randymoore

Kube,
you may want to consider olive on vegetable oil as a treat for the flippers, as they come in contact with food. besides, the wax will wear off pretty quick over the coals.

as for the smell, I call it aromatherapy for blacksmiths. when the metal is at just the right temp, it gives off the most delicious honey smell!

i thought it was more of an electric cherry smell. i could taste it as well slightly. like you said at the right heat and for me i noticed it more for certain steels and fresh steel. also when moving large volumes of material. i havent found any scientific reasoning for this yet in searching besides this forum.

I have a friend who is an ophthalmologist and opthalmological surgeon; when he heard I did smithing he had a long talk with me about eye hazards: foreign body is the greatest hazard; followed by IR, UV is pretty much squat unless you are arc welding.  Out here in NM you get more from the sunlight than you do from a forge in a shady shop!

 

As far as radiation goes---don't forget that coal is radioactive!

yeah i think this is more of a concern than IR and UV. 

epa article:

http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/tenorm/coalandcoalash.html

oak ridge national labs article:

http://web.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/rev26-34/text/colmain.html

wikipedia on fly ash:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly_ash

wikipedia on radiation and radiation exposure with sample equivalents to varied radiation doses:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millisievert

wikipedia on radio active waste featuring coal as a primary constituent:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_waste