple of dozen in the mix. The other pic shows two very rusty eyebolts after the treatment. Perhaps I can find a creative use for them. Anyone else tried this way of cleaning metal, and apart from the wait time and the stinky mix, are there any negatives?

I saw a commercial on TV about an omega watch that was created after an astronaut said the moon is gray. It was something like that, but the interesting part was how they made the watch. They took a metal to make the frame and bombarded it with carbon, argon, and something else to make a new metal. This is got to be BS? I know that argon is an inert gas used in tig welding so I don't think in would impart any critical changes to any metal. Plus, I don't think bombarding it with gases would change the metal very much. If you have seen this commercial, is this possible? I'm not a metallurgist and inquiring minds want to know .

I picked up some Trewax recently, but not certain it is 100% carnauba and food safe, if some one has info that is please share. So I started looking for food grade carnauba wax and stumbled onto butchers block conditioners which are a mix of carnauba, bees wax and mineral oil. I have seen pastes and even in a squirts bottle. Seems to be an easy application with good potential for a metal finish. Also likely easier for customers to use later rather than a solid paste. Almost seems to good to be true. Has any one used this?

Hi everybody. Just wondering if anyone has ever used the Sumac plant for dying steel? I used to dye my traps in this (Boiling water & Sumac berries)...It will dye rusty steel to a black color. The rustier the steel the better the dye job. (This holds up great one a good deep color is achieved) Thinking of trying this on some forged pieces here in the very near future. Just wondering what you all think or if anyone has tried this? Thanks...Bruce

There have been a couple of posts recently mentioning passing on care and maintenance instructions to the customer. I think this is a great idea but it got me started thinking about what those instructions should be. We obviously can't ask them to apply hot like we do. What instructions do you or should be passed onto customers for care of pieces with wax or finished pieces? and what products do you recommend for customers to use?

So it's been a rainy July 4th and I've spent my day bouncing back and forth between netflix and youtube. Anyway, I came across this video of Kiyoshi Kato forging a knife, and right around the 9:05 mark, he applies what appears to be beeswax to his blade prior to putting in into the hot charcoal to heat for the quench. What I'm wondering is, does anyone have experience with this method? I'm assuming it's to stop scaling during the soak. Also, do you think it's straight beeswax, a mixture like linseed oil beeswax and turpentine, or do you think it's something altogether different? Normally I do a thin clay coat between normalizing and hardening and a method that doesn't req…

I have been reading about how files were made in the early to mid 1800's, forged on an anvil and all the teeth cut by hand. (before machine made). There is an interesting sentence that says the file is dipped in thick brewers grounds before being heated. I find that intriguing. What were 'brewers grounds'? In England, they brewed alot of ale and beer. Could this be the left over residue of hops and other ingredients from beer making ?? Why wouldn't this brewers grounds coating burn off when the files were put in the fire ?? Anyone care to share what they might know or speculate about this anti-scale process ?? Ohio Rusty ><> The Ohio Frontier Forge

Maybe a dumb question, but I have read some folks use linseed oil on their vises and tools after they clean the rust off. Is this effective? Does it remain tacky? I have used it on tool handles, but never on the metal. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I have an old vice and some old tools that could use cleaning up. Thanks

I've noticed a few comments on here about how to break up beeswax blocks, and figured I'd throw in some info, and a question. The info: if you load up everyone's favorite internet retailer, Amazon, and search for beeswax, there are lots of vendors selling beeswax pellets for about $12/lb. Sounds easier to me than trying to break up a block of wax. The question: where are you guys getting beeswax blocks, and how does the price compare to $12/lb? (The beeswax I most recently used came from a farmer's market honey stand, and was perhaps $3 for a 1 oz stick, so pretty spendy compared to the pellets.)

I've enjoyed reading all over these forums about finish options, the different techniques people use, and I've been experimenting with various wax options, spray on lacquers, etc. One of my instructors produces some really gorgeous candle holders and he was telling me about his process, which includes a muriatic acid wash step. Being totally new to this, I basically produce pieces, clean 'em up, polish a few, wax 'em and smile. So this weekend, not wanting to mess with muriatic, I experimented with soaking a few pieces in vinegar. Was very pleased with the look on some butter spreaders, but didn't like the look on some other, smaller pieces. So I'm just curio…