tools to clean those hard to get at bits!

[aaronbear]

Hi everyone just wondering if you have any ideas on tools and stuff for cleaning the hard to get at area's on your piece after you have finished forging, the wire wheel on your bench grinder does most of the job very well but what about the nooks and crannys it cannot reach!

[imagedude]

You need a sand-blasting cabinet.

[ChrisB]

Marine Tooth Brush. aka small wire brush. Or even better, chuck it in the blast cabinet.

[nett]

An acid pickle bath works well, and is a cheap alternative compared to a bead blaster cabinet.

Stainless steel toothbrushes are handy, in fact they are indispensable. Keep an eye out for the stiff wire brushes, the soft ones won't even clean the foul mouth of a Jarhead.

[Mark Aspery]

I like to pickle my work in a very weak acid bath. I don't wire wheel or shot blast.

I use white vinegar from the supermarket for the acid - I think it comes in at 5% acid - so fairly weak.

A couple of days in there and it's as if it had been polished down to base metal.

I have no problem leaving small or delicate bits in this bath because it is so weak.

[oakwoodironworks]

Mark,
What do you do to your metal after you remove it from the vinegar bath.
Mike

[blafen]

I would think a bath in water with baking soda to neutralize the acid then dry and oil the piece.

[Dave Hammer]

Use a tumbler with small media... I actually use nails for media.

[frogvalley]

Rinse in water, or for large pieces with lots of nooks and crannies, I pressure wash then dry as quickly as possible. If left to air dry slowly there is a slight surface rust that shows up. After the pickle bath and rinse/dry, I usually brush with wire on a wheel or by hand to polish a bit.

I have a blast cabinet, but rarely use it. Tumbler or pickle or just plain wire brush are my first choices.

Of course, who said you gotta clean all the nooks and crannies?

[Mark Aspery]

Mark,
What do you do to your metal after you remove it from the vinegar bath.
Mike

I generally just wipe of the vinegar with a rag and give it a rinse with a baking soda/water mix -if I think it needs it.

As stated, I'm very careful not to let the piece air dry in anything other than a California summers day.

I wipe/spray the piece with alcohol if I use the baking soda/water mix (as an evaporative) and that seems to cure the instant rust issue.

All scale is gone and you are down to a silvery-gray base metal which may need to be heated to get it a little darker.