Steve Sells

IF you wish to know more, have a step by step tutorial on my web site at How we make our Blades

His publisher is/are his parents. they own the company. one reason he got published in the first place. and I do like the series so far.

there have been a few euro blades in laminated styles. Some viking swords had iron cores with outer steels

I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but 4 inch is the min reliable thickness to pour, 2 inches wont last. adding mesh helps but you still should have at least a 4 inch thickness

there are only 2 ways to know for sure, 1) ask manufacturer, and that is assuming they never ran out of stock, and had to use a substitute, to make quota. 2) Lab testing, not cheap, ($200 a test or more) but my old teacher was a Gov't test engineer. He took them to work for testing himself. Its much safer, and easier to buy new steels when we need to know what it is.

just goes to show ya never know what ya got with recycled metals, My lawn mower blades have turned out to be 1080

welcome, glad to have you here IBEW 305

the Reason(s) are multipart, so here goes... 1) Being of Viking blood the Norse myth's seemed fair game to look for forge names. 2) I am a founding member of SCA House LOKI, who is the Norse god of chaos and mischief, and doing many events wanted a name that fit that. 3) I had (now dead after 16 yrs) a half wolf I rescued shortly after birth, her name was Katashi, I wanted to reflect my love of her and wolves in general. Combining these I got Loki's wolf son Fenris. It seems to cover the bases and can make for a fun story at the medieval events I do.

Its the type of insulation that is covering the wire conductor itself. Specifically THHN is a Heat resistant Thermoplastic, that comes with an outer covering of a nylon jacket it its equivalent. This is rated for use in areas not exceeding a temperature of 90C/194F in dry or damp locations. it is either installed in a conduit, or in some conditions supplied already inside of another plastic type covering known as Romex.

welcome, and since my Mothers parents immigrated from Norway, you are not alone :D

you hardened it with the water. it shattered because of stress from the hardening. It takes a min. of 30 points carbon to harden, even tho we recommend more carbon for a knife, 1045 is good for a sword, and it can harden when quenched in water quite well.

16oz IS one pound, 5160H won't rust too fast, and I could do you one for $350 in this, plus shipping to where ever you are, Assuming its legal to send it to you there. You did not state where you are. I won't bother with the holes as they will only add places to hold moisture and cause rust, I do warranty my work. I don't do Stainless, Making this out of stainless isn't the real trouble, as much as heat treat for stainless that will hold an edge will add a hundred or more to the cost, plus the cost of good blade quality SS would make this a very high dollar blade.

Most of the time I thread and use Lock-Tite.

I just built a new forge, a brick side draft. I used my normal chop saw, and bought a brick rated blade (about $15 vs the $20 I pay for a package of the 14 inch diameter metal blades.) to cut them. while I did all the cuts dry, I kept a 5 gal bucket of water at my side to dunk them and keep the brick cool, as the heat build up will crack or chatter them. Worked well. I cut 80 fire brick and a small percentage of the 1000 regular brick with it, I wore out about 3/4 the blade, its till usable. PLus I had the stability and safety of the chop saw that I would not have had with a hand saw.

just a side note, the Old files mentioned were made from F-1 a tool steel that is sadly no longer being made. Which is too bad because it was a wonderful metal for the dark layers in pattern welding. Only got to use it once time.

Just wanted opinions from the welding world, about the bad cables on the cheap buzz box I got. They are small and have bad contacts for ground and the rod's stinger. I just picked up new cables ($20) for the $20 buzz box I got a few days ago. they are from a Lincoln 200 amp arc welder, very good condition, because the box it plugged into was stolen from the back of the truck. anyway the question is should I hard wire these into the Buzz box I have, and the existing wires (very thin wire and Insulation even for the 100 amp box) or spend more money and get the female jacks from Lincoln, and install them in the box? P.S My day job is as a Union Electrician, so I have experience in doing both operations safe and legally. just wondering if I should stop spending money on this and just weld with it :)

Just like anyone else, potty training takes time, also note that the Males have it easier getting to the bucket than the females, Aiming troubles with the ladies dont ya know. My brother raises Morgans, IF ya place a bucket near where they usually "go" you will get some, or you can collect it in the stalls. Use your imagination.

while many acids will remove it, the very nature of what make it stainless causes more chromium oxide to form upon contact with air. What do you want it for may help to advise you...

maybe the axle was a harpoon for a whaler ? And for the record, I forge, cant do total stock removal when I make the pattern welded steel in the first place :)

No one responded in the less than 4 hours of your posting? Sorry we all took so long. (according to the time/date stamp on the postings) Nothing wrong with swordforum, I am a member there as well, its just funny to send a guy away to other places before giving us a chance to try to help. It suggests a lack of faith in IFI.

I agree that John and Chris (M-Brothers and Hammerkid) are the most active here, but since M-Brothers goes back and forth between smithing and selling everything off, I have to place Hammerkid at the lead. HK has been very serious, and active for a while now. HK is always asking how to be better, built some of his own tools, including a forge, and even goes to the trouble of setting up demo's, (making his teacher Uncle Spike work to keep up ) and drives me nuts with his zeal, (but thats a good thing and its a short trip anyway :cool: )