HWooldridge

I'm going on memory and that is a dicey proposition these days but IIRC, that large a block may require oil quench to reach the higher hardness ranges. Of course, it doesn't cost anything other than a bit of fuel to try an air quench first.

Agreed. Cool water applied quickly - followed by aloe. About the best home remedy I have ever tried. I wonder if the military has ever developed anything specific for mild to moderate burns?

I bought 3 tons of coal about 30 years ago and have about 1000 lbs left. However, I often use a gas forge now so this amount will probably last me the rest of my life. Hard to say how much you will use - depends on how you work and what type of stuff you make.

The attack in Paris has probably slowed things - everyone is being cautious with imported items.

I developed cataracts early and needed surgery at age 42. Without that intervention, I would have been blind by now. Wrists and hands hurt occasionally but most everything else is still working.

John, The striker button is an interesting concept. I left my top dies a little long and forged a short taper on the power hammer to centralize the impact - then reforge when they mushroom. I like your solution better. Hollis

Buffalo Hump Woman.

Be careful beating around on it too much - I had that exact same vise and broke it one day while trying to bend a piece of 3/4" flat bar. The screw box snapped off and that was all she wrote...they are fine for clamping but they ain't a Timex.

Don't stress about it...77 lbs and a sturdy base that won't wobble will be quite enough. The Brazeal brothers used a setup that was around that size and put out all sorts of great work at demonstrations. I used to move my 250 PW without too much trouble by hooking my arms under it - but I value my back a bit more these days. Just not interested in blowing out a disc...

I figured you might say that after a while doing it - power hammer is the way to go.

What size wire are you using? Rolls usually have a size range where they are optimum.

People are going to ask where you are located since that will have some bearing on value.

I normally file off any sharp corners - any tiny notch across an edge can create a stress riser and break a jaw...and yes, you can have one of these bind at the boss on occasion.

Did you measure/monitor the oil temp during the first range of experiments? In other words, do you know what the oil temp was on the sample that yielded 62 RC (or any of the other ones)? My first thought was decarb problems but you ground it so that's probably not the issue. You might try an oil preheat with a big block of scrap steel if you don't have another way to heat the fluid. I made a big Kukri from a leaf spring, then did two full normalizations before HT. I pre-heated 5 gallons of Quenchtex B with a 2" bar heated in the forge. I did not measure oil temp but it was uncomfortable to touch so probably around 130 or so. That blade quenched at 56 then I drew the spine back to soft and left the edge hard. I have no idea what type of steel but the springs came off an 80's Chevy truck.

That's OK, Frosty - we do have 11" scorpions... Another storm rolled through this morning - 4.5 inches in two hours and still raining - that amount did cause major flooding, especially on top of what we got last week. Also had a few tornadoes rumbling around hither and yon...