ThomasPowers

AT the SWABA meeting I traded an old Johnson gas forge mixing box for some swages and a hardy---I did the trade "break even" based on what I had in the box vs what *I* would have paid for the tools. A got a couple top swages that I forged down the eye end with my screwpress to fit in an 1.5" hardy hole as I have 3 anvils with that sized hole and little tooling for them. The bottom swages with smaller shanks I dressed them cold to fit a couple of my other anvils. One of my students just picked up his first anvil a 138# Peter Wright in *GREAT* condition; turns out his grandmother had a couple stashed away...His uncle got first pick and got a larger anvil; but being young and so probably moving around a bit the 138# is just right for him...and FREE to boot!

What's the break down by manhours of using guns and using Drs? Remember: "lies; ***** lies and statistics"...

Yes. Cast iron cannon exploding was a major problem and cause of death for artillerymen. Cannon balls are *supposed* to fragment on hitting something hard to do more damage to folks nearby. Also that Vulcan base was not cast to cannon standards is was cast as a cheap anvil base. The Vulcan I have on my wall of shame has such large casting flaws in it that you could stick pencils in them where the horn broke off. Other Vulcans I have seen or owned had flaws visible too. Ken; Analogy time: take your car out and drive it at 250 mph; I mean it has an engine and wheels just like race cars do right? So it should be safe? If I was choosing an anvil to shoot I would go with a forged steel base if I could get it, then a cast steel base and then a wrought iron base. I would NOT shoot with a cast iron base. Period.

Fisher anvils have a good toolsteel top plate and a cast iron body. As such they are quiet anvils very good for use in suburban (or urban!) smithies. If the face has not been softened in a fire and is in good condition $250 for that anvil would be considered *CHEAP* most places.

Also running steam over hot coke used to be the method they used to produce gas back in gas light days. I've several times had a bit of flame come out of a blower Never saw the need to try to put it out; it dies off quickly on it's own.

Yes but it's hard to do and not very showy.

Some steels even profit from multiple *hardenings*. (special cases of course).

Dang Frosty posted *exactly* what I was going to post! Well shipping it to me in NM would be waaaaay cheaper and I'd never tell your secret.... Beware those sharp edges, you may want to ease them off a bit if you do a lot of forging on the edge.

FN---it was a sort of gedanken experiment to get folks to think about situations where it would be a good idea to case harden. Actually we smiths would be in Hog Heaven if folks used the *best* alloys for stuff instead of the cheapest that will do; we'd save a lot of money on high alloy steels mining the scrap stream!

The soak is done at room temperature, often overnight.

F-N; if I bring you a gear can you apply AR plate to it and get it back in spec? Cheaply? Many things may not need a more expensive alloy but could profit from a little surface hardness. Some things are hard to make in a tougher alloy but could profit from a little surface hardness. In the commercial word *cost* plays a big part in how things get made.

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is a Vulcan---CAST IRON BODY can you say shrapnel!!!!!!!!!!!! Do not use as a SHOOTER! Nitewatchman can you edit your post to remove that suggestion?

Lots of western blades with hamon out there theses days including seaxes. How much it will curve is based on so many different factors it's probably best to say it's indeterminate. Experiment to see what your methods generally produce and work from there---and some pieces will still go wild or refrain from doing so on you!

Once when doing a larger billet than I do normally I used to do one weld a month---at the SOFA meeting so I could use the powerhammer there. Many blademakers will let a billet cool and grind off the surface before cutting and re-stacking to get a better weld. If you treat the steel right there is no problem working it at a punctuated equilibrium.

Back in OH they were cheap and thick on the ground---I finally set a limit of 10 postvises and then when I got a bettter one would sell on one of the others. Never paid more than US$50 and 75% of them were in the $25 range. Then when I got out here to NM what a surprise! I did pick up a couple of large ones for $75 a piece as I had chewed the pile down a bit when moving and as you mentioned one is never enough! I've got 4 mounted right now near the gas forge and expect to put a number more with the coal forge when the shop gets finished and then the one on the welding table and the portable one and... When I was out at Quad-State last year I saw a dozen or so at $40 and took one back to help out NM's lack of vises...(Sold it at our conference) May do that every time I go and have any money and weight allowance left.

build a stand to hold it upside down and use it as a cutting plate!

The normal state of iron is rust. You can use various things to remove what's there---like soaking it totally submerged in vinegar and then scrubbing it down with a hose and wire brush. Which will leave it nice and silver coloured for a few seconds before it starts rusting again. (note won't work well if it's been oiled sometime previously) But if you don't coat it with something it will rust again. Most folks that do anything just take off any loose rust and then paint or oil it. It turns out that, save for the face which will keep clean with regular application of hot steel to it, a non-shiny anvil will work as well as a shiny one and the time spend making it shiny could be used making things with it! A nice dark patina of oiled "moderate clean-up" works well and looks good.

"Just for than - I

I read you loud and clear on the humidity! We're at 80 degF and the humidity is 29% soupy compared to the single digit humidities we sometimes get.

they are used for fencing swords as they break nicely generally with a flat end. (when someone lunges *into* your lunge and your weapon breaks it's *nice* not to have a sharp end impacting them!)

Two Favorites: Powerhammer and screwpress! (Though I must admit that the fan is a close contender in the summer when the wind dies down)

Glen; I have to object to this line: "If grinding off the edges were such a great idea, why then are people asking about rebuilding the edges of older anvil that have become rounded with use?" I believe that *most* of those folks have no idea what they are doing! Should we base our work on the great mass of the clueless just because there are more of them? I will admit that sharp anvil edges were more of a problem back in WI days; but they can still lead to cold shuts if you are not careful. Especially for new folks who do not recognize the danger. The time I need a sharp edge is generally doing the blade to tang transition on knives and so I built a special fuller that actually works better than trying to use the edge and is easier to use to boot! I like the versions where people have radiused the edges in say 4" increments of *different* radii giving you a wide range of possible edges to use (and yes leaving one sharp is a possibility) Of course how sharp is sharp? My large fisher has very nice edges with a slight radius to them; most of my other anvil are quite rounded edge indeed!

You can cast cast iron with chill plates in the mold to get white cast iron which is quite hard indeed! But further heat treat methods will probably only soften it.

So far I have built several propane forges and while they are not as cheap as a solid forge *can* be, I do not consider under US$150 for a complete bottle to hot metal system built of new parts in a SOFA workshop "expensive" Shoot I have books that cost twice as much as that! Using my scrounging abilities I have built several propane forges for the cost of 1 x 2' of kaowool and less than $25 worth of misc stuff.

You might check out the American Bladesmith's Society School in Texarkana to see if they are doing anything too. Just passed through Weatherford last Thursday and Sunday (trip from NM to AR to see the newest grandkids)