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I Forge Iron

Waste management


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i was wondering,

what does everybody do with their waste?
i'm talking about ;

ashes
wasted/burned/dirty quenchants
waste etching chemicals
....

doe annybody use a fume filter in their smithy? what do you do with the wast (water?) of a systhem like that?

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Once a year I pay to dump it off with 1 of those hazardous waste companies that offers a public hazardous waste day, that way I have a end user's certificate from them showing I did the right thing with my waste. Later on in life if I sell my shop and house when a buyer asks what did you do with all the chemicals and waste your shop made I can show them the paper work. The cost $40-$150 US. that includes some unused household chemicals too.

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Our waste transfer stations all have hazmat facilities and I use them.

Ashes and quenchant (if it's water or brine) just get dumped. The ashes are good for the soil and there are places I don't want weeds growing so a little salt is a good thing.

Frosty

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I use coke for my fire. Is the ash and clinker that is produced harmful to the environment? I am never short of potholes but, would not want to put this down if it was going to cause EPA problems in the future...
Thanks,
Jerry :confused:

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Over the back fence... I dont use any chemicals othen than occasionally small amounts of naval jelly if I come across something extra rusty that I want to clean up, quench waster steams off and just refill the bucket the goes back to the land thanks to the developers having to put in buffers btween the stupid yup mcmansions and the trash that lives up on the hill(me)

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I have an ash bucket under the coal forge. this gets dumped in the trash can couple 3 times a month ( coal or charcoal). Hazmat stuff goes to the fairgrounds once a year or so when they have a hazmat dumping session. slack tub doesn't get dumped. I add water to it several times a year.

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Our Domestic Terrorist Organizations, (DTO's), EPA (violence against civilians to achieve political or ideological objectives by creating fear), OSHA (Federal Terrorist Agency responsible for protecting the lives of those individuals with IQ's slightly higher than that of a rock), HSA (Legalized Home Invasion Terrorists), etc don't bother us older people much.

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Charcoal ash goes on the garden as fertiliser. Coal ash which is a bit more gritty gets dug into the garden to break up the heavy clay. Slack tub gets refilled. Sometimes I just push it over and it runs into a drain. The only chemical I use is phosphoric acid. I hose that off the steel and it dilutes and ends up in the drain. At that stage it is very diluted and the phosphtaes are good for the land.

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I have heard that all of that forge scale that piles up around the anvil will make good plant food for your roses.

I'm not sure, but I suppose we'll find out soon. I just dumped my winter scale accumulations around the base of the rose bush.

We'll see.

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Our Domestic Terrorist Organizations, (DTO's), EPA (violence against civilians to achieve political or ideological objectives by creating fear), OSHA (Federal Terrorist Agency responsible for protecting the lives of those individuals with IQ's slightly higher than that of a rock), HSA (Legalized Home Invasion Terrorists), etc don't bother us older people much.

irnsrgn You are hilarious!!! and dead on!! as far as ash ime gona put it in the garbage ..havnt had much yet in new shop but its finally gettin big enuf pile to start messin with ... first bit i used to fill in around the pavers...i dont end up using many chemicals (occasionally acid for damascus echant) i neutralize those with bakeing soda and dump um down the drain...other than that dont use anything to dump... ide put the ash on the ground but its not my property(museum owns it)...
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This is a very interesting question, and we have put in quite a lot of effort to answer it. Once upon a time, clinkers were used to improve the friction on running tracks. Not any more. They provide great housing for dangerous bacteria and you can get terrible infections from falling on one. That is one reason why it is scary to bicycle in China. Don't fall. Our horticultural manager said coal ash is problematic to dispose of. It can be composted or tilled in, but a precautionary chemical analysis must be performed every time the source changes. Some coal ash can only be used to mix with concrete.

As for charcoal ash, yes, it kind of can be put into the soil as fertilizer. It is high in potash, and contains varying amounts of phosphorous. Depending on the alkalinity, there is some risk of causing chlorosis in plants due to mineral binding at the higher pH. We may have found a solution to that and the iron deficiency problem. How does one boost iron and lower pH at the same time? Waste pickle liquor!!!! OK, there must be something wrong with this idea. I'll get back to you after some research and experimentation.

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I have heard that all of that forge scale that piles up around the anvil will make good plant food for your roses.

I'm not sure, but I suppose we'll find out soon. I just dumped my winter scale accumulations around the base of the rose bush.

We'll see.


thats an interesting ID, i know peole some times stick rusty nails in the ground for the same reason, so i gues it shoud work with scale to..
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This is a very interesting question, and we have put in quite a lot of effort to answer it. Once upon a time, clinkers were used to improve the friction on running tracks. Not any more. They provide great housing for dangerous bacteria and you can get terrible infections from falling on one. That is one reason why it is scary to bicycle in China. Don't fall. Our horticultural manager said coal ash is problematic to dispose of. It can be composted or tilled in, but a precautionary chemical analysis must be performed every time the source changes. Some coal ash can only be used to mix with concrete.

As for charcoal ash, yes, it kind of can be put into the soil as fertilizer. It is high in potash, and contains varying amounts of phosphorous. Depending on the alkalinity, there is some risk of causing chlorosis in plants due to mineral binding at the higher pH. We may have found a solution to that and the iron deficiency problem. How does one boost iron and lower pH at the same time? Waste pickle liquor!!!! OK, there must be something wrong with this idea. I'll get back to you after some research and experimentation.


Mnn i have to pour a refrectio
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I've got a bucket under my forge for ash, gets dumped in an ash pile off the side of my forge when it's full. I dump my quench tank (water) every spring or so out front, but that's more to collect the things that have fallen to the bottom, otherwise I just refresh the water as neccessary. Other than that, there's not much else.

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I dumped the residue from my coal forge outside around the shop in the places that got muddy, and in the winter time as my shop faced north I scattered them in front of the shop on the cement walkway and in the street next to the curb as the Sun never gets to the ice that forms there, When it melted the waterr flowed out of the alley and right in front of my shop down the street, customers parked there and no traction to get started up the hill. Clinkers got picked out during and after a fire and put in a gallon coffe can for disposal in the neighbors big dumpster.

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