Flat Stock vs. Precision Ground?

Hawk45

Hawk45

Joined
Jan 28, 2005
Messages
2,154
When ordering stock do you usually order plain "flat" stock or "precision ground"? Is the precision ground worth the extra cost?
 
IMHO not really, a good overnight soak in vinegar will for the most part take care of the mill scale on plain flat stock.

Jason
 
If you look around someone had a thread showing them using Muratic (mild HCl) acid to remove mill scale, worked great for him. It takes everything off.
 
65535 said:
If you look around someone had a thread showing them using Muratic (mild HCl) acid to remove mill scale, worked great for him. It takes everything off.
Click to expand...

Ain't that the truth. If you leave a file in enough long enough it'll give you a piece of gray bar stock. It does smell terrible though.

In any case, at some point you're going to be polishing your knife and it doesn't take all that much longer to stick it on a belt sander before you start.
 
If you plan to keep muriatic acid around for cleaning up scale then make sure you have some place to store it outside of your home or shop. It will destroy every tool you own, no matter how tight you think you have the container sealed. I never had too much trouble hitting the bar on a platen to get scale off. Sometimes I like to leave it on.
 
If you're doing stock removal, PG can often be an advantage, time wise, and tool wise.
 
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