caotropheus

Stormcrow In general, I like very much your cutlery: wrought look, utility in mind. 1 - How durable are the type of handles you make with paracord when compared with wood or home made micarta for example? 2 - What are the dimensions of these blades, including thickness? thanks

Outsider, terrible sorry to disappoint you but there is no such thing as "very large" for an anvil... You can either use a "heavy block of wood" or a "sturdy table or workbench" know as an anvil stand. As an example, take a look at images of the Hofi anvil in the net, he sells his anvils together with a special built stand.

How big are the jaws? Could you please put a known object (like a pop can, for example) near the vice so we can make an idea more or less how big is it?

My Condolences to his Family. The little I knew about him was about his wise answers throughout the forum in general and my questions in particular.

I am terrible sorry that most of you do not understand Portuguese. I found this video from an interview to a traditional blacksmith in Portugal about sheep shear making. He explains a lot about the process and it is very educative, aspects like steels, hammering, forging, sharpening and hinge. I suppose he forged his own tools as well! Enjoy http://videos.sapo.p...1HDkpb8HIWPlF2W

Agree with Mr. Powers! Where I live there are almost no available anvils in the market and when they show up in this condition prices can be as high as 15 USD a kg! If I could get this anvil for $150 I would be very happy and repairing it would be nothing compared with the anvils I have improvised by welding and grinding chunks of steel for hours and hours and tens of kg of electrodes I have melted!

Once I wanted to restore a sewing machine that was exposed to the elements for several years and I was recommended to forget it submerged inside diesel for a couple of months. Never tried this solution, but I was told that it would un-seize the parts. I think that the best solution would be Electrolytic Rust Removal , you can see an example here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5I5WBG5HPw There are also lots of other examples on the net and on Youtube. I suppose you have to use a big volume of solution for several days because you have a lot of steel on a vice. Check the electrolityc rust removal every few hours, just in case the process finished sooner than your forecast or if the solution is too dirty and needs to be replaced. Good luck

Haven't seen your post vice, but take a look at this thread, post #60 http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/1084-show-me-your-vise/page__st__59

cvmikeray How is the project going? I would like to see the vice attached to the stand and most importantly, I would like to see the vice+stand in a "family picture" of your work shop... Thanks

Some literature from bicycle pedals technology (Bebop company) that explains engineering aspects of metals widely used in modern bicycles and helped me understand better why "steel is real" and why I always preferred steel for my bicycle frames... "applied metallurgy 101 Following is an excerpt from a recent lecture by professor Drønon Andon, noted metallurgist and consultant to Bebop. Why doesn't Bebop make titanium spindles? Lots of folks have asked us whether we are going to make titanium spindles. Most of our competitors do, so it might seem like a logical move. Our reasons for avoiding ti spindles are a little technical, but bear with us. A pedal spindle has to be strong because it is stressed as a cantilever: the load is at one end of the spindle (your foot); the spindle must transmit force to the other end (the crankarm). If you use plain sleeve bearings (aka bushings) and/or loose ball bearings like Ritchey, Shimano and most Taiwanese pedals, strength is pretty much all you need to look at. But cartridge ball and needle bearings require that that the pedal body stay precisely parallel to the spindle. That requires the spindle to be stiff as well as strong. This is where most titanium spindles fail Engineering 101. To understand why, you need to look at a few key properties of steel and titanium and understand a couple of basic engineering concepts. Engineers have a buzzword for stiffness: modulus. It is a convenient, quantifiable way of comparing the rigidity of different materials. In terms of modulus, the differences between steel, titanium and aluminum are not very interesting. Titanium is half as stiff as steel, and half the density. Aluminum is one-third as stiff, and one third the density. (The buzzword for stiffness as a function of a material’s density is “specific modulus.” All three materials have essentially the same specific modulus.) So a titanium spindle that is the same size as a steel spindle will weigh half as much, but will bend twice as much. Even if that bending doesn’t eventually cause the spindle to break, the constant bending will cause rapid bearing failure (just ask SRP, which recalled all its Ti spindles a few years ago for that reason). If titanium is so flexible, why does it work so well in other places, like frames? OK, here is the part you don’t hear so much about. You may have read about the modulus of materials before, but even more important is the inherent stiffness of different shapes and structures, sometimes called “section modulus.” This is probably the most important (and misunderstood) concept in bicycle frame design. A lot of folks have been talking lately about the “typically stiff aluminum frame ride." This is hooey. Aluminum is only 1/3 as stiff as steel, and anybody over six feet tall who ever tried to ride an early Vitus frame knows it. Folks like Klein and Cannondale make mondo stiff frames by taking advantage of the section modulus of a cylindrical tube. Here’s the basic deal: when you double the diameter of a tube, its stiffness increases by roughly eight times. So the stiffness of the basic structure of Cannondale’s 2 1/2” down tube is about 8x stiffer than a normal 1 1/8” down tube. Aluminum is only 1/3 as stiff as steel, but because of the vastly increased section modulus, you still end up with an aluminum tube that is more than twice as stiff as the smaller steel tube. So by trading off section against material you can end up with any degree of stiffness you want -- with almost any material. So talk about the “typically stiff big-tube frame ride” and you can impress your friends even if they have plastic pen pockets. Are you telling me that my Klein isn't stiff? Of course not. But it isn't stiff because it is made of aluminum. It is stiff because it has way oversize tubes. A bike with tubes that size made of titanium would be even stiffer, and in steel it would be so stiff you wouldn't want to get near it. Capish? How does that relate to spindles? You’ve probably guessed that a titanium spindle will work fine -- it just needs to be bigger than the steel spindle it replaces. Unfortunately, that approach creates a number of problems. First of all, the crankarms, bearings, pedal body and a bunch of other parts will have to be completely redesigned. Second, making the spindle larger generally means significantly increasing stack height, which we think is a bad idea. There is one more problem with titanium spindles: hardness. Most pedals, including ours, use the spindle as the inner race for at least one bearing. To function properly, this inner race must be very hard. It is easy to make steel hard enough, but almost impossible with Ti. (Those fancy coatings, like titanium nitride, help somewhat, but if they are much harder than the underlying metal, they tend to separate and flake off.) Some other manufacturers solve this problem by pressing a steel sleeve over part of the spindle, but this reduces the diameter of the structural portion of the spindle, which we think reduces stiffness and requires that the overall diameter of the spindle be increased still further. We aren’t saying that a good Ti spindle is an impossibility. Like a number of very smart people in this business we’ve spoken to about this subject, though, we’ve concluded that they are a bad idea as direct replacements for steel spindles. So for now, we suggest you ignore Ti spindles and go with the lightest all-purpose pedal system you can buy -- which happens to have a very stiff, strong and light steel spindle. So what is the right way to save weight in pedal spindles? Bebop's way is to find a better steel -- our exclusive Aero-S ultra-high strength stainless steel. Aero-S may be the most advanced steel alloy available. Originally created for things like landing gear for navy jets and aerospace fasteners, it is nearly twice as strong as cromoly. It isn't any stiffer than ordinary steel, but because it is stronger, we can use less of it. So you get a spindle that is twice as stiff as any Ti spindle, and only a couple of grams heavier than most of them. Oh, and it it is also super hard, which makes it nasty to machine but great as a bearing surface. And finally, unlike our competitors who think it is just fine to sell more expensive parts that are not as strong as their cheap stuff, we don't put arbitrary weight limits on our Aero-S parts. I mean think about it -- when they say 170 pound rider weight limit, do they mean a 170 pound roadie profiling past Starbucks, or 170 pounds of human cannonball ripping down a rocky 20% chute? Do you want to bet your insurance deductible on your answer? (Dr. Andon has recently announced that he will donate $10.87 to the Sierra Club's "Ban bikes from singletrack and non-interstate roads" fund every time some knucklehead claims that aluminum is a "stiff" frame material. Help keep the roads and trails safe for bicycles -- smack the next guy who says it.)" The same concepts can be translated to cutlery, I think... Even though today also Bebop presents pedals in the market with titanium spindles... http://beboppedals.com/prod.htm

ghunter, I would buy it, mostly for the fun of repairing it and bring it back to life. Just like Bigred said, try to get a lower price...

Nice knife, how thick is it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE8NK0qSTg8&feature=related

Yes, I suppose this anvil can be repaired. Two possibilities I can see, one by forge welding a plate of tool steel, by the way, very difficult procedure; second possibility, hard facing the anvil by arc welding using specific electrodes. I do not know if you can lay multiple beds of hard facing welding until you reach the height of the remaining bit of original plate. There are people here that can give you a more precise answer. Check these videos

Peter, Lets make a deal. Leave the destruction test for now, and after you complete the knife, send it to me! ;)

Looking forward to see the rest of the project but where exactly is the blade ?!

Something like this? http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/21670-first-cleaver/page__hl__cleaver__fromsearch__1

PoundHound I am also new to blacksmithing and bladesmithing. Up until today I forged a couple of knives and these are the steps I follow and I do it all by hand! I suppose the "Rough Grind and clean up" step starts by grinding, then filing and finally sanding to at least 120 sandpaper. I do the annealing with a single heat inside the wood stove or in the solid fuel forge using wood. Light the fuel, supply some air slowly to bring metal to cherry red and cut the air supply. 12 hours later the metal is still so hot I cannot touch it by hand! And yes, just like many things in life, making a knife might be a very tedious process! filing, sanding and polishing a knife takes a lot of time and effort that often you have to start the all process from the beginning, for example, sanding after hardening and tempering. I tried to find all sorts of short cuts but up until today I destroyed my work with short cuts! Now, if you want to see several videos of people making knives, check these channels. http://www.youtube.c...r/MrIronman1979 http://www.youtube.com/user/laneakjt Also post #28 on this thread may help you find some information on knife making steps http://www.iforgeiro...st/page__st__20 enjoy and good luck

As first knives, they look very nice indeed. I like the detail on the dagger handle. Interesting, that the blade of the knife in the first picture is very similar to a knife I am finishing now.

Gibbo, Nice knife and nice idea that on pieces of tyre as scales for the handle. I have to agree with Phil, that I would never, ever thought on that possibility. You simply glued the scales and that's it? Did you try to reinforce the scales grip to the handle with rivets or bolts and nuts? I think that from now on we are going to have many knives with "tyre scales" as grip material ! ;)

When you hit the slab with the hammer or during the rebound tests with a ball bearing, it rings like a bell. This gives an indication it is not cast iron, right? There are "cutting to shape" marks everywhere in the edges and not casting marks, but this does not mean much. Also the slab fell from some height and it scratched one of the corners like modelling clay and did not chip or brake like cast iron. But this comes to mind, doesn't it? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meehanite

Trying-it, you forgot to refer a stable base for a precision scale! ;)

Greetings gentleman Since I do not have a real heavy anvil, I bought today at the scrap yard this slab of steel, 170 kg, dimensions, 74 cm X 42.5 cm X 7 cm I will try to use it as an anvil but the rebound is very limited, probably at the best 15 % (Not like my 14 kg VAUGHAN BROOKS about 90 % rebound) and it rings, rings like a bell! It seems to be mild steel, a small hit from the hammer can mark it easily. Please guys, I would like to read your ideas on how to transform this slab into a functional anvil thanks

Guys, thank you very much for your kind replies. @ Frank Turley, I checked the vice and yes, the thrust washer is there. Actually, except for the leg, I think the vice is complete.

Greetings gentleman Here it is my first leg vice. Managed to get it for about 100 USD. It is around 70 cm in length, 15 cm jaws, it closes well and the jaws are in good condition. Weight in Kg The screw thread is not brand new, but still works Detail of the mounting bits The vice come without leg and it seems that it was not cut, but was broken for some reason I could see no inscriptions except some blurred letters/numbers in 4 different places that look like 6LVIS LV18 6LV3 6LV3 Please guys help me identify the origin of this "creature". Also, every time I try to assemble it in a special built stand, the more I feel the need for a leg to simplify all the assembly issue and mount the vice straight away on the working bench. So I am considering welding a leg to the vice and I would like to hear some of your suggestions about the issue. Thanks