I had been told that burned coal in dust form mixed with bee's wax made a good punch / drift lube. So in typical corner cutting fashion I asked a friend who bbq's a lot (first mistake) to bring me over some of his briquette waste / ash. I then proceeded to melt 3 or 4 lbs of bee's wax and started mixing. The first time I used this home brew drift lube the stench was the most horrific smell like deep fried rotten turkey that would not quit smoking my garage shop out and drifting into my house. So knowing this is a recipe for self torture (would rather water board myself that use it again)..........does ground up charcoal (unburned) mixed with bee's wax work for this ??
Minimum Effort = Minimum Results every time
My thoughts:
I would use the least complicated and messy but that still works. Just coal or charcoal dust will work without the grease or wax. This is the historic lubricant for the smith and although there's dust, it can be swept and requires no elbow grease to clean up. Practicality was the guide and I believe should remain.
I agree with Lin. I forge with propane mostly, but I have a can of coal dust near the anvil. When I cool my punch in the quench, I dip the wet punch in the coal dust before I go back to the work-piece and it seems to work just fine.
thank you fella's just wanted to make sure, I was drifting 2 lbs hammer heads..........the smell of what I suspect was food grease in the ashes was horrible
Minimum Effort = Minimum Results every time
