ThomasPowers

No but it can be handy to differentiate stuff you know something about---example: lets say I mix up my precision ground D2 and 1095 barstock. A quick hit on the grinder will sure tell me which is which! Now if I pick up random alloys I would *NOT* want to swear that "this one is this specific alloy and that one is another specific alloy". I've always wanted to make up a simple 3 piece billet of 3 different steels and grind it smooth and give it to a MatSci professor to use in their lab class as a "gotcha"....

1600 degF is rather low for some of the high alloy toolsteels: example D2: "ramp to Austenitizing temperature at 1790F to 1850F" or A2 "Austenitizing temperature 1720F -1760F". And don't even think of the HSS alloys like M2 "Preheat at 1450 F before heating for hardening. Then heat rapidly from 1450 F to 2200 F and hold for 3 to 5 minutes followed by quenching in oil, air or salt bath." Of course it's great for steels like 52100, 1095, 5160, etc. So depending on what you work with the Raytek Raynger MX4+ might suit you fine; or not.

I prefer election signs for basket handles myself, straight wire is easier to bundle up. Picked up a couple after the spring election out here even though I have a gracious plenty already---found an unused box of them at the scrap yard.

http://www.sm-w.com/ Scientific Machining and Welding says they deal with thick metals; what did they tell you when you talked with them about a possible drop or where they source their thick materials?

Note that Super Missileweld Rod will definitely have a noticeable colour difference than the wrought iron if you are trying to keep the piece "original". And, yes, you take it apart clean everything and then rivet to hold in place while heating and welding.

1895 is not "old" for an anvil---they wear like iron!

So you don't really need a london pattern anvil at all---why spend the $$$$$ on one? I suggest you look at what traditional swordmakers in Japan use and go find something like that. There is a good example in National Geographic's "Living Treasures of Japan" that you may be able to request from your local public library if you don't find it online.

As you are just starting out I would say that the coil springs will not be very useful for you and will take up space.

You know with out information on what you want to do with it it's kind of hard to make suggestions...

Staged clean up and assembly can help here. Some items will not do well in a tumbler; but will fit into a bucket of vinegar or HCl *before* they are welded to larger pieces, other will do fine in a tumbler, others would best be sandblasted. Get used to looking at a project and thinking "I'll forge these parts and tumble them and those and acid clean them, weld these sections together and sand blast them and of course prime *ALL* of them as soon as possible!"

What he said! In general the powdered iron that makes this type of flux sticky also tends to blur layers in billets and so not a good idea. Since billet welding is generally one of the easier types of weld to do, most folks don't need "extra help".

Yup; looks likely to come apart on you when you open it up. riveting two parts before welding is mentioned in 100+ year old smithing books and I generally do it for welds when I'm working alone and don't have a third hand to hold stuff.

You'll be surprised at the lack of time you have for smithing for a couple of years! Start acquiring child size PPE and making a "safe" place in the shop for that tyke to watch you as he gets older. Don't push the craft; let them come to it naturally. And of course birth weight is not strongly correlated with adult weight: My 9 pound daughter is about 125# as an adult---she has also asked me to teach her to smith, again, as she is interested in making knives---bwahahahahaha, (though she won't have much time for a while as she's going to Vet school). Big babies are often easier to care for; especially compared to preemies! Congratulations!

I generally pick up bull pins at the fleamarket for my drifts when I can find them for only a couple of bucks.

Just like the Cutler's anvils were set up to take dies to do specialized shapes for their work!

So do you know if this alloy will refine it's grain through thermal cycling or are you growing the grain as you soak it? I generally work with good alloys to start with an not mess with trying to change them on the fly... Note you can turn iron into steel into cast iron levels of carbon by carburization too; if you are not careful.

It's stuff you want to grab and go when you have to "bug out": meds, important papers, cash, for some folks guns and ammo, maybe a MRE or two, etc.

There's a smithing museum in Germany that has a video of a smith forging a hoe---from what looks like 1.5 to 2" sq stock using a drop hammer and a powerhammer---all water powered by the way. even the luft hammer!

Drill sub's are often quite a nice chunk of steel, I've often wondered why more don't show up as anvils for treadle hammers.

Unless you are at absolute zero the atoms in your metal are *always* moving.

Now to get my apprentice to carry me on his back while running though a swamp!

You can also forge braze the pans onto the pricket, or if you are the type that likes that sort of thing you can end the shaft flat and drill and tap it and then forge the top of a bolt to the pricket and screw them together---shudder

My Guess would be after the 1820's and before the 1880's

When I lived in Columbus OH, (1989-2003) I averaged a good name anvil in great condition every year for less than US$1 a pound. Very much the happy hunting grounds for smiths! (My *mint* 515# Fisher was $350 and was found less than 5 miles from my house!) "On the other hand if you look hard enough in the right area you can find stuff laying on the ground too." You mean like Frosty? I'm sure glad *someone* found him when he was laying on the ground!

When you source it form a shop that makes springs and get the drops you can A: find out what they use so you *know* what it is and B: get un-fatigued materials so that any problems you have with it are *yours* and not some unknown prior life of the material. Smaller shops where you can talk with the workers are usually a better bet than "factories".