How To Melt Steel As Easily As Lead

Tins apparent impossibility is easily performed by heating the bar of iron or steel red hot, and then touching it with a roll of brimstone, when the metal will drop like water.

Patent Lubricating Oil

Water, 1 pal.; clean tallow, 3 lbs.: palm oil, 10 lbs.: common soda, ½ lb. Heat the mixture to about 210° F.; stir well till it cools down to 70° F., when it is fit for use.

Black Having A Polish For Iron

Pulverized gum asphal-tum.2 lbs.; gam benzoin, ¼ lb.; spirits of turpentine, 1 gal.; to make quick, keep in a warm place, and shake often; shade to suit with finely ground ivory black. Apply with a brush. And it ought to be used on iron exposed to the weather as well as on inside work, desiring a nice appearance or polish. Or:

Varnish For Iron

Asphaltum, 8 lbs.; melt in an iron kettle, slowly adding boiled linseed oil, 5 gals.; litharge, 1 lb., and sulphate of zinc, ½ lb.; continuing to boil for 3 hours; then add dark gum amber, 1½ lbs.; and continue to boil 1 hours longer. When cool, reduce to a proper consistence to apply with a brush, with spirits of turpentine.

How To Restore Burnt Steel, And Improve Poor Steel

Borax, 3 oz.; sal ammoniac, 8 oz.; prussiate of potash, .3 OZ.; blue clay. 2 oz.: resin, 1½ lbs.; water, 1 gill; alcohol, 1 gill. Put all on the fire, and simmer till it dries to a powder. The steel is to be heated, and dipped into this powder, and afterwards hammered.

Composition To Toughen Steel

Resin, 2 lbs.; tallow, 2 lbs.; black pitch, 1 lb.; melt together, and dip in the steel when hot.

Substitute For Borax

Copperas, 2 oz.; saltpetre, 1 oz.; common salt, 6 oz.; black oxide of manganese, l oz.: prussiate of potash, l oz.; all pulverized and mixed with 3 lbs. nice welding sand, and use the same as you would sand. High-tempered steel can be welded with this at a lower heat than is required for bo)

How To Improve Poor Iron

Black oxide of manganese, 1 part; copperas and common salt, 4 parts each; dissolve in soft water, and boil till dry; when cool, pulverize and mix quite freely with nice welding sand. When you have poor iron which you cannot afford to throw away, heat it, and roll it in this mixture; working for a time, reheating, etc., will soon tree it from all impurities, which is the cause of its rottenness. By this process you can make good horse-nails out of common iron.

Case Hardening For Iron

Case iron may be case-hardened by heating to a red heat, and then rolling it in a composition composed of equal parts of prussiate of potash, sal-ammoniac, and saltpetre, all pulverized and thoroughly mixed. This must be got to every part of the surface; then plunged, while yet hot, into a bath containing 2 oz. prussiate of potash, and 4 oz. sal-ammoniac to each gallon of cold water.