Ciaran54

Thanks for the replies, I reckon I could find a huge stump to bolt it to securely, would that likely make it any better? I can get a pair of used forklift tines nearby for £50 -1m long, 10cm wide, 50cm mast Would I need to cut it apart and weld it together, or would you suggest that I put it on its end and into the ground? Then I would probably sell the D2... I live in a rural part of Surrey, in England, quite near to the fire and iron gallery, which is where the founder for the British Artistic Blacksmithing Association lives & works, but I couldn't find any nearby scrapyards to find iron, and anvils either cost a fortune or are too far away... Thanks for all the help, I appreciate it [EDIT:] Ok, I now received the steel, it is about 13kg, and I did the 'ring' tests and the 'rebound' tests, and it has a very high pitched long lasting ring, and rebounds well. I think I will use this rather than buying a fork, seems quite tough also without heat treatment, and I will go with BIGGUNDOCTOR who said that is best. I will also bolt it down and secure it like Vaughn suggested, thanks One last question though, why do people always say to use the scrap metal on its smallest face, surely if you put it on wood having a smaller surface area would mean the force is more compressed on the wood so the wood compresses more, absorbing more of the force? just wondering...

Hello iForgeIron forums I am in the process of starting a back garden blacksmithing area so I can take up blacksmithing as a hobby. I didn't really want to splash out on a huge expensive anvil right away so I bought a [175mm x 173mm x 52mm] piece of D2 steel from eBay to use. It is an offcut from a larger piece but is new. I was just wondering, would I be able to use this without heat treating it in any way (at least for a few months before I decide to get something better) or would it really be much better to heat treat it to prevent it cracking or deforming. Heat treating d2, especially at this size seems like something I would need to pay someone with better equipment to do... I don't think deforming would be that much of a problem for basic hobby use for me to start with, but there are so many different people who say so many different things about the toughness of D2 not being so good or being fine. I was wondering whether anyone here could help answer my query? I hope this is the correct section to post in, Thanks in advance - Ciaran54