[TheForge] Scale

[Herman, Richard A]

Bob,

One of the things I noticed at the Abana conference was the Japanese smiths
working on the billet for their wood saw.  The anvil was sitting on the
ground and the master smith was sitting on a low stool with the slack tub
beside him.  He would occasionally dip his hammer in the slack tub between
strokes, then hit the steel at high heat and get a pop almost like a
firecracker going off.  I assumed at the time this was to knock the scale
off and it seemed very efficient.  Might want to give this a try, although I
don't know if I would do this with my favorite hammer, could be hard on the
handle in the long run and cause it to loosen up.

Rich Herman
Rosemount, MN

>I'm curious how everyone deals with scale?
>I've got a couple of problems with it that I find irritating.
>  ...(snip)...
>I've heard some bladesmiths use water on the anvil to blast the scale off
as
>they're working.
>Anyone ever tried it?
>
>Bob