ThomasPowers

As for knife steels I would think that "The Complete Bladesmith, The Master Bladesmith and the Pattern Welded Blade" all by James Hrisoulas would have quite enough info on suggested steels and how they need to be forged! I would start with the first one; still time for it to be a Christmas present if you expedite shipping...

note that EVERY junkyard steel list I have seen has had some major problems based on the fact that suggested materials are often not used in favor of *cheaper* materials---for example their are few if any jackhammer bits made from S7, most are just a plain middle carbon steel. Another one I have personally run into is a low alloy strain hardened leaf spring that could not be quenched hardened! (of course that's 1 in 30+ years of smithing...)

Preheat and postheat to avoid HAZ cracking!

There are several ways to possibly fix the old one: casting a Babbitt liner for the existing screwbox or reaming it out and brazing in sq stock that has been bent around the original screw; or put in a different screw/screwbox Does your program have a lathe and someone who could cut a new interior thread to match the old screw? Or you can find a coarse thread item---like the height adjustor for a scaffold leg and weld up the nut in the screwbox and the thread on the handle. Knowing the vise maker is of no use; no replacement parts out there and if you did find a donor vise the maker wouldn't be of concern as any the appropriate size would be usable. (I have found a couple of vises over the years that had trashed bodies but good screw/screwbox's; however usually it's the other way around.) Often it's easier/cheaper to just find another postvise.

Machinerys Handbook has a fairly concise listing of steel types and suggested uses at least as of the 23rd edition that I have. The ASM handbooks, now close to that proverbial 5' shelf of books, has a more in depth going over but tends to be more esoteric and quite expensive. (I pick up stray volumes whenever I run across them cheap; the heat treating one is my favorite)

Cherish that squat look! It means that the sweet spot on the face is enhanced and the anvil is more suitable for heavy work than the "ethereal" American version of the London Pattern anvil from the late 19th century!

One other aspect: Please besure you are trying to go the right way with anything. I had a friend who had just bought his first powerhammer and had spent several hours trying to pull the lower die wedge before I stopped by and looked it over and told him it went the other way! (Which it did fairly easily...)

How much CO a gas forge puts out depends massively on how it's constructed and tuned; as a bladesmith I tend to tune it rich, (reducing) and so worry about CO a lot---I like to leave both 10'x10' roll up doors full open and they are aligned along the route of the local winds---if the wind starts blowing hammers off the anvil I will lower one half way---maybe (And this is in addition to the open gables and roof ridge opening previously mentioned.) One of the worst things you can do is have your set up where the EXHAUST can be sucked back into the burner's INTAKE this guarantees that the CO levels will spike up. I kind of feel that a gas forge smithy should be sort of like an old powerhammer's lubrication and have "flow through" ventilation. Now we know that people have built forges and used them for decades in basements or even down in mines with no issues; so it can be done. However if you are not sure if you are doing it right---ERR ON THE SIDE OF SAFETY! (or at least *please* tell your next of kin that Thomas Powers would be happy to clean out all that dangerous junk for them. CHEAP!)

I'd assume that a Louisiana bug zapper runs off of 3phase 440 VAC; last time I was even close to there was south east Texas and I remember being warned that when you shot down a mosquito with the 12 gauge you needed to record the FAA number on it and provide it to the Game Warden...

I'd talk with a local smithing group and see if they would like to attempt the re-hardening as a demo at a conference---like SOFA did the re-facing of an anvil by forge welding on a new face at Quad-State a couple of years ago.

The problem being that the shell doesn't expand and contract at the same rate as the firebrick being made from a different material *and* not being heated as much as the interior of the firebrick. It's the thermal cycle that causes most of the problems!

Looks like you need to shape the guard with a curve to it to match the fore end of the grip: could forge a steel or a forgable bronze or even use something like a corian guard that could be rasped to fit. Really hard core would be to sand cast a guard to fit; a bit easier would be to cast pewter in place.

Anvilfire.com => Navigate Anvilfire => 21st Century => Anvils Testing Rebound Says that a PW should be in the 80% range. If your steely is a ball bearing makes a difference as ball bearings are quite hard making the test one of testing the anvil face and not both the ball and the anvil face.

"Its important to remember with gas forges that they put out even more CO and CO2 than a coal or charcoal forge" A bit broad of a statement. I have seen a cigarette lighter used as a gas forge to heat sewing pins to forging temps. I somehow doubt this puts out more CO and CO2 than a charcoal forge burning 10 pounds an hour...But the basic idea is sound---killing yourself and or family members is a bad idea. I have offered the parting toast at Quad-State to one smith who was my friend, Paw Paw Wilson. It is not my wish that *anyone* has to do that for one of their friends. When I lived in Columbus OH, in the old section of town in a 100 year old house; I rigged up a one soft firebrick forge run off a simple plumbers propane torch so I could forge nails for a woodworking project in mid winter. Of course the basement was drafty with coal door, bad windows and a door to the outside as well as the two furnaces with powered exhaust and the vented gas hot water heater. This small forge worked so well I used it to forge fine silver ingot into penannular brooches, small knives, etc and never had any problems with CO and I am aware of the symptoms as I have been exposed at other shops. If I had to put in a reasonable sized gas forge into that basement I would totally shroud it with a positive air system with both intake from the outside and exhaust to the outside. Yes a fuss and a pain but one ER visit can blow away *any* savings one might make by taking shortcuts! My current shop in NM has 10' walls, 14' peak, open gables and the ridgeline is open for 30 feet by about 1' wide Drafty is GOOD!

On the other hand sometimes pritchels are retrofitted to an earlier anvil---usually you can check to see if it was drilled later or punched at time of manufacture---check for a swell on the underside at the base of the pritchel to see if it was punched

The price is good too; I wouldn't suggest a beginner pay tons of money for their starting set up as some folks try smithing and decide it's not for them.

From post #12 in this thread: "I have read that the double lunged bellow came into blacksmithing from goldsmithing and in the 1400's. I'll have to check "Cathedral Forge and Waterwheel, Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages" to see if they list it and "A History of Western Technology" - The MIT Press----"A history of technology from Graeco-Roman times to the twentieth century told through historical writings"" I need to double check that date to make sure I'm not getting the 14th century and the 1400's mixed up (or the author isn't either) Unfortunately today's research time is allocated to rushlights and crucible steel; but I might get that covered if the Dr is late seeing me.

Trust but verify! I've run across several pieces of octagonal; stock that wouldn't harden; enough so that testing a bit is standard before I let a student use on in the forge. One of my hardies was made from a jackhammer slitting bit that had broken a couple of inches from the end. I forged out the broken end to fit the anvil and then forged down the edge a bit as well as I like a sharp hardy rather than a blunt one.

Will the end of the tang open beer bottles?

I often forge old cold chisels into hot tooling with no problem. They just don't work well to go the other way without doing a full heat treat on them.

No my eyes water a lot if exposed to smoke but I have not have problems with them swelling. When I use charcoal I tend to make it in a raised firepit downwind of the forge so I don't have to be around the smoke except for when I move a shovelful of hot coals from the firepit to the forge.

I saw a smith with a set of treadle bellows at a medieval fair in Cologne Germany; I have not seen any examples show in a medieval or renaissance context. There are many examples of the bellows being mounted at a higher level than the firepot often with a system to alternate blowing them with one pole. With the use of coal the possibility of a bellows explosion arises and having the bellows higher helps prevent this.

Ric did you read that they are trying to find a home for Tylecote's sample library? The archeological Metallurgy mailing list had a post on it recently.

As I recall Jock had a lot on locks over at anvilfire.

I have a German book of doors; I'll have to dig it out and post it's name