Lost the tip of a hot cut on a rail spike last Tuesday in my garage

I was working on a set of rail spike hooks in my garage last Tuesday when I pulled a piece from the forge a little too cold, and the tip sheared right off into the coal bin. After about 20 minutes of digging around with a magnet on a stick, I gave up and cleaned the whole bin into a bucket to sift it out. Found the tip, but I also learned I need to keep a magnet tray near the forge instead of losing time on my knees. Now I check color before every cut, and I keep a small bucket of water right there in case a piece launches. What do you all do to keep little cutoffs from disappearing into the coal?

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the_alice24d ago

Man, digging through a coal bin with a magnet on a stick sounds rough. I felt that "sheared right off" pain just reading it. Keeping a magnet tray nearby is smart, I just stuck one on my bench after losing a tip in the dust pile one too many times.

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