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I Forge Iron

Possible Lead? Or Old Rust


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I know better. Yet, without thinking, (as often is the case) I cut a ring of automotive coil spring and burned off the black paint in the gas forge.

DO NOT DO THIS.

yet, I did, and I should not have.

Now, today, I was forging some of my 5/8" square hot roll steel, in the same gas forge. This steel has sat around for about 6 years since I bought way too much from the steelyard.

When I would hammer it, the scale would pop off normally, but as it cooled to black in each heat, this reddish color would be all over the forged steel.

Is this normal, or could the paint on the car spring have had lead in it? Very concerned.

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I have a couple coil springs with a black finish and have been hesitant to throw them in the forge. I was thinking it was just a black oxide finish but better safe than sorry. I'll probably toss them into a fire pit just to be safe. 

Pnut

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Yep,  I think my brain finally caught up with my excitement,  so I'm going to use safe pain stripper to clean the rest before putting it in the forge. 

I just got paranoid about the possibility of it being lead. 

Had a nasty experience last year burning lead painted wood. My partner and I had almost total amnesia from that night, and a wicked bout of sickness the next day.

Dont mess with lead.

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Stay away from burning treated wood also. Those are highly toxic. I am on my first cup of coffee and i cannot remember what it is, i think arsenic, but one of the chemicals they use that i know of for sure is not destroyed by fire and the levels are elevated in the ash and can be deadly. And that is just one of the chemicals they use. There are many localities and states that have laws in place that you can not even put treated lumber in the trash, must be taken to a disposal site becuase of the chemicals used to treat the wood. 

As far as those coil springs they should be powder coated. I do not think powder coating has lead in it but i cannot say for sure. Last time  took an interest in it most of the "recipes" were proprietary to the manufacture. The EPA however says it is environmentally safe, that leads me to believe there is no lead in it. Do NOT take that as me saying it is safe to burn off in the forge. 

As P-nut said, on a weekend  i build me a fire out in the back 40, safely away from people and pets, and put the springs or what not in, heap up some wood on top and let the fire do its thing. Then wait till the next day to take them out. They usually come out free of paint and annealed. 

I have had some paint that just laughs at stripper. I had some old railing that i soaked with aircraft stripper, wire brushed, then cleaned off and you could hardly tell i touched it. 

When i was a kid a common method of stripping paint was to heat it to bubbling with a propane torch and a putty knife would peel it right off to bare wood. Not a method i would suggest now a days though.  

Dang it Thomas, i am here being long winded and you beat me to pointing out that typo. That is a good one. 

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Watch out for treated pallets too; the good ones should be marked HT meaning they were heated to kill off any thing the wood might have in it---don't need another emerald ash borer!!! 

Worst example of using treated wood I know of was an old Mother Earth News where they had an article on making kitchen cabinets out of Viet Nam era ammo crates.  HIDEOUSLY contaminated as they were rated for 5 years direct contact with the tropical mud&crud in Viet Nam.  Next issue had a Warning and retraction as even sawdust was TOXIC and not something to put food and eating ware in! 

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I second the nomination of "safe pain stripper" as typo of the month. This is looking to be a good month. I do so love a good typo, this one brought to mind high priced specialty ladies of the night. 

Ooh ooh, I've been enjoying safe pain in my left arm since Tuesday where I got my Covid vaccine! Feb 11 for the booster and wait for full effect and Deb and I are going out for dinner! :D

Frosty The Lucky.

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One of my oldest friends just got over the covid, on his birthday no less. He was pretty sick for a while, not on deaths door but still pretty danged sick. Strange disease though, my aunt who had it, it was barely like having a mild cold. 

Anyway, not something i want. Ya'll stay safe out there.

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Ah, I didn't catch the typo, but I'm sure going to proofread now!

 

I'm glad my fears were not entirely valid, that being said, no more burning paint off in the forge.

You'd think one day I would start remembering the lessons I have learned over the years! I just keep having so many new learning experiences I feel like I can't recall half of them the next time! 

I guess it goes to show, in rust we trust!

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18 hours ago, Irondragon ForgeClay Works said:

Frosty, keep us posted on any side effects please. Debi and I are waiting for the shots to become available here.

We got the Moderna vaccine and my arm felt bruised from the day after for 3 days, I've had worse injections. No symptoms of illness: temp, sniffles, aches, lethargy, etc. It's an RNA vaccine not an attenuated virus so there is NO virus present to infect you on any level. I understand symptoms may occur caused by the immune system itself but NADA here. :)

Didn't happen to us, we're looking forward to the booster and a Mexican dinner at our favorite place, "Chepos."  I am DYING for a #1! I'm salivating as I type. :ph34r: Chili Reno, Mmmmmmm.:wub:

Frosty The Lucky.

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I go and pick the lady up from work on Sat. That was our night to eat out usually. Since everything has closed down the only things open are drive throughs. I am not a big fan of fast food, it messes me up something fierce, so we now "eat out" about once a month at most. I am so sick of it. One of our favorite places is an Italian joint. Little small family owned place, i want a lasagna something fierce. And they make one mean pizza.  

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4 hours ago, Frosty said:

Chili Reno, Mmmmmmm.

Oh ya my favorite too. Debi makes a good Chili Reno souffle, but nothing beats sitting down in our favorite Mexican restaurant with all the fixins.

That's good news about the shot, so far we only have one couple we know that have had them (at the VA) and also no bad reactions.

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"Chili Reno" or "Chili Rellenos" (where the large chilies are stuffed with white cheese, breaded, and deep fried) (pronounced "rey-ey-nos")?  Maybe I don't know what Chili Reno is.  The favorite type of Mexican food in Reno, NV?  Here, out west, we take our south of the border food seriously and I am troubled by the fact that I haven't heard of chili Reno before.

I'll be glad when we can safely go out to eat again.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand." 

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23 hours ago, Frosty said:

We got the Moderna vaccine and my arm felt bruised from the day after for 3 days, I've had worse injections. No symptoms of illness: temp, sniffles, aches, lethargy, etc. It's an RNA vaccine not an attenuated virus so there is NO virus present to infect you on any level. I understand symptoms may occur caused by the immune system itself but NADA here. :)

I got round two of Pfizer back on 1/8/21. Minimal side effects for me. Little fatigue, arm was tender but not enough to bother me. Was very happy to be able to get it this quickly. One of the few perks of being a hospital employee!

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