matt87

Representing what geogrpahical area? Saskatchwan or Southampton (england) will make a power of difference.

Wow that's beautiful!

No problem Pete! :D

I've read (on here) of people using olive pips and dried herbivore dung. Makes sense I guess; nothing special about charcoal etc. (I use charcoal.) Various oils are useable too (with a suitable burner).

5160 Is suggested here. Also an interesting use of it. MKARMORY.COM (scroll to bottom, click on 'anvil story'.)

I'm a student so I don't earn a penny during my normal 'job'... My bills are paid for my my student loan, which for those who don't know is a state-supplied loan which is index-linked as the only interest. It doesn't get paid back until I earn

What fuel are you planning on burning?

Those vises were made by blacksmiths, ergo it's possible to make new parts for them... just depends how much effort you want to put in! There have been some discussions on making/finding new vise screw parts on here recently, have a search. Here are 2 articles to get you going:
Restoration of Leg Vises Part 1 By James R. Melchor and Peter M. Ross [07/01;S;107f2]
Leg Vise Rebuild

Thanks Ratel10mm!

This article here tells how to wrap a piece of keystock around the male thread, and to forge braze the thread to the screw box. This can be a piece of pipe with suitable modifications to suit your vise. Leg Vise Rebuild

There is a method whereby one rubs cast iron on a mild steel object in the forge, while both are hot. This causes some carbon migration into the mild steel object and thus some case hardening. I believe this is what he is referring to.

Some vehicles have axles designed in two halves, each going to a wheel from the differential. Each of these is a half-shaft.

Ratel10mm, may I ask where you got it from? I've been looking for a reasonably priced cross-pein but I can't find one in this country.

Don't forget what a self-important backdoor, non-elected, legislating body the ATF can be. Shoelace is a machinegun, donchayaknow...

What hand hammers do you use most? Do you prefer ball-pein, cross-pein, straight-pein, diagonal pein? French pattern, German, Swedish, Czech? What weight do you prefer? Do you prefer wood handles or fibreglass?

I'm curious just how thick this angle iron is... a proper hacksaw, a decent blade tensioned properly and a vise will help you cut surprisingly thick iron. Just use proper technique, don't go too fast, and take breaks if neccesary.

I just wonder how they would forge.

Standard blacksmith's answer: get it hot and hit it! Can't realy hurt to try I guess, supposing you observe suitable safety precautions for working an unknown material (full face mask, good ventilation, bucket of sand etc.).

I've used a couple cast steel anvils. Some ring, some don't. I think the quality/clarity and volume of the ring depend upon many factors including the type of steel, and the exact design of the anvil. (My rail iron anvil rings if I don't dampen it. Not sure what steel it is, but I suspect it's a fairly high carbon though annealed.)

right, I know that.. that's not really what I'm asking..

The j shaped peice has a much higher carbon content than the spikes.. my pics will include a picture of the spark test.
I just want to know what alloy it is.

Oops sorry RF, I misread that part of your post! That'll teach me...

I've only used coke in English back-blast forges, and there the fire is normally hot enough to keep clinker melted. If you back the air off for a few minutes though, the clinker solidifies and you can hook it out in one lump using a right-angled poker. It's found just in front of the tuyere and feels very different from coke. Also I've found it sticking to the work when it's hot. Once you see it, you'll know it.

So... it's a gasser? Home-made I'm guessing. I'm also guessing it's forced-air. Mor einformation would be useful :D

The search function is your friend. I've never seen a railroad spike in the flesh, but I know that the HC ones are specced to maximum 30 points carbon and 20 points copper... purely from the number of threads like this! In other words they make good letter openers and such but not a 'real' knife -- one that'll hold much of an edge, though you might be able to get something more useful with a brine quench.

HI there Mullins and welcome to IFI. Probably the best thing you can do to start is scroll to the top of the page and click 'blueprints', and start reading! There are several hundred of these useful articles written by knowledgable persons on a variety of topics from smithing principles, specific projects, tool making, metal casting etc... all available for free!

BTW, it often helps to give advise if we know where you're from; go to the top of this page and click on 'user CP' and give your location. We don't need your exact address, just the country and city or nearest town will do. This isn't a method to track you down, it's just that environmental conditions, local availability of goods and proximity to shops and other metalworkers influence replies.

I don't know if you are interested in forging as well as casting, but usually a heat source for the former is called a forge and the latter a furnace; thought this might help you find the results you want!

Nice. What depth of fire you got there? Have you tried heating metal with it yet?

You could build one of these for much under $1000... http://www.vintageprojects.com/machine-shop/lathe-modelling1.pdf

Not uber-cool CNC or anything -- not even a built-in scale -- but I'm sure it'd be fairly useful. Am considering building it myself.