Geoffrey, they are just looking out for your well being. It may be better for your health to just get another piece of pipe. I'm sure your grandfather would rather see you be safe in what you're doing and that's what these guys are concerned about

How about this Geoffrey, put the galvy on the shelf till you find something useful it is suitable for and use it. 

Do you think your Grandfather would think you were showing gratitude by taking unnecessary risks with your health in his name? Or would he whack you on the head and tell you to pull your head out of your 4th point of contact?

Did he know about heating galvy? Was he a welder, etc. where he'd have the experience?

This is a tough question to ask and pretty personal but was your grandfather thinking clearly?

I've watched my parents fade out. My Father was out of touch with the present for the last couple years, moments of clarity became shorter and farther apart. When I got the message he was asking for me, I was a few hundred miles from my home working in the field. I TOLD them I was flying to Cal to say good by to my Father. I didn't ask, I informed them I was going and went. I had a good 20 years on the job and not one person said a word. Even the pure pain in my butt geologist I worked with every day. 

I flew into Sea Tac, rented a car and drove to their place above the Columbia River in E. Wenatchee Wa. I went ASAP because I knew Dad, he was stubborn and would refuse to let go until we'd had a chance to talk. He wanted to tell me face to face he was going to die and I wanted to tell him he'd done a good job, I was successful and baring accident I was going to be okay. We talked, shared old memories, he told a couple doozies. We laughed and cried and I watched him relax and finally start to let go.

I'll take his last words to me to my grave. "You know what you should do Butch? Gather all the fencing and go to Oregon. Yes, that's what you should do." Not long afterwards he went to sleep in his recliner looking out the window at the Columbia River and didn't rouse though he was breathing. The doctor said he was fading and unresponsive to pain. I kissed him on the forehead, told him I'd see him on the other side. Kissed Mother, my sister good bye and left for Sea tac to catch a flight home. I had an email waiting when I got home, he'd passed maybe 10 minutes after I left.

It was MUCH harder when Mother passed, she'd just given up missing Father. 

Anyway, do your Grandfather proud and forge something in his name. Maybe start a series of wall hooks and keep each one to show how well you're learning the craft. Something he liked to do. Did he garden? learn to make garden tools, BBQ and fire tools are as expressive and artistic as the smith who makes them. 

There are LOTS of ways to honor your Grandfather. Just don't do something stupid in his name. Please?

Frosty The Lucky.

Well, I want to start off by saying that my grandfather isn't dead. I also haven't known him to have any mental ailments. And he has warned me previously that galv is toxic, although I'm not sure that he stressed it that much. You're right, it would be safer just to get new pipe. However, I'm still curious why you're telling me not to use it, since galv can be stripped. You're more experienced than I am, so I will take your advice. I don't mean to be disrespectful in any way by saying this, but I am curious about why it's not a good idea? Am I misunderstanding something?

Good Morning Geoff,

The question is all about 'Simplicity'. It is way easier to grab another piece of (pipe??) than it is to try to resurrect your Lungs. Yes, you can remove a lot of Zinc/Galvanizing by being VERY PATIENT. You have to work backwards for how it was made. If you do it enough times, you become complacent, then your guard is down and a piece of Galvanized something gets overlooked. If I remember, it is a 30 year/half life. That means that in 30 years, what you do to your Lungs today, is only half as toxic as for when you poisoned your Lungs the first time, not counting the second or third ..........

We are not being Jerks!!! We care for your Health!!!  Please don't start down the road of no return!!!

Please work Smart and stay healthy!!!

Neil

I see. Thanks, everyone! I'll try to find some other pipe, since I like my lungs.

Good deal Geoffrey! These guys will teach you and they'll help keep you alive to see your golden years 

I never took you as being disrespectful, you're young and believe you know more than you do. That's not a dis, it's very human, we all suffer the same thing, I'm in my 70s. and have to "distrust" all my assumptions, especially things I figure out. 

I'm glad your Grandfather is still around, I never got to know mine. I have one memory of sitting on my Maternal Grandfather's knee and him tweaking my cheek! I do remember maybe, him quickly handing my squalling toddler self back to Mother. Maybe, that happened a lot.

Another aspect of being young, your Grandfather warned you Galvy is dangerous but you didn't bother to find out what and why. If you asked about or read about it on social media you could well have been making it more dangerous. 

Neil said it well. Time management is "the economy of life." We are all born circling the drain, we only have so long to live and that's it. Done, GONE.

The basics of that has been said many ways since before writing. In short get as much out of your time as possible. The corollary being, life is short, don't shorten it more than you must.

How it applies to smithing is based on heat management. You can only heat steel so many times without damaging it to uselessness. That means you have to keep it in the fire only as long as necessary and then get as much work done as time allows, without over working it or working it too cool. 

The reverse us true also. (Looks that way but it's actually the same thing) Your time is valuable, it is ALL you really have so don't waste it. Sure stripping galvy is easy but the faster the process the more damage it does to the material you're cleaning. The best part is you can do things like this while you're doing other things.

For example. Find or buy a length of PVC pipe 2-3" longer than what you're stripping and a cap. (Don't make me have to TELL you it needs to be wide enough too. OKAY?) Mount it on end, duct tape  on something that won't be moved works a treat. Lower the pipe into the PVC pipe, do NOT drop it in it might crack the cap. Then add vinegar till it's covered and leave it be for a day before checking. This time it's "just" vinegar you can use a pair of needle nose pliers to lift it out and take a look. If it's done, good rinse, neutralize and do your thing to it. If not slip it back into the soak.

You WILL need to replace the vinegar after the second day but it might need fresh after the first. That's a judgement call and vinegar is cheap and easy to safely dispose of. 

All that said, the main and most important reason to buy a little new clean steel/ material when breaking into a craft is so the person learning is having to learn the MINIMUM number of processes. You want to learn the basics of smithing, not garage chemistry, hazmat handling and disposal, etc. 

The fewer factors you have to learn at one time the faster you'll master them so the next time you learn a process you won't have to think about the ones you already know. Make sense? Don't worry once you have a basic handle on a process, all you need to do is practice your muscle and brain will develop the knowledge and skill as you go. 

Earlier you becried having to cut a piece of new pipe with a hacksaw. Knowing how to use a hacksaw PROPERLY is a very much neglected shop skill. A skill lost with metal shop class in school. Even as out of shape as I am I could cut a piece of 1" water pipe with a hack saw, faster than you could clamp it in a cut off saw on the mark. Seriously, the right blade and I can part 1" water pipe in under 20 seconds. That isn't saying it would be straight or a 90 degree cut, I'm WAY out of practice but still. In Jr. highschool metal shop 101 we had to cut 1" sq. bar, 1" long in under 1 minute to pass that skill. We called it "doing the one one one," or "doing the three" for the slower kids in the class.

That was just a required part of making the cube which involved "precision" layout, measuring, cutting, filing and polishing from coarse double cut down to fine draw filing. We all took it farther of course, we were making as perfect a 3/4" steel cube as possible so we all punched pips to make a steel die. 

When cutting with a hack saw use a one with Ideally a minimum 3teeth in contact with the metal. Also do NOT use a fine tooth blade to cut thick stock. Modern blades tend to be multiple pitch, meaning a range from 12tpi to 18tpi. 

Using it, make the first cutting or forward stroke slow with just a LITTLE down pressure. What the first cut does is make a track for the blade to ride in, make the second and third strokes with a LITTLE more pressure and then you can go to town. A proper stroke is forward AND back. ONLY apply down pressure on the forward stroke so it cuts. Do NOT apply pressure on the return stroke! You don't need to remove the blade from contact but you want it to float in the kerf, if you apply pressure it will roll the teeth. Meaning the tips (cutting edge) of the teeth will be bent over forward so they won't be sharp for following strokes. After a short while the blade is dull and shot for anything but shims, paint stirrers, etc..

Learning to use a hacksaw is a very valuable skill and economical. A pack of 10 stupidly too fine hacksaw blades on Amazon rung about $1 / blade. I just did a quick search and all the top hits were between 24 tpi and 32 tpi. These are close to sheet metal tpi. <sigh?

Anyway, a hack saw doesn't need power, is darned light can be sharpened (fresh blade) in seconds and fits under the seat of a car, day bag, etc. 

Boy, I DO go on don't I?

Frosty The Lucky.

Dang, I had no idea hacksaws could cut that fast. Thanks for explaining all that!

Maybe not anymore, all the blades I saw online were way too fine. The only reason why I can think of is, marketing is selling to popular myth rather than the reality of metal cutting saws. 

My Father was a metal spinner and machinist along with being able to build darned near anything and I grew up working in his shop. By time I was old enough to take shop classes I probably had skills at the high end of high school metal shop. After school and weekends I was operating machinery no school shop class had. Learning to operate things like a square shear, punch press, spinning lathe and such are for your employer to teach you, no school could afford the insurance. To get me out of his hair he'd give me a hacksaw and some scrap steel and have me cut slices as thin as I could. Provided there weren't parts to stack, floors to sweep, lawn to mow, etc. 

I literally grew up doing stuff to metal so yeah, I could make a hack saw cry. I wasn't the fastest in occupational heavy metal shop though, one guy could cut so fast the blade would smoke. And not because he wasn't tracking straight in the kerf (kerf is the space removed by the blade, the cut) twisting or bending the blade so the sides rubbed on the stock. 

Dang I can see him but I can NOT remember the name. Oh well.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

Good Morning Frosty,

That was 'What's his Name', he is a personal friend of mine. LOL

Neil 

Ayup, that's the guy! 

Frosty The Lucky.