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I Forge Iron

Beeswax Punch Lube


mpc

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I have no idea what I’m looking to buy here. Is this just a chunk of actual bees wax or am I looking for a product made from beeswax?

I need to make some tools for the hardy hole in my anvil. Before I go banging a hot piece of metal into that hole, I figured I’d check to see what the YouTube had to say about it and, sure enough, it is recommended that you put some lube in there to keep the thing from becoming a permanent part of the anvil. 

So what should I be looking for here? In light of the current shut down, are there options I might have on hand?

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Know anybody with bees?  Me I just fit the stem to the hardy hole correctly. If the final fitting is done hot; when it cools down it has a little clearance.  Now as anvil hardy holes can vary quite a bit I have extended and tapered the hardy stems of tools that see impact---like my hardy so when some student can't understand that the tools are color coded along with the anvils...I can still pop it back out rather than riveting it in place.

Now where lube is really helpful is in punching and drifting holes in things as decrease in friction makes the work go faster and easier.

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Do not drive the hardie tool so deep into the hardie hole that it can not be gotten out. If you will notice the hardie hole is square to keep the hardie tool from turning and so it will stay oriented in one direction, that is not spinning around.  

Hardie posts do not have to be a perfect fit, and many times benefit from a loose fit so the tool can be turned 90 degrees to the anvil when needed.  Many times the hardie hole is not perfectly square, one side being different from the rest. The taper of the hole is not always parallel either.

Hardie posts should extend below the heel of the anvil so they can, if needed, be removed by tapping the end of the post with a hammer.  If you must have the hardie post extremely tight in the hardie hole, make a slot in the end of the hardie post so a wedge can be inserted into the slot.  A tap with a hammer secures the hardie tool, and another tap releases the wedge and the tool from the anvil.

The hardie posts does not have to be solid. A piece of tubing, angle iron, or a piece of flat bar welded to the bottom of the hardie plate will keep the tool in place and keep it from turning just as well.  

If you have any chassis lube for automobiles, or wheel bearing grease, try a wipe of that. Both can be washed out if you to remove it later.  Be careful of burrs or sharp edges when applying the lube.

 

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3 hours ago, Glenn said:

If you must have the hardie post extremely tight in the hardie hole, make a slot in the end of the hardie post so a wedge can be inserted into the slot.  A tap with a hammer secures the hardie tool, and another tap releases the wedge and the tool from the anvil.

This is one of those answers that, upon hearing it, you immediately realize is correct and can’t believe it didn’t occur to you before. 
 

Is it just me, or does anybody else get a calm feeling, like the universe makes sense, when the answer to a question is absolutely brilliant in its simplicity. 

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I'm still working through about ten pounds of beeswax candle stubs given to me by a Russian Orthodox priest. I've used it for punch lube (melted and mixed with graphite powder) and for blacksmith's goop, a finish made of a mixture of oil (linseed or tung), melted beeswax, and turpentine.

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Graphite is a lubricant, you can often see it sold for lubricating door locks as it doesn't get hard when it gets cold out. It also works at fairly high temps.

The big thing when looking for a forging lubricant is: what do you see at forging temps?---You don't see beeswax. What you see is a thin film of carbon/soot; adding coal or graphite adds more carbon...

Back in the steam days a common lubricant was graphite mixed with oil or grease.  Made for a *very* messy engine room!  Some of what we are seeing is traditional holdovers---the old books mention it and so we use it even if there are better replacements today.

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Part of the equation is also ease of obtaining. Getting the candle stubs was incredibly easy, and I got a one-pound bottle of powdered graphite seed lubricant from my local ag implement place.

A big advantage of the graphite and wax mix is that it's solid at room temperature and thus much less likely to get all over the place than a graphite/oil or graphite/molybdenum disulfide mix.

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