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Old me used to soak railroad spikes in vinegar for 3 days before forging them
Tried just heating them straight and hammering last week and saved myself a ton of waiting around. Has anyone else found a step they always did that turned out to be totally pointless?
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iris_mason8823d ago
Wait, is vinegar soak really for getting rid of rust and scale though? lol I mean, I get that it works for that, but the original poster was talking about prepping for forging, not just cleaning. If you soak a railroad spike in vinegar for days, you're basically eating away at the surface and leaving a nasty residue that's gonna burn off in the forge anyway. I've tried it before and all it did was make my shop smell like pickles for a week. Heating and hammering is just faster and gives you cleaner steel to work with right off the bat. Vinegar's fine for stuff you want to display, not for forging.
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Pretty common mistake actually. Vinegar soak is for removing rust or scale, not prepping mild steel for forging. Heat it, hit it, done.
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