[TheForge] New Discoveries: Ersatz EZ Weld

[Peter Hirst]

The epoxy solvent series was so much fun I thought I'd contribute my own discovery.  I need a bunch of EZ Weld for an upcoming project, and seem to recall it is just borax with iron filings.  SO I have been pondering what might be a cheap easy source of iron filings.  Filing iron, as it turns out, is not it.  As I was pondering, a pad of 2-aught steel wool popped into my hand and AHA! says I, one step away from cheap easy iron filings!  After a couple of different tries at ways to pulverize steel wool that were so fruitless I think I'll save myself the embarrassment of sharing them, I hit upon the Ideal Steel Wool Pulverizing Technology.  A grain mill.  That old steel cutter grain mill from my home made beer and granola days is just the thing.  Unroll a coupla pads o' double aught, feed it right in the hopper, and quicker n you can say falafel a nice neat pile o' shiny new iron granules.  Mixed with raw outta the box borax, it made about a quart of Ersatz EZ Weld.  Now I suppoze if I took the time to dehydrate the borax I could grind it in the same device and have Even Less Ersatz EZ Weld.

Now here's the thing:  I've read somwhere that what you can' use for iron in Ersatz EZ Weld is grinder dust, cause its just iron oxide.  But in checking up my EEZW formula, I just read the Material Safety Data Sheet on the Real EZW and guess what:  it's 45-55 percent "slag/FeO, Fe2O3 and Fe3O4"  how bout that?  So do I throw a bunch of scale or grinder dust  in with the borax an steel shavings?

I'm just gonna stick with the borax and shavings for now.  I figure I made about 30 bucks worth of EEZW for about a buck in broax and steel wool.  I'll let ya know how the next coupla thousand forge welds turn out.

;-)