ThomasPowers

I have a slowed down wire wheel---takes a bit longer to use; but is a whole lot safer! If something is heavily scaled I'll try to chemically descale it first and then brush it up on the wheel. Funny thing I was given the double ended 2 slow speeds buffer that I use for the wire wheel. It was designed for the preparation of metallographic samples. While most smiths are really into the "more power!" bit I once worked with a swordmaker who used an *underpowered* buffer on the grounds that if anything went wrong he could stall it out rather than have it sling a meter of sword blade around the shop. Again it took longer but not much if you factor in a major ER visit several times in your career.

There was one in Ohio where the old smith rode the village smithing train to the end and essentially died penniless. They used his anvil as his head stone with his hammer and tongs welded to it. One of the SOFA smiths pledged to replace the hammer handle as needed and did so until the entire thing was stolen.

I'd go with Trenton due to the caplet depression, use of cast base welded to top section and the smoothness of the underside of the heel---Arm&hammer usually you can see the marks form the forging out of the heel on the underside. Also location of serial number.

I have an old, large, all metal Milwaukee, cut some full sized railroad rail into several pieces with it last Sunday without much fuss...

Well if you drop in a piece of sheetmetal into the top that probably would not need more bracing. I was thinking of X cross bracing---top of one leg to bottom of another to give it racking rigidity and I would drill and bolt, thin sheetmetal and my welding don't mix well save for forge welding. Leastways that is what I'm going to do for my cart.

The use of ash for flux has been experimented with by the neo-tribal smiths as I reported.

Grip it where ever you can get a good grip, if you have a narrow jaw twisting wrench---like one made from a ford wrench right under the top works well. Twist it to what ever looks good to YOU, just as you can't tell me what I like, I can't tell you what you will like---however be aware of which side the edge will be on vs full and 1/2 turns so that the top is oriented right WRT the edge. Fast way to put a decent finish on a blade is to buy and use a belt grinder; I'm partial to baders myself. Close off one of the burners and decrease the size of your forges chamber with some soft firebricks or removable kaowool back wall. (putting a valve on the gas pipe to that burner is a simple way to close it down.) Propane gets cold as it goes from a liquid to the gas which is what you burn. Draw too fast and it will get so cold it won't gassify. So you can A set the tank in a larger bucket of *warm water* to keep it happy or be get a bigger tank so it can bleed off more cold without getting too cold or C manifold multiple tanks together. Bleeding the tank is just stupid---wasting gas and increasing danger and makes things worse! I strongly suggest you research safe usage of fuel gasses ASAP!

Should go to a museum so we all can visit it!

As I recall these are kind of flimsy, dropping in a piece of sheet metal and running some cross bracing would probably help a lot. Also the wheels don't do well "off road" so if you will always be on smooth pavement you are ok but expect to have to carry the cart over softer ground. I'm rebuilding a gas grill cart for my forge, replacing it's cheesy wheels with some larger ones with a real axle. Bolting in a steel plate instead of the Al grill piece, etc. Course I'm notoriously cheap...

Who's #5 or #6? My number 2 is several times larger than the new #6's being sold from India. Indicating that the numbering system is not standardized.

One Suggestion: since charcoal starts so easily a stray ember landing in your storage bin can end up with it all burning there as well. I would suggest having some sort of easily removed cover or baffle to make this harder to happen accidentally.

Ahh just heating steel up changes it's structure from BCC to FCC. Body Centered Cubic to Face Centered Cubic.

Smiths are generally very nice when it comes to sharing----I spent part of my Sunday chopping RR rail with an angle grinder; an armourer in the next state had his piece stolen and I said I'd ship him a replacement and then another fellow wanted the remnant. It's going by SCA mail---local fellow going to the Estrella War is hauling them there and then he's going to stop by the encampment and pick up his piece and drop the other one off on his way home next weekend. In return I've received farrier's rasps, Ti scrap, a glorious travel anvil, die springs, etc over the years.

Another steel-wool couple! I get hit up by my wife to make stainless or brass spinning sticks on a regular basis and I make a dandy threading hook using twisted Ni Silver wire and deer antler tines. I don't think I will mention the doffer possibilities to my wife...

Or make a tool rack that swings out from the base on an arm so you can move it out of the ray or even remove it as necessary.

Coke firepots are usually much heavier built than coal firepots. I'd go with one of them if you can.

"is that a new blacksmithing book I haven't seen yet?" No it's a fictional naval series set during the Napoleonic wars. (Very good BTW)

Well what they are worth depends on where they are at, condition, size and how much someone wants them. So if you are in Ohio USA they are worth about 1/2 of what they are out here in NM USA.

Remind me to never try boarding in front of him!

Here in the SW there is a tradition of decorative nails used on doors and furniture called "clavos".

Holy Holers Batman; That sure is a beaut of a beast!

Silica content differs greatly depending on wood species; if your data does not take that into account it is suspect! example: "Data on ash and Silica content of 43 Mexican tropical hardwoods are presented. The highest silica portions were found inPoulsenia armata (1.0–4.7%),Dialium guianense (0.37–1.40%) andDipholis Stevensonii (0.49–0.68%)" Silica content relatively high, ranging from 0.82 to 2.74 percent of the weight of the oven dry wood. Average silica content of the specimens Silica content is often directly proportional to how fast a type of wood dulls cutting tools and has a high correlation on how well a fuel wood it is as silica seems to make for a longer burning wood.

Like you would make any other knife: Pick the correct alloy, Forge to shape, rough grind, heat treat, final grind, hilt, scabbard and only then sharpen. If you need detailed instructions may I suggest you get a good bladesmithing book like "The Complete Bladesmith" rather than depending on short internet posts.

Low to medium carbon, chrome, Ni, Moly...abrasion and impact resistant. Sounds like it would work for tooling that you don't need to forge to shape ("Good weldability"). You may want to compare it to the AR400 and AR500 steels. I find it interesting that it's spec changes with *thickness* rather than going to a different name. I don't think I would buy any new but I might buy scrap if I was offered some in a useful size/shape.

Comments? Yes it's been very wet weather out here lately. (you don't give any hint about what kind of comments you are looking for. Usability?---It's great stuff or lousy stuff depending on *what* *you* are interested in it for! Making "containers", probably good Making knives probably bad Making ornamental stuff probably bad I don't know if forging it changes it's properties or if it requires specialize heat treat afterwards.