He to all you blacksmiths out there

 

how do you get of scale if you have a complex shaped workpiece?

For example let´s say you make a forged rose and after shaping the petals with an oxy/fuel-system you will stay there with scale on all your beautiful shaped rosepetals.

How would you clean up this?

 

Hope you understand what I mean despite my bad english

 

Greetings from Germany

Sascha

Lou L was just telling me about seeing Ellen Durkan forge, and noted that at every single heat she uses a wire brush dipped in water, which really blasts off the scale.

Yup, that works the best, wire brush a lot, and a little water on your brush or anvil face works wonders. 

I rarely use acids to remove rust, but it is a good alternative.  

With something like the rose formed with o/a, you get what scale you can with a wire brush, then do a vinegar soak and neutralize cycle to get the inner parts. When it's in the vinegar I hit it with a toothbrush as far in as I can get. Dry it and finish immediately with your wax, BLO or clear coat. Oh, and your English is fine.

Steve

 

For large items sandblasting also has been used.

Just cleaned up a rose yesterday in a muric acid bath for 5 minutes. I didn't brush the piece once with a brush and just made sure to wash it well afterwards so that there was no acid left. My painting on the other hand leaves room for improvement. 

-KB

I use a wire wheel for most scale removal. I also have wire wheels for the drill press as well as the die grinder. When that doesn't work, an acid bath is probably your best bet.