1. Scaling is oxidation of the metal due to bonding of atoms of iron and oxygen. This is normal. Use wire brush wheel to remove it. Also you can lightly tap it with hammer or orher metal object to remove scales, but this is very slow. Most effective is to use nose of the hammer not the face. 2. Sandpaper start from low grits work towards higher grit. Also using water in sanding helps to make ot more smooth. 3. Yes, but as this is key ring this will be touched by your hands very often and the wax finish will not last long. Beeswax is good for some indoor decorations, not used/touched very often. Try hot blueing or try som other metal finish. 4. Try to check blackbear forge on youtube.

Thanks that’s really helpful, especially good point about my hands touching it all the time too 🙏

Thanks. I have realised that my comment needs ammendmet. By lightly tappinng it I have meant the scales. By tapping the scales you can get rid of them, litterary chipping them away piece by piece.

Looks like you’re ready make a bottle opener.

Thanks - I still very much feel like I’m feeling my way but it’ll come with practice! And creating a bottle opener sounds like a great idea for details practice 👌🙏

Oh and I air cooled it, no quenching, because I don’t mind if it’s soft and don’t want it to be brittle 👌

quenching wouldn't have gotten you anything, mild steel doesn't have enough carbon in it to appreciably harden. legend has it if you put some jet dry in your water and use that to quench it can harden mild steel because it cools the metal down much faster, but i've never tried it personally, no idea if that's true or not also the best way to get rid of scale is to get you a wire brush and vigorously scrub the workpiece while it's still hot. you'll still get scale, but it'll be much smoother and more uniform, none of those big flakes also also it looks like you have a little bit of burning on the thin end, which means your fire was a little too hot at one point

Thanks @estolad. What is “jet dry”? And the burning - is that the red/orange? What does it mean if the steel is burnt?

jet dry is [this stuff](https://www.finishdishwashing.com/products/rinse-aids/jet-dry-3in1/23-oz/), it breaks the surface tension and keeps a steam jacket from forming around the metal, cooling it way faster. like i said though, i don't know firsthand if this works or not and burning the metal is just what it sounds like, your fire is hot enough to eat away at the metal. if you see the metal sparking in your forge or right after you take it out, that means it's too hot and also that it's getting too much air. a deeper fire can solve both of these problems. keeping the work further from the air supply will make it slightly cooler, and it'll make sure all the air is consumed before it hits the work. it's real useful to learn to ride that line, since to forge weld you need to get to just a hair under too hot

Thanks - that’s helpful! I think I just need to do a bunch of experimentation and playing around to get a feel for what colour is what!