Dumb question about water

[Liquid Cobra]

What do I do with the gross water and metal shavings from the bucket I use to cool my blade in between passes?

 

[seanj]

I keep my dip bucket in an old cat litter bucket with a hinged top. When I'm done I simply close the lid and save it. Once it's not in use all the crap settles to the bottom.
I suppose if it really grosses you out you could filter out the metal shavings with some kind of filter, but I've never seen the reason to do so.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Pour it on the ground. There is nothing in it that will hurt anything.
BTW- a drop of WD 40 in the full bucket will provide a thin film over the top, and help prevent mold and other stuff from growing in the bucket.

 

[Drew Riley]

Like Bill, I just dump it on the ground. If you're very worried about it, you can poor it over a canvas drop cloth and let the sun dry it out. Toss the cloth or shake it into a trashcan afterwards. I've never had a problem just dumping it into the grass though. I normally put a squirt or two of dish soap in my bucket to keep things from floating on the top. Never had a problem with mold or anything either.

 

[Liquid Cobra]

Thanks for the replies. The steel is 1095 so the shavings have rusted. I guess I’ll try pouring it into a canvass then shaking it into the garbage.

 

[jdm61]

DO like I do. Only dump it every few months and keep the people at your shop wondering where the heck that soccer ball sized blob of dirty steel wool on the ground came from?

 

[LCoop]

I worried about this myself but I think it was Stacy that that posted and made me realize it's not TOXIC. It's basically just metal dust. No different than if you laid a piece of steel out on the ground. Now think about all the junk car lots out there rusting away!

 

[Storm W]

I poured some of mine in a underground hornet nest last year followed by some gasoline and uummm, well, fire. The rest I poured in a spot that the woodchuck had been digging under my fence and into my garden. This year I'm going to see if the grass likes all that iron unless the woodchuck is back.

 

[Spideyjg]

I put a strong magnet in a ziplock bag and swirl through the bucket. All the steel shavings stick to the bag, invert it and dump in the trash.

 

[KNelson]

I have a 3 gal trash can mounted under my platen which catches all the heavy shaving and dust. which is where all my handmade steel wool builds up. I have a 5 gallon bucket next to it with dawn dish soap, nothing floats and no mold. Doing this my water bucket lasts a long time without getting nasty. After a month or two I dump it out in the woods.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Just toss it in the yard out by the garden or under some bushes and all will be fine. The plants love the nutrients.

I find it sort of funny that people send millions of gallons of their poop off to be somewhat cleaned up and dumped into the rivers, and millions of tons of their garbage to be buried in landfills and leach into the water table … but worry about a five gallon bucket of rusty water.

 

[timos-]

i dump mine in the fire pit. I hope one day to make some tamahagane or something similar ...

 

[J. Keeton]

I drilled some holes in the bottom of my city trash can so that it will drain... I just pour the whole bucket in the trash can from time to time. The liquid drains out and the cuttings are all captured in the can.

 

[Drew Riley]

I poured some of mine in a underground hornet nest last year followed by some gasoline and uummm, well, fire. The rest I poured in a spot that the woodchuck had been digging under my fence and into my garden. This year I'm going to see if the grass likes all that iron unless the woodchuck is back.

Sounds like a good way to breed mutant woodchucks, with all that extra iron in their diet.