Steven Bronstein
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Cleaning Stainless Steel
Steven Bronstein replied to Steven Bronstein's topic in Alchemy and Formulas
Thanks Frosty, I will be putting together a low voltage unit so i can avoid all of these issues. Do you understand what the cause of the darkening in muriatic. I thought it would eat away the free iron leaving the surface brighter , not darker. thanks. -
Cleaning Stainless Steel
Steven Bronstein replied to Steven Bronstein's topic in Alchemy and Formulas
putting the stainless in muriatic resulted in a grey discoloration over the whole surface. I was able to remove it mechanically. Anybody understand what is going on? Not clear if the muriatic is creating new staining or is that the result of iron particles being etched by the muriatic? -
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?
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Rather than a rosebud I will try with a weed burner. maybe that will give me enough heat and still be diffuse enough that the casting will be ok. Good advice. Thanks.
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No luck yet, I bought a small auto air hammer and brazed some brass on the end of one of the tools, been tapping on the shaft, oiling and praying. No luck yet. I like the idea of the nut on the shaft with an impact hammer, might try that next. There is a bit of shaft extending out that I can weld to . I am still thinking about getting a 300 amp stick welding and clamping onto each end of the shaft to heat it up .......
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I can tap the oil holes to accept a pipe fitting and put some air pressure behind the oil. I like that idea. It is better than my plan to lay the powerhammer on its side so I could get gravity to work for me.
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Thanks Judson, I will pick up a cheap air hammer and put a brass face on the driver. Lay the hammer on the floor so the oil holes are on top and start tapping and praying. I had thought they were bronze bushings and let it go during my rebuild. Time to get it going again.
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good idea. Because the oiler holes are on the sides of the shaft bushings I may flip the machine upside down with my hoist. I know that sounds crazy but I am not convinced capillary action is taking the oil all the way around the shaft. The vibration should help.
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I was suprised too. In my head I was not expecting such an issue because I thought there were bronze bushings and that they looked good after the fire (no sign of heat stress) and did not think rusting would be an issue. Right after the fire, I was able to move the drive shaft. When I finally got to cleaning it up 18 months later, I put a magnet on the bushing and it was magnetic.
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I think it is a steel shaft in a steel bushing. From the outside, t will take a lot of heat to get through the steel casting and into the steel bushing. Maybe I could use my forge burners instead of a weed burner. That is why I was thinking about the arc welder, so that it could heat and expand from the inside out. Looking for the safest way to heat the cast steel body of the Fairbanks.
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I am restoring a 100# Fairbanks-Dupont Power Hammer that went through a fire and then sat out for a year.. I have been able to remove the ram and toggle arms with a minimum of trouble and have them moving freely. The problem is the drive shaft. The brake is released and not touching the drive pulley. I have been spraying regularly with PB Blaster and squirting it into the oiler holes. One problem is the oil holes are on the side of the shafts so I am not sure that oil has migrated all the way around the shaft. I then wrapped a sling around the drive pulley and lifted it with my hoist. The pull is in the direction of rotation and thought it might free the shaft but the machine just lifted up instead. So now my question… I am considering attaching my arc welder leads to the drive pulley and fly wheel which sit on each end of the drive shaft. I am hoping that this will create enough heat to expand the shaft slightly and then release upon cooling. So is this crazy and/or is there another suggestion on how to get the shaft to release and turn. Thanks for your help.
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Is it then reasonable to think that if a gooseneck fits in with your usage there is no negative consequence to suggesting that beginners start with the simpler type of tongs. I see some beginners getting bogged down with the challenges of the traditional tong setup and they could get to work more quickly with the simpler tong making method. Also, they will be doing lighter work and may not need the mass required for power hammer forging.
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That is a function of the job the tongs are designed to do and doesn't address the question of why tongs are traditionally made with the large off set shoulder when a short gooseneck that aligns the jaws to the reins will work equally well to balance the work.
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The tongs on the top show that the material is parallel above the hinge. The pair of tongs on the bottom have the shoulder just above the hinge. The instructions for forging tongs at a 45 over the edge of the anvil helps to create that 90 degree shoulder and I have never understood its purpose.
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I have always wondered what the benefit of the traditional method of making tongs which creates the shoulders between the boss and the working end. There are currently available flat blanks that are used to make tongs. These do not create that shoulder but still seem to work very well. Does anyone know the rationale behind the more traditional method. The extra mass on the end of the tongs does not seem to help in their ridigity or function.
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Reed wax is where I got my wax and thank you for correcting my method.
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That is how I am doing it but took it off the heat when I added the thinner, this is really my question. Is it too dangerous to have the volatile thinner/wax mix heating on the stovetop in the double boiler. Is there a safer/better way to do this?
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while mixing a batch of Microcrystalline and Poly A Wax , I am running into a challenge. I melted the waxes together in a microwave and when thoroughly melted added thinner at the correct proportion. The challenge is that when adding the room temperature thinner, the wax immediately started to cool and not mix evenly with the thinner. I am hesitant to reheat the thinned solution , or preheat the thinner, because of the increased volatility and flammability of the thinner. Any suggestions? another note, while mixing it as it cooled it did smooth out but I cannot tell how well it is mixed because both waxes are white. What the significance of an improper mix is I cannot say. My understanding is that the Poly A adds hardness to the wax finish. I have not tried just the Microcrystalline by itself. It still might be a big improvement over the stickiness of beeswax.
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I am traveling to Havana, Cuba and wonder if anyone knows of any blacksmiths that I might visit. Thanks
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Frosty, thanks so much for all your help. I am then assuming that if I want to weld I will just have to keep the pressure up and deal with the dragons breath
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Thank you all. I raised the roof slightly, so no more dark spot, and cleaned up the Kaowool around the burner port. I put in a piece of 3/4" pipe, and packed around it with kaowool dipped in rigidizer. It is a now a cleaner opening leading into the forge and the burners are now working well. The last challenge is the amount of blue dragons breath coming out the door. I am assuming it is running too rich. It is an aspirated burner so I cannot add more air. Or is it just a volume issue and need to add a needle valve to reduce the overall volume. The two burners are required to get enough btus for the volume of the forge chamber. I have the burners coming straight down from the flat top, I want to keep the flat top so it is easy to add/remove bricks but may recut the burner ports so that they enter the rectangular forge chamber at an angle.
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Thomas, of course you were correct. I realized there was a flaw in my logic. I was switching the burners but not the gas lines with the tweco tips. I swapped out the bad burner and it is now running correctly. The last question is there is a cold spot below the burners. I would assume that means they are too close and need to be raised. The interior volume is 12" x 13" x 4.5" =702 cu. in. This burner runs successfully in a single burner -6 brick forge of the same height. I would have thought they would have needed the same height regardless of the area.
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Another Detail, I swapped the two burners and it appears it has to do with how the kaowool is shaped inside the forge. The "Bad" burner worked fine in the other hole. I did not do anything to shape the kaowool so I am not sure what to fix.I poked through the fabric and it is a somewhat random opening, larger than the diameter of the pipe. Thomas, Thanks for your help. The burner is ok outside the forge and works when poked into a different hole. It appears something is affecting the burner as it passes through the kaowool into the forge body. I have changed the depth to no avail.....
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I have built a number of Zoeller Type side arm burners. They have all worked well. However, I am having trouble setting up my newest forge. I have run these burners through soft brick and flared the inside of the bricks to create a flame holder. I have also made kaowool forge tops and just cut a hole for the burners and have worked well without any flaring. My newest forge has two burners and the top is 12" x 17" set on top of a rectangle of soft brick. One of the burners works great, the other sputters and will not form a typical flame. I removed it and added a stainless flare. It works great on the bench but continues to sputter inside the forge. I have changed the burner depth and changed the placement of the flare. I am stumped, any suggestions?
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I am not sure how old this post is, I have a bull hammer and can help you with adjustment.
