Post-forge piece clean up

[Lodestone25]

Now that I picked up a little MIG welder, I've recently started making larger ironwork pieces such as grilles and plant-stands and such. I've found that I now spend a ridiculous amount of time with my grinder and wire-brush attachment cleaning up each piece after forging. I'd really like to spend less time with the grinding/cleanup and more time at the forge - does anyone have any suggestions for faster ways to perform this step? Are there chemical ways to do it that involve leaving the piece in a bucket of something overnight or anything like that? Thanks for your help in advance !

Lodestone

[jmccustomknives]

Get some flap wheels for your grinder. They work wonders. Airgas p/n rad64000870, the Tiger Disk are the best. You can also get flap wheels for a die grinder for the smaller spaces. They will leave the weld area nice and polished.

[dablacksmith]

tumbler is a popular way to clean off scale ....also a sand blaster works for bigger stuff...

[forgemaster]

Cleaning, grinding, removing spatter, removing scale etc etc etc can often take as much time as the forge time, a fact that a lot of new blokes starting out fail to realise and charge accordingly for in their initiall quote. If you want the finished article to look proffesional then you have to put the time into cleaning it and preparing it. A sandblaster will remove scale etc but it will not remove sharp edges weld spatter etc that has to be done by hand most of the time, a tumbler will do it but you can't put a set of gates into a tumbler. Maybe use antispatter when you are welding, use a gas that is formulated to give minimal spatter, chip and scrape as you go, instead of chipping use a die grinder to clean each weld,etc as you are going, and the spatter around it. Other than that I can only say that if you want to make nice stuff you have to put the time into the cleanup. My old boss had a sign up in his office wall "Buying quality is like buying oats, if you want the good stuff you have to pay the money, if you are satisfied with the stuff that has already been through the horse, well then the price is going to be cheaper"

Phil

[MOblacksmith0530]

The previous posts have covered it all except cleaning scale off with vinegar. I use apple cider vinegar cause it smells better. But you will learn to be more careful during the build once you have had to cleanup a few of the worse pieces, I know I did.
for the vinegar I use it as is from teh jug and put it in a bucket with a lid and do it outside under the eaves. Leave it in overnight at least and longer won't hurt. Use a scotchbrite, soap and water to clean it off and be prepared to paint it right away.

[ThomasPowers]

Staged clean up and assembly can help here. Some items will not do well in a tumbler; but will fit into a bucket of vinegar or HCl *before* they are welded to larger pieces, other will do fine in a tumbler, others would best be sandblasted. Get used to looking at a project and thinking "I'll forge these parts and tumble them and those and acid clean them, weld these sections together and sand blast them and of course prime *ALL* of them as soon as possible!"

[seldom (dick renker)]

cleanup is just part of the job. i use a file and a heavy cold chisel. chisel is used like a scraper, just slide it along and most of the spatters come right off. i use the file to knock off sharp edges and it softens the metal. i had a wakeup call one day in a craft shop when i looked at a piece that when i turned it over to look at the bottom was still covered with spatter and fume dust. determined right there that my work would lok better than that.

[GregDP]

My wife keeps buying cooking spray, and it keeps disappearing as I teach myself to weld cleaner and better. The stuff at the welding supply place may work marginally better. I used it once upon a time, but I can't tell the difference and at a dollar a can a few miles from the house hard to beat the value. I know flux-core machines are common starter rigs, heck it's all I can afford to run. But if your time is worth money, you may want to invest in some gas shielding and multiple grinders (one with a stone and one with a flap wheel).

[tzonoqua]

You will find that the better you get at welding the less you will have to grind and finish!

Anti spatter is great, I use it all the time, I try to avoid using a grinder if I can help it, using anti spatter and a chipping hammer (for arc welding- I keep it sharp to slice off the spatter) and files as first port of call, I know when I have to get the grinder out I am a bit of a perfectionist so can be there for some time! Having said that when I do get the grinders out I will first use a grinding disc, then finish with a 120 grit flap disc.

Finishing is just as important as forging. A well forged piece of work can be let down by a poor finish.

[Frosty]

If your mig is properly set and running a good mix gas it shouldn't spatter much if any. This means you need to practice till you learn to weld without spattering too much, a little will happen. A little olive oil on a rag will let you wipe anti spatter on without getting over much in the joint.

If you're using flux core wire get used to the spatter. Use a sharp chisel and simply scrape the spatter off like you're using a spatula on cookies, a little impact may be necessary but I usually get it with sliding the chisel along the stock smartly.

Clean up is part of doing a proper job and while there are faster/better ways to do it there aren't really any shortcuts. Preventing it is always better than curing it of course, still you have to do clean work for the good rep and good prices.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Lodestone25]

I love this forum. You guys always offer great advice. Thanks so much for all your replies!