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Thanks for the input guys!

I'm trying to be in the market for a smithy settup, and I've found a 123lb PW nearby for $300. The pictures show it in decent shape. http://boston.craigslist.org/bmw/tls/1540276046.html Am I better off biding my time and looking for a better deal?

Those are some fine looking wine racks, Mark! I've seen some craft stuff like this do very well at farmers markets. I saw one couple once who was making wooden kitchen implements-cutting boards, spoons, cheese boards, bowls, etc-out of "recovered" wood and their booth was packed! Maybe you can find good farmers markets in your area or other craft markets, perhaps an art studio open house, maybe even provide an open house at your shop with coffee/snacks and a few demos. People at flea markets tend to be looking for bargains, but people at farmers markets and art/craft sales tend to be looking for quality and hand-made, not low prices. Good luck!

Matt: An equilibrium phase (or equilibrium state) is one in which all transformation has taken place, and no matter how long you wait it's structure will never change, it is at equilibrium. A metastable phase (or state) is one in which the structure will change if you wait, eventually reaching the equilibrium state if you wait long enough. In the iron-carbon system, graphite is the equilibrium phase of carbon below A1. However, the speed at which the carbon can diffuse and form graphite is very limited, especially at low temperatures, so unless you hold the sample at a high temperature (but below A1) for a long time you won't see graphite...at least not in most steel structures. But that carbon has to go somewhere, so you see cementite formation because it takes less time to form than graphite. In the case of cementite, it is essentially stable at room temperature. What that all means is that while you are heating and cooling steel, unless you go slow enough for the carbon atoms to have plenty of time to move around, you are more likely following the iron-iron carbide phase diagram. The extension of this is what happens when we harden steels. If you cool the steel fast enough, the carbon doesn't have enough time to even form cementite, and it is trapped within the lattice of the iron atoms and forms martensite. All we are doing when we temper steel is giving the carbon atoms enough energy to shuffle around a bit and form more stable (and softer) carbon phases, such as cementite.

Matt, Thanks. I did some reading and found I was confused about the curie transition. I had assumed it was due to a phase transformation. But, hey, you know what they say about assuming...:)

Matt: Shouldn't demagnetization indicate a transformation to austenite, and thus that the steel is, basically, ready for hardening? Please note that I recommended to quench from one color hotter than the magnetic temperature. glilley: The reason you want to quench from the coldest possible temperature is because the transformation of steel to the harder martensite phase is time-dependent. You want the surface of your steel to cool below the transformation temperature as quickly as possible to get the highest possible % of martensite. I think this is much less important when working with 1040 steel than, say, a 1018 steel.

You will want to be as close to the magnetic point of your steel as possible before quenching to get the maximum hardness. So if your magnetic point is at red, I think you'll want to about one color hotter than that before you quench. Your results will vary depending on the actual composition of your steel.

Thanks for the input, guys! I just want to reiterate that my class was excellent, but I was just wondering why there was such a disparity (half price) between the cost of the other classes in the area, and if that cost seemed reasonable. Face-time with the instructor is probably a very big factor there. Doug: Thanks for the info on the open forge in NH. I've seen the website for that, I think. I can't wait!

Hi all, this is my first post, though I have been following the forum for about a month now. I have a background in metallurgical engineering, and have always wanted to learn blacksmithing, but opportunities were hard to find or took too much time, whatever. I recently moved to the Boston area where there are many more options. I recently took an introductory course which was fantastic. However, continued courses seem overpriced at $320 for 12 hours of instruction. By comparison, a school in Maine offers a 4-day, 32 hour course for a little over $400. Is the local school overpriced? Should I be looking for other, more affordable learning opportunities? I'm planning on joining the local ABANA chapter, but with their bi-annual meeting just passed, it seems a long way out to have any networking opportunities. Ordinarily my solution would be to buy some stuff and set up a smithy, but I don't have the available space at my home (a townhouse) to do this. I'm boggled. Any advice is much appreciated!