primtechsmith Posted July 22, 2006 Share Posted July 22, 2006 Being in the south where humidity never sleeps there always seems to be a problem with mosquitoes. They need water to facilitate more of these blood suckers and it seems the slack tub is a perfect place for them. I usually put a drop or two of cutting oil in there. It works okay. But it does not kill them off completely. I am scared to do more than that because I may jeopardize the quenching qualities of the slack tub itself. How do you keep the swarm out of your slack tub? Peyton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irnsrgn Posted July 22, 2006 Share Posted July 22, 2006 liquid bleach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted July 22, 2006 Share Posted July 22, 2006 * Add a little household bleach to sanatize their gene pool. * Use the slack tub more often. After a good day at the forge, the heat from the metal will bring the water temp up to jacuzi level and skidders are no more. There is the rumor that a good blacksmith, while quenching metal, could would boil off half the water in his full whiskey barrel slack tub by lunch. Me thinks he startes earlier in the morning than I do. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primtechsmith Posted July 22, 2006 Author Share Posted July 22, 2006 I don't have time to forge anymore. You keep adding new features, and I just can't leave the site!!!!!!!!!!!! :-) Peyton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gronk Posted July 22, 2006 Share Posted July 22, 2006 Im told that skeeter eggs float on top of the water and need air to breathe. That's why standing water is good for them, not running or moving water. Stir the tub (use it) every three days or so. No time for that? Cheap mouthwash seems to work ok for me. Don't know what that may do for quenching properties of anything other than mild steel though. Doesn't smell too bad either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPH Posted July 22, 2006 Share Posted July 22, 2006 Howdy!! Dish soap....that's what I have used, plus it settles all the gunk down to the bottom as well....that way when you clean the tub you get that wonderful black sludge that is easy to deal with... Seriously though, a couple of squirts of liquid dish soap will do it... JPH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Murch Posted July 22, 2006 Share Posted July 22, 2006 They make little floating things for killiling skeeter larva or whatever it is. You can probably get them at any hardware store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 I just put a cover on mine. Once in a while I add some bleach, but that's more to kill the other biotics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 Dish soap....that's what I have used, plus it settles all the gunk down to the bottom as well....JPH Your comment reminded me of #41 on the Advice to New Blacksmiths by Richard Hanson. 41.Besides the above, when is the last time you changed that water, and what is in there that killed all the algae and mosquitoes. 42. While you got your hand in the slack tub, you might as well clean it out. Only a couple inches of goo in the bottom this time, but that crunchy thing, dripping with slime that you just pulled out, looks a lot like a dead rat. That's ok, he didn't die from putting a burned hand or foot in mucky water, he drowned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 A related note while we are on slack tubs. My first tub was a half whisky barrel like the ones sold at the nurseries. After regular use over about six months of water standing in that keg, I developed a nasty skin fungus on my hands (I washed in it regularly). I went to the doc and he said there are all sorts of critters that can live in wood barrels so I should switch to a different container. We had an old galvanized bath tub that looked right for the job and it has held water for the last 20 or so years with only one patch job. I also never had the skin fungus return. This wouldn't have been a problem if I had only washed with fresh water but that tub is always convenient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheftjcook Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 A little bleach goes a long way (2 capfuls to 5 gallons) in stopping all kinds of sketters & other flying critters and is a great sanitizer. We put a bit staight down drains also stops anything from laying eggs and the ones present are destroyed. With Time and extended heat bleach becomes ineffective so a booster shot once a week is probaly in order. About slack tub water; I thought I read somewhere on this site about slack tub water being good for rashes such as poison ivy, oak, shumack(sp?) can anyone confirm that??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yesteryearforge Posted July 24, 2006 Share Posted July 24, 2006 My slack tubs are stainless steel the water is slack or a more accurate word is stale, not stagnet but stale as slack water quenches much better than fresh water as the oxygen in fresh water runs away from the heat much faster than stale water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 24, 2006 Share Posted July 24, 2006 One thing Glen; back when using dead low carbon wrought iron the typical method of cooling a piece was to toss it in the slack tub. With more modern alloys (A36) that will sometimes backfire on you as they may harden and so a typical way off cooling the finished piece is to place it on a non-flamable surface to air cool. So the modern slack tub may see a lot less heating than an old one did. At the class I gave yesterday we had a coffee can of water in the arch of the bridge anvil that was used to cool the drifts as several folks were making ballpeen hawks and it got hot! I told the students they could make rame in it if they liked---no takers. Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spurrit Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Go to the farm supply and get that stuff that kills skeeter larvae in stock tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 I have always bunged a bit of borax into my tank, that seems to do the trick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rthibeau Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 no skeeters in slack tubs up here...guess they don't like ice water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Spurrit reached back into the archives some 5-1/2 years to bring this thread back to life. From January 14, 2012 clear back to July 24, 2006 Congratulations on using the IForgeIron archives to answer your questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Dean Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 I use an alum soda can...you could use a can from your favorite 'adult' beverage, it'll work the same. And yes we do have skeeters...BIG ones...the kind that will take you home to the family to eat. I'm only 50 miles from Lousiana and the skeeter is their State Bird! Seriously though, I do not have any of them in my slack bucket. I was told this by an oldtimer about 6-7yrs ago and have used the alum. can since with no signs of the little varmits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 One aluminum can to get rid of skidders for 6-7 years. Sounds good to me, but I think I missed a key point in the process. Care to explain in a little more detail please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
34557564 Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 I don't worry about mosquitoes where I live, but I have a half wine barrel that I use, and think I need to take steps to stop critters/bacteria/fungi from growing in it. I think I'll add some bleach, will that stop nasties completely? By the way, when I bought the barrel, for the first month of using it, the steam from quenching would reek of wine, LOL :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 The reason that you can only buy half whiskey barrels is that you could put a stopper in the hole and throw it in the pond. In about 2 weeks the pressure of the pond water on the barrel would push about a gallon of Jack Daniels out of the wood and into the barrel. Drag it out and get a free gallon of Jack Daniels, , , then cut it in half for a slack tub. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodsydad Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 Bleach will not get rid of all fungi or critters. When I worked at the garden center (for 10 years) we sold a lot of copper based fungicides. Should work in wooden slack tubs. Also for anvil stumps that start growing fur. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Lodge Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 The reason that you can only buy half whiskey barrels is that you could put a stopper in the hole and throw it in the pond. In about 2 weeks the pressure of the pond water on the barrel would push about a gallon of Jack Daniels out of the wood and into the barrel. Drag it out and get a free gallon of Jack Daniels, , , then cut it in half for a slack tub. I like this idea, but it seems like a lot of work just for one gallon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Lake Forge Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 I use 1 cup of bleach for mine. i have a 55 gallon drum as my slack tub. i put a cup in it evry 6 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBrooks Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Just found a place in Virginia that sells whole barrels, good times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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