[TheForge] last project

[RIES NIEMI]

Bob- those knots are really cool.
Was that your sculpture, or were you fabricating it for someone else?

they look sandblasted-is that what you did?

Lately I have been forging a bunch of stainless, and we have it
electropolished. That makes it shinier than your knots look, though.
My electropolisher has a 4'x4'x8' tank, so most stuff goes right in, but we
are getting ready to install 550 feet of fence, and we will need to tig weld
some of the connections, so I got a mini portable electropolisher. I bought
mine, because I needed it now, and the job paid for it, but I am sure you
could make your own. The cheapies use battery chargers, but mine is 40 volts
instead of just 12v- it means you can use a milder acid, with less possible
damage to yourself and surroundings. Just a low voltage dc power supply, a
ground clamp, and a wand made from a piece of 1/2" copper tube. You wrap the
wand in fiberglass cloth, dip that in mild acid- I just buy it from this
place in LA called screenpro, so I dont know exactly what kind of acid, but
its pretty dilute. The fiberglass cloth wears out every few minutes- it
actually burns up. So you keep replacing it. But we have taken fresh forged
stainless bars, which are almost black after they cool, and 10 seconds or so
of rubbing, and they are shiny again.