jmccustomknives

It's a legitamate p/n. I've checked them out. Even has a secondary bevel and been sharpened. That was my first thought that they were seconds or mess ups.

A lady I work with was shopping at a local salvage store when she found a box of 12" Nicholson files for $7. Naturally she bought them as they were a deal. When she got them home and opened them she found they were already ground into knife blades from the factory. For a newb this makes life very easy, just a little work to make a point (I'd still give it a temper in the oven for good measure) and all the work is done. The pn for this one was 07090, there are other sizes available on the net. So far I've only talked her out of one. lol As of yet I don't know what the industrial application of these are, maybe one of you guys do.

I use large saw mill bandsaw blades for my machettes. Since the saw blades are already heat treated and are at a good temper for that kind of tool. A sword is a totally different animal and would benefit from a different steel.

Were you wearing a light colored shirt? Reflecting arc rays will burn your eyes. Always wear safety glasses under your hood, cheap insurance.

I like L-6, although it's no the easiest to get. 5160 is much easier, but you'll have to forge it. Both are very forgiving in heat treat. 1084 is probably going to be the easiest for you to get and heat treat yourself.

Well, I'd say if they will let you have a BBQ pit then a forge is also ok. Noise is the big issue, some people don't like the ringing of an anvil. :angry:

Lol, no such thing as a profit. I'd have to be at $40-50 an hour. Now as a hobby it is self supporting, unlike fishing and hot rodding. ^_^

I am currently working on a RR track anvil. It is the largest RR I've ever came across (3" wide). Let me know if you are interested in this. Also, visit a local forge council meeting. Some of those guys might give a good lead and you probably will get to learn something. Good luck!

I would think you'd go back in the state records. There should be contracts dealing with every aspect of the prisons construction. Where those records are kept, that's going to be fun too. Good luck!

The true moral, if you are on a tight budget: don't buy a new anvil. You'll get better service from a piece of scrap RR then one of those ASO's.

I prefer coal, but for bladesmithing and day to day forgings propane is just so much easier.

Cable, being carbon steel will rust so it's a no go for a trip through the dish washer. I have made kitchen cutlery out of cable (just finished a fillet knife) and you should be prepared for a lot of clean up (grinding). Better to use thin material by stock removal, you save a lot of time. If you don't mind sending your knife to a heat treater then go for stainless. I generally don't like stainless, but in the kitchen it's a very good choice. You should probably practice little on forge welding the cable, it is easy once you get the hang of it but until then it can get frustrating.

The price isn't great, but not bad either. The ringing he said was "muffled" because of the stand. That would concern me. If interested take a ball pein and hammer to test it out. I don't think a stand should effect the ring at all.

I can tell you, it's not L-6. I have never run across any that was nor are there any manufactures that use it. It could be 15n20, 1070ish or some other blend. You'll just have to play with it until you find the right formula. I have obtained from two sources large band saw 10 and 14" tall and who knows how long and it turned out to be almost basic 1070 with a little extra manganese. Good luck.

As with anything, it depends on use and user. Like my anvil a little higher, as a bladesmith it makes it easier to squat down and inspect blade straightness. But a high anvil makes striking with a sledge a little awkward and you can loose some force.

The billet should be at or close to welding temp for twisting. yes, I found out the hard way too. -_-

If you did what they asked then you probably were working them too cold.

I've had to use large coke, took a lot of airflow. Roughly double the airflow that coal requires.

More than likely some one has grandpa's old "anvil" and really doesn't have a clue other than what they see on ebay. <_<

I just recently sold my Northern Tools ASO. When I got it the aso was so soft it would dent and flake so I took some leaf spring from a simi trailer (3/4" thick) and welded it to the top. It didn't work all that well. I built on from a piece of RR track, it was light years better. Later I had a wild hair to weld a top so I removed the spring plat and started topping it with 309 stainless. (preheat the anvil) I didn't have time or inclination to finish the project. The long and short, don't waste your money on junk.

I'll agree with DSW, there's a reason these torches never caught on. For demolition purposes you can't beat the exothermic. For basic cutting, historically speaking, most of my scrap customers have used propane for the lower cost compared to acetylene. The exothermic can chew it's way through anything although it's messy. The only customers I have that use them buy the units for demolition, since they are expensive to operate it would cost a lot compared to propane.

You couldn't give me either one of those. One has a hardy in the sweet spot (if it even has one) the other is a ferriers anvil and not suited for heavy forging. Like anything, you get what you pay for.

Don't get discouraged, it wasn't that long after I found a Kohlwash in a junk store. Took me about 6 months to scrape up the pittly little bit he wanted for it. Couldn't pass it up though. Funny thing is I posted more than once about the find and nobody went to get it.

Seems like the last time I was up in muscles shoels I ran accros one, but that was a while back. I've got a rather large section of RR track, it's accually one of the largest rails I've ever seen. About 8' tall and 3" across and about 2ft long. Weighs in at about 70 as it is. I'm planning on adding a little mass to the sides and making a horn. It ought to make a good starter. Good luck on your hunt, those anvils will turn up in some strange places. It only took me 4 1/2 years to find my fisher.

I've made both. The RR track anvil I had flipped upside down and boxed in the edges. The large forging surface was great, stand and all it weighed 150lbs. Then I made a post anvil from forklift tines. It weighs close to 300lbs. I didn't have room in my shop for both so I had to get rid of lighter one. I miss it. Rebound performance was about the same.