Frosty Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 I was just looking at someone's anvil and noticed they have a metal bucket for a slack tub. This is a fine choice, better than a plastic bucket which is okay. I have half a whiskey barrel for one but my favorite is a SS mop bucket. It has a mop wringer that's nothing more than a cone made of perforated SS sheet. The wringer is perfect for tossing small pieces of steel into and not losing them. No pics though. So, what're your favorites, least favorites, disaster stories, etc.? Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J W Bennett Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 I have used 5 gallon buckets(metal and plastic) and I made a large one from an old fire suppression foam system metal tank. Proved to be too big for the shop. I now have a beer keg I have cut the top out of but left the handles and the top ring on it. I really like it and it works well for me. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdwarner Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 i have one of those stainless steel soup pots like the ones a restuarant uses it is fine small enough to empty but big enough for the job only problem i have it is too close to the floor maybe a little stand in the future i forget even how i ended up with it , hope i didn't do anything illegal to aquire it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerald Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 I use an aluminum beer keg with the top cut out. It sits on a couple of wooden slats to keep it off the concrete. Aluminum reacts with concrete and holes will eventually develop in the tub if left in contact with the floor. My "traveling" slack tub is a wooden nail keg. It works/looks OK but the downside is that I have to keep water in it all the time to keep the staves from leaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mende Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 I have a galvanized cauldron of thin sheet steel. It works ok . .but then again I havent werked too much in my shop ..as I just finished the forge at the end of this summer . I'm trying to repair an old wooden beer keg tho...for a more rustic touch .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skunkriv Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 Mine is a 100# LP bottle laid on its side with about a 10" slot cut out of the side with the ends left intact. A piece of angle tacked to the "bottom" end keeps it from rolling. It allows me to quench very long pieces and holds plenty of water (20+ gal) so it never gets very hot. Under the forge I keep a stainless milk bucket of water for fire control. On the forge table there is an aluminum cup (actually it was the bottom end of a giant barn size fly bomb) that I keep full. Many many times for small scrolls etc a brim full can of water is more useful than a bucket with an inch gone out of it. For those of you that use steel 5 gal buckets a piece of 1/4" plate put in the bottom will keep pointy things from poking holes in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blacksmith Jim Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 Mine is an old truck gas tank that was cut open. It has a shelf where the tank had a step in it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt87 Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryCarroll Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 I use 2: both purchased from a farmers supply store--both galvinized. One is oblong-5 gallons, filled with water. The other is a regular 3 gallon pail filled with peanut oil. I have a cover on the pail mostly to keep the critters out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnr Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 Right now I have a five gallon metal bucket I dug out of the local illegal dump. It works for the time being. Finnr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 My old galvanized tub holds about 50 gallons of water, give or take. I had a half whiskey barrel but it grew some little nasties - some kind of worm, don't know what they were but I poured the water out and didn't go there again, looked too much like "aliens"... I've got an ancient 5 gallon galvanized milk can for quenching oil and it works great as you can flop over the lid if a flash fire starts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayco Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 I used to have one of those wooden half barrels........it eventually rotted away. I do have an old bath tub in the scrap pile that I could use.....if I were to ever need anything that big. There's a little creek just behind the shop......I have cooled large pieces in it from time to time. But my main slack tub is just a 5 gal. plastic bucket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johannes Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 I'm currently building my now smithy, It 'l contain a masonary forge at own design (with a haevvy cast iron flor en 3 fire centers witch I can control, seperatly, or olnly use 1 for normal work), I'm going to make a masonary tub, with a sheet metal inner mantle that I can take out to clean. I'm not really shure to how big i schould make this, how manny liters (yes liters, I'm European, Belgium has the best beers in the world, if you visit our litle country, stop by my smithy, we'l have some trapist's (beers brewed by monks) ), would you gys advise me? (my old one from my "make do" forge was a 10 liter galvanised bucked. greetings from Belgium (mmn feel like a good beer now..) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerald Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 One word of warning to those who use plastic buckets for slack tubs: It's not just the hot iron that you put down inside the bucket that can burn your plastic, watch those hot slugs that come off the hardy and skitter across the floor and stop up against something that is waiting to be burned (plastic bucket). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbob Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 Right now I have 15 gal metal garbage can from tractor supply it holds water. I'm thinking about getting a 10 gal with a lid, and puting used peanut oil from the Christmas turkeys frying...seems like I always let the peanut oil go to waste. putting it in the shop seems like a better option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blacksmith Jim Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 We have a pool for the kids near my forging area. Since I winterized the house (removed hoses and insulated the faucets) I've been filling my slack tub from the pool. I even quenched in it once or twice. The pool was winterized too, so I'm just using rain water collected on top of the cover.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmercier Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 All this talk and no pictures ! Here's a pic of the inside of my shop when i was re-organizing things and stuff was all pulled out, my slack tub is dead center, the big 30 gallon blue barrel.http://www.tharkis.com/images/shop/shop.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrous Beuler Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 Mine is the traditional, half a wine barrel. Kept brimming so the staves remain swelled tight to each other. Now sporting a two inch thick cap of ice (outside) and a piece of split cordwood steeped into it so the ice doesn't split it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcraigl Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 I got a small pile of 10gal hyd. oil drums. I'm using one of them, and if it ever rusts through I've got two or three more to replace it. And, um... Johannes, I have to beg to differ on the beer situation. EVERYONE knows that the worlds best beer is brewed in the Pacific Northwest of the good 'ol US of A. Where beer is brewed by drunks. But if I'm ever in Belgium I'd love to stop by and share a Trapist with you. ML Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 Half an oak barrel in the shop. Tall metal bucket in the garage and for demos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerald Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 Check out BP 0438 for a pic of my slack tub.I Forge Iron - Blacksmithing and Metalworking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 For Demo's I use the wooden bucket from an icecream maker. In the shop I don't quench much concrete floor and desert are the usual cooling off places. 5gal plastic bucket for spot cooling. Johannes; how big/what type of work will you be doing that may need to be quenched? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irnsrgn Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 12 gauge, Stainless steel tank, about 10 inches wide and 3 ft long, made for quenching plow lays after drawing out. Scrap SS from a job. Tapered sides and ends with a V bottom to keep the ice from deforming it when it freezes, and lips bent in and down on top to keep water from splashing out. Wheels on one end so its easy to move and a handle that doubles as a tong rack on the other end. In winter I use a floating small round stock tank heater to keep it from freezing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ten Hammers Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 Attached is a pic of the camp shop with the 1/2 barrel slack tub somewhat visible. I have had a 55 gallon barrel at home shop for several years. Floating stock tank heater for it. The last camp is in November and I just flip the trailer tub over for the winter. Otherwise it stays full during the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_sandy_creek_forge Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 Very nice Jr. I have used a 5 Gallon bucket (plastic and steel). An old tar bucket works okay, seems the tar keeps the bucket from rusting up as fast (but it does make a mess if you touch the tar with hot steel!). Right now I'm using half of a 50 gallon plastic drum. It's nice and big, too big actually as I'm getting tired of dancing around the thing. Next is gonna be an empty aluminum beverage can of the more robust persuasion. I stopped by my the frat at my alma matter this past fall to pick some stuff up and ended up with two of them (can't have them on campus when school is in session and no one could remember who made the deposit or which store they came from). Just outta curiosity, those who've used an aluminum keg, What's the easiest way to get the top out and still leave the handles/top ring? I am thinking sawzall? -Aaron @ the SCF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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