ThomasPowers

WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO WITH COPPER? What tools and supplies you need is dependent on what you are trying to do! I can't tell you if you need to go to a non-ferrous scrapyard or to a Roofing supply store. Can tubing work? YES! NO! MAYBE! Depending on information you haven't provided. So repousse, carving, engraving, etching, 3D sculpture, casting, forging, hollow forms,etc, & so on... all "copper work" Do you know how to solder, anneal, engrave?

Very nice indeed! Now sell them on having a few done in stainless for a lighter colour! (and a much enhanced price!)

Several of my post vises are weight stamped as they tended to be sold by the pound back in the day IIRC. 400 degF or C? either way it's below the dislocation climb temperature for ferrous metals; so while it would help with welding it would not anneal anything. $40 for a seriously damaged vise seems rather high to me unless it was a 100# or up one.

Also they tend to go high at antique stores, last one I bought was US$5 at the scrapyard

eschew regular concrete as it degrades with heat---that's how it's made after all

Actually hitting hot metal as soon as possible is probably the best way to learn the basics. What is not suggested is to attempt things that require the basics as a stepping stone, *without* that stepping stone!

does it weigh around 65 pounds?

tell me is a corvette a better vehicle than a dump truck? Oh yes I'm not going to tell you if it needs to haul 5 tons of gravel or win road races... Wrought iron is great for some things an lousy for others---just like modern mild steel. On the whole WI is a bit harder to learn to forge with. It's greatest utility is for historical reproductions IMNSHO

You don't need it that hot in a solid fuel forge and I have MELTED steel in my propane forge before. Accidentally when I had just relined it but had the regulator set for use with the old messed up liner. Got busy and when I turned around to grab the piece it was a puddle!

Forge welding is one of those things where having a pro work you through it a couple of times really makes a difference. I'm guessing a propane forge since almost all solid fuel forges can get up to welding temps but many propane forges do not; others take a long time to come up to heat so you have to do other stuff for the first hour and then do your welding. How much and what type of insulation does your forge have? How big an opening? Etc.

So sometime between the addition of the stamp and when the company stopped production. Probably about 100 years old +/- a decade or two. Pretty young for an anvil; I still use a William Foster from 1828 at times.

Some of this is practiced skill as well. I have seen Billy Merritt weld at temps I would consider on the low side for forging

Now for a *real* example of creative re-use: in the UK there was a 64' long fence made using captured swords from the battle of Culloden as pickets....(cue agonized screaming...)

In that area US$2-3 a pound is common depending on condition. (If someone has ground or milled the face of it; drop that by 1/2 or more! Welding on it also drops the price...) The serial number can be correlated with a date using "Anvils in America" by Richard Postman.

2300 degF is the temp often referred too but as mentioned "Solid Phase Welding" (cf the book by Tylecote), can occur at almost any temp below melting with enough pressure or cleanliness---see vacuum welding. Galling of bolt threads is a solid phase welding process done at room temp! In general higher carbon steel will weld (and burn!) at lower temps than lower carbon steels so where old zilch carbon wrought iron will do well at a snow ball heat, a high carbon billet will be destroyed at that same heat.

You come back from the scrappy with *less* than you brought?????

Need "Bork Bork Bork" painted on it in runes...

Frosty; So do Birches use Shotokahn?

Running in my shop would probably be more dangerous than standing on the X

*Plaid*

Drawing out woes is a major reason traditionally made tongs were often made with the reins forge welded on.

Sucker rod is good for lots of kinds of tooling you can forge yourself. just not as good for punches and chisels that get buried in the work piece. The high alloy steels like S-7 and H-13 are prefered for those.

It's a Fisher not an Acme (sold by Sears, some were HB's as I recall) you would be totally safe---until you said "beep beep"

His dad can be buried with it.

Texas? He should feel lucky to get half the lower value!