basher

german and Uk anvil prices are up a little but still half to a 3rd of what they cost in the USA, french anvils are really cheap....people doing business. they are not going to go off so maney to be made...

Its quite an incedible thing. A really well thought out system. The depth incerments is just genious. Blacksmithing is one of those crafts where much of it is just exactly the same as it has been for 1000 years  most of it...(power hammers since 9th century, Ive used a 15th century one...) but this is just great.

their flat plattens and wheels are of a very good quality as well.

bite his hand off, that big canvas wheel alone would cost 2 to 3 times the asking price. they are the rolls royce of grinders nothing better out there.

I would not be at all surprised if the steel face has been completely milled from the anvil, the flat top of the bic makes me think a lot has been removed.

there is very little one cant do with a power hammer (the rite power hammer) given some ingenuity and tooling. I do 90 % of my own forging on one and could most probably make that 100% with some time spent on tooling.

I happily draw small knife tangs on a 110lb sahinla . below about 4mm by 2mm things get a bit tricky.

standard motor for weight is 5hp per 100WT at normal speed, with a mechanical you can get away with less.

most of these alterations will require more power.....

I think you could try everything you mentioned. but of the lot of them increasing the travel would be my first move as the ram does not seem to be moving that much.

I have many anvils in all sorts of weights up to 900lb,  I use 100kg anvils most (225lb) a little bigger or a little smaller is just fine, much smaller and I can feel it (i notice that sub 150lb anvils are too small for my work). all my really big anvils have gon into storage as they are awkward to use in the space I have...

I have used powderd plumbago graphite in water which coats and cools punches (the graphite floats on the top of the water.). the farrier punch lube has citronella candles as a carrier. I now use a low smoke press tooling lube which is good. it all works well and better than coke dust.

John nicolson of massey  power hammers has a 100 wt pilkington or alldays for sale...he also sells anyang presses which are quite amazing. I have just bought one! I also have an older pilkington for sale.

1000lb + are quite rare , loads of 700's and 800's out there...I have a 900 a couple of 800's and a few 700"s.

 I used to have an 800 and then 900 as my main forging anvil but it was too big for my forging space so now use smaller anvils.

I have just finished up some kitchen knives. The posh one with silver and saxon patternweld was a commission . the others are ones I just finished

There is no basic progression to follow and no need to start with blcaksmithing before forging blades. They are just different similar things and both take time to learn.

rockstar.esq..... I read your posts and normally I have no idea what you are on about ....a different language, or a diferent world ...But I do read them! This one makes more sense to me and mirrors the conversation I have had again and again recently with other smiths (self employed mainly) .

 That is the trick of balancing purpose (the main drive for most of us) with profit ( the thing that enables us to carry on). I have no faith in potential having been false sold it  numerous times.

When you start purpose is cheap and profit is hard won, you can bask in a self indulgent work rich slavery that glows with self respect and achievement , normally at the cost of (or at least in opposition to) profit.....and if you survive you will start making profit . The point will come when you are enslaved to it and have to work a personal value of you'r own satisfaction in the work.......and these things will battle and if you are lucky they will find peace together..

 trying to do the work you love and make money...Having your Cake and eating it.

Using a gas axe (oxy propane Torch) is the best way of controlling the twists and the only way to get them really flowing into one another by leaving a controlled amount of heat in the previous twist that is very slightly untwisted by the action of the next twist done in the opposite direction.

If you are running a 3 phaze to 3 phaze inverter it does not make too much diference as the VFD will run both but single phaze to 3 phaze needs to de wired in delta at the motor....sounds to me like this could be the problem... (as I have had similar issues) but just a guess.

Dan is your motor wired in star or delta? 

I think EN45 does not have a direct equivalent steel the closest I have found is 6150 (though not exactly the same).

Its not at all like 1045 which has a close UK match with EN8.

As Tim mentions above the austenising temp is 100C higher than most plain carbon steels. this also seems to make this material prone to a thicker than normal layer of decarb.

 I normalise and harden at 900C

I have used this material for big knives and swords with good results as well as crossbow prods, I have found a temper of 250C to give good results for swords , 430C for springs.

If you are looking for carbon steel furnival steel in chesterfield  phone Andy , great to deal with sells 15n20 , en42, En42J, cs80, cs90 en9 en8 and loads more. Steel is sold in industrial lengths so do not expect to get small pieces , 5m and 7m bars and 1m sheets…

start to think of steel by weight, my last order cost between £2.50 and £6.50 a kilo depending on grade.

generally the cost goes down dramatically as the quantity goes up.

you can poke the tang through and then bend it over a copper washer, or peen it (rivet it) over a washer or if you are using a handle with a ferrule just jam it into the handle.

 re tempering , you will get much better results from a kitchen oven than any torch, forge or other un regulated heat source., temper colours are not a very exact way of tempering steel)....canola oil  (rape seed in the UK) works well as a quenchant .

alas there is no such entity as an assoc.....we have tried.....and it was tried again 20 years before....As I understand it the input stage is now passed and a lot of us gave input...and the GOV has confirmed that they are going ahead with passing the law. The same thing happened with the curved sword ban which  passed anyway despite most parties including the police deeming it unworkable.

I am hoping there is a sensible work around to allow people who are over 18 to still purchase knives ( with a suitable ID check to confirm age ....as I have been doing since I started ) and have them sent somewhere at least close to them. If not then a lot of us  makers are in trouble. In an amazon  world where people expect to have stuff at their dorstep now, I fear it will have a large impact on makers sales even if there is some kind of work around.....

 Fingers crossed. I am glad that I also run classes as well as Make and sell stuff!

definitely not...trying to forge the complicated geometry of a seax is anything but simple and requires a pretty strict set of procedures to get the shape.....It wont happen by happy accident.