Appreciation post: the brass brush I found in a bucket at a farm auction in 2019 does more for my forge work than my $90 wire wheel ever did

Holly Thompson · 2026-09-23T09:50:03.242201+00:00

Six years back I bought a cheap brass brush out of a rusty bucket at a farm auction near Abilene for two bucks. I used to hit every piece with the big wire wheel on my bench grinder, thinking faster had to mean better. Then one day my wheel grabbed a hot scroll and flung it across the shop, and that brush was sitting right there, so I tried it instead. The brass cuts the scale off clean without scratching up the steel underneath, and I can get right into the tight spots on a twist where the wheel never reaches. These days the grinder mostly just sits there while the brush handles everything but heavy stock removal. The wheel still wins for knocking off big chunks of forge scale on bar ends, I will give it that. What do you all reach for when a piece comes out of the fire, brush, wheel, or something else I have not tried?

Vivisector

Loading…

Appreciation post: the brass brush I found in a bucket at a farm auction in 2019 does more for my forge work than my $90 wire wheel ever did | Blacksmiths - Vivisector