Bob Brandl Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 Not sure if this is in the right place or not, so feel free to move if not. Anyway, I've got a 140# piece of saw cut fork, and was wondering if it is heat treated. I know that 4140 (or 4340?) is tough stuff, and at the thickness my piece is, it may well not have been heat treated. I just wanted to check before I went to a ton of trouble trying to heat treat that big a chunk of steel. Thanks, all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 They make excellent anvils, and there are some threads on using them as such. Yes, they are heat treated, all you need to do is mount it, and get using it. Picture? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 You do know that heat treated does NOT mean hardened right? One heat treat, annealing, is to make the steel as soft as it can get, (spheroidal annealing). Fork lift tines are heat treated to make them tough but not brittle. Not know what you are trying to do with the time makes it rather impossible to answer your question.....You know all the details of your project. We do not---unless you tell us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Brandl Posted November 30, 2016 Author Share Posted November 30, 2016 To me, heat treating means everything from post forging annealing all the way through to tempering. Annealing is a stage, same as hardening. I honestly don't need anyone, experienced or otherwise, to be kind of a xxxxxxxx or take it upon themselves to teach me a lesson. If I'm asking, logic and deductive reasoning dictates that I'm planning to use it as an anvil, which means that whether I used proper terminology or not (which I did), you know exactly what I'm asking and can hazard an answer to my question. Thank you, all the same. You posed a open question and details were asked for, be aware there are other uses for a 4140 fork tyne than just an anvil, and the heat treating requirements for them are different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Brandl Posted November 30, 2016 Author Share Posted November 30, 2016 Then by all means, remove me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ede Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 Last time I procured forklift tine, there was an identifying tag which allowed me to do the research to find out the manufacturer and alloy. It turns out that it was about .3% carbon, right on the very low end for medium carbon steel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRS Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 Sorry but deductive and inductive logic gives us a large number of different things that you can use a forklift tine for in blacksmithing. If you are restricted to only seeing it as an anvil that is not our problem. You could be wanting to make a swage block from it and so need to anneal it to make it easier to mill for example. (The good deity forfend; I know a fellow that actually made a sword from one, sigh.) So as previously mentioned: yes it is heat treated; "do you need to heat treat" it depends on what you plan to do with it which your original post didn't say. With your follow up: it can be used as an anvil as it stands; but depending on how YOU like your anvil faces and the state of that particular piece it can be tempered more for a softer face or or hardened and tempered for a harder face. If you don't know the alloy treating it as a medium carbon steel is a good place to start (and taking a piece and running the junkyard steel tests on it would be a good idea as well) I would suggest using it for a while and then deciding how you want it modified. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 On 11/30/2016 at 9:28 AM, Bob Brandl said: Then by all means, remove me. We should to protect you. One should not come into a place and expect everyone one else to know what you are thinking and then getting upset when we ask for detail is rude. And your language is in violation of forum rule as are personal attacks, that got you placed on moderation, meaning we have to read your posts to approve them before they are visible on the forum. You say you do not want to be taught? We cant ask questions? You cuss at us for trying to help. You are the one that is too blind to see more than one use 4140 fork tines. You sound too much like a troll we banned a while back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 On the other hand a lot of us have been moderated over the years; I was one time for a typo and another time for a phrase I had used in church talking with my pastor the previous Sunday...No reason to get mad and leave one of the best places to get info on blacksmithing. Just remember you are virtually drinking tea with your great Aunt here and keep your pinky out and watch your language choice as she has her favorite LARGE wooden spoon to hand... Dies for power hammers are another use for fork lift tine chunks and they should definitely be re-heat treated for that in MNSHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 On 11/29/2016 at 1:48 PM, Bob Brandl said: I've got a 140# piece of saw cut fork, The chemical composition of the metal can be anything that met the specification of the designer. The heat treating of that specified metal can be anything that the designer specifies. Large forks can have different specifications from smaller forks for instance. My suggestion is to use your fork as is for YOUR purpose or project. If it proves that it is not suitable, then look for a piece of KNOWN metal, contact the manufacturer and ask them for their advice. They made the stuff and can advise you to the suitability of your purpose. You may want to purchase, rent, or borrow a metal analysis gun and test your metal to determine its composition. With a little research, you should be able to decide if this is the metal you want to use for your purpose. The advice given here for mystery metal is where the author would start with a general sample of mystery metal. Try it and see. It may work for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Brandl Posted December 2, 2016 Author Share Posted December 2, 2016 Alright. First of all, for what it's worth and If this is even allowed past the moderators, my removing me post was to a conveniently and Heavily edited response from a moderator (based on the tone, I imagine Mr. Sells) that was Far more scathing, rude, and unwarranted than my initial response could have been. Could I have said sarcastic? Smart aleck? I could have, and for offending someone and violating forum rules, I apologize. I will not, however, apologize for my tone, or having made the post. It was a yes or no question, simple and clean, and nothing was asked for or offered other than my getting derided over not providing as much information as wasn't necessary to answer the initial question. Someone just wanted to show how smart they were, and wanted to use my post as an opportunity to do it. That didn't, and doesn't, fly with me. Period. I want to be taught, learn, and enrich my knowledge in this artistic arena. Truly. What I don't need is to be "taught a lesson" with regards to Anybody trying to "put me in my place" by being insulting and condescending, which is what I felt Mr. Powers was doing, and what Mr. Sells Is doing. If you deciding I'm a former troll is what you're going to do to put me down, go for it. It's not true in the slightest, but I don't particularly care. You want me out of the club, kick me out. Oh, and Spare me the "We should to protect you." nonsense. You're only getting rid of me to stroke an ego, make an example, or whatever self-serving end you're actually meeting. You accused me of acting like a three year old, but have you thought about how you're acting, Mr. Trunchbull? Anyway, it's done. Remove me, keep me, I don't care. Bob Brandl Admin Edit: Personal contact information to Mr. Sells removed. Off site link removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 You ask a question but did not give enough details. Those details are the difference between a post that asks for more details in order to make an informed reply and an informed reply. For instance, I want to purchase a vehicle, which one would be best for me? The details would include do you want to haul 10 ton of material, the wife to the grocery store, or run in a formula 1 race. Details shape the informed reply to answer the question. The site is set up so each report, or moderator action, is reported back to the administrators. An administrator (not Mr. Sells) edited the moderator note to shorten it as and to keep it on subject. IForgeIron is not here to *teach you a lesson*. The site is to help you in your research to become more informed and to make better choices. The site has pushed safety and personal safety from day one. No one has the knowledge as to what metals, or processes, are safe to use when they start. They MUST learn. We would much rather someone be cautioned or warned that an action is dangerous than see them end up in a hospital or dead. If a person chooses to continue to do a dangerous thing after a caution or warning, that is their decision. Many terms are blacksmithing or metalworking specific. The site tries to guide you to use the proper terms or words. This reduces any mis-understandings and better explains both the questions and answers. For example the what-cha-ma-call-it actually has a name. Bob, we are here to help, and to assist you in your search for knowledge. To make assisting you easier, we need to know as much about your project as possible, which includes what tools you have to work with, and what base knowledge you have, or the research you have done already. That way we can start the assistance to match your current level of skill and expertise. You are welcome to start over, introduce yourself, and ask additional questions, giving us details of your project, your research, and what you want to accomplish. We want you to succeed and are willing to work with you to make that happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 Would you have prefered the answer "Yes, No, Maybe; depending on details you have not provided?" One of the neat aspects of this site is you can add people to an ignore list and never even see their posts, though the forum will tell you that one exists just in case you want to make an exception. I have no problem with you adding me to your list so that none of my 'annoying' posts ever get to you. Hopefully others can still profit from them; as anything posted on this open forum is posted to the world and not just an individual so any answer may need to cover a total newcomer to the craft as well as folks with decades of experience. (PM is for communication between specific people). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 well who ever you are, I personally do not care enough to worry about such as you. If you can manage to follow the rules you may survive here. Even after it being pointed out that there are more uses for fork tynes than an anvil, you still insist we all knew what you want, adn everyone is just pickling on you. Rather than just answer a simple question you go ballistic about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 Who ever you are: You are going to have real trouble dealing with people in life if you're this snotty all the time. To answer your original question in all it's details. Yes. Now, exercise your deductive skills and determine what to do. Seriously, do you always ask a favor then insult the folk you're begging from? I'd be surprised at your lack of basic logic but your posts tell us all we really need to know about you. Not saying you're necessarily a bad kid whatever your age but until you pull that delusional image of your own self importance out of your butt you will continue to be dispised and laughed at. I get laughed at all the time, the difference between us being: I'm telling jokes, you are trying to impress people. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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