thingmaker3

I've had good results with Johnson's. I try to have the work not hot enough for it to smoke much, & only apply it outdoors. Petroleum products, you know...

I also regularly use it cold on anvil & tools to reduce rust.

Right now, if you search for "Borax," the first return is a 5lb box for about $10.

K-mart has 4# for $4. In the laundry isle.

Would something like a calla lily work? Cut one end with a hacksaw at a 45 on the diamond, then forge out?

Might be a good idea to consult with your local fire marshal or similar authority in advance. Get their input on safety protocols. Some places put a ban on certain types of fires at certain times of year.

Try putting the phrase "broad axe " in parentheses. It works.

Change the dimensions (ie the ratio of neck to beak or beak to head) and you get different kinds of birds

Steve is quite right about the diameters. It is better if they are the same!

That CD sounds like I might need to get it...

Take a nice fat piece of steel, get it up to yellow, lay it at a 45 on one of the edges on your anvil, then pound on it 'till it's a swege.

Here's the old spec most of the knife sites misquote: http://www.worldclas...ikes/spikes.pdf Note it stated minimum rather than maximum carbon content, and that content depended on smelting process.

The current ASTM spec lists 3 "grades" of spike. The beefiest of the three is identical to A36.

How old are your spikes?

The upper roller is longer so that the lower one can clear the pillow blocks. :)

I hate to be the one to break this to ye, John, but the "decahydrate" in "sodium borate decahydrate" means it is not anhydrous. So too the "10 H2O" listed in the MSDS supplied by your vendor's link. http://www.cqconcepts.com/inc/inc_print_sodiumborate.html

The brick chisel does make an adequate top tool.

In years past, when I first got my 50# anvil doorstop, I quickly learned the brick chisel is not stable in the hardie hole. So, no, it don't work as a bottom tool.

"Spring steel" is any steel good for making springs. 5160 and 4140 are good choices. Pretty much any low alloy steel with 35 to 75 points of carbon will work. Plain carbon steels with 70 to 95 points carbon will work. I've read that the 300 series stainless can work.

It's a higher yield strength you're after in a spring.

I have never played with Ti. But...

From the ASM's Metals Handbook, Volume 2, 8th Edition:

"It has been shown that Ti-6 Al4 V sheet should be cooled to 1000F from a solution treating temperature of 1700 F in no more than 1.5 sec to develop maximum strength after aging, and that the delay from the time this material is removed from the furnace until it is water quenched should be limited to about 2 sec."

Recommended solution treatment for bars from the same source is 1650 to 1750 F for 0.5 to 1 hour. For sheet, 1650 to 1725 for 5 to 20 minutes.

Whether a knife would be more like a bar or more like a sheet, I cannot say.

Im not sure of what they RC at, but the "Superquench" does make them harder than water or oil, if my testing method is accurate.............. one quenched in Super quench can scratch one from either water or oil, not very scientific, but was more of a curiosity thing anyway as they are just novelty items, if I remember it I will take one to a shop I order steel from and have them rockwell for me

That actually IS scientific, Nathan. It's just a matter of qualitative versus quantitative.

Grant, I've seen a couple charts in different engineering/metallurgy texts that say 0.3% C can reach 54-55 RC. To me that seems a little hard to believe in the real world (outside of something like H13, with really high alloy content), which is why I hedged my bets a bit.

Alloying elements other than carbon and boron have no effect on how hard the steel can get. They do change the amount of time you have to get there. Also, just because one can get 55Rc at 0.30% carbon (or 60Rc at 0.40%) does not mean one will get it.

Regarding diffusion rates, (whales migrate, carbon diffuses) "Fast" and "slow" don't have any numbers attached to them. Nobody has defined "medium" yet in this thread.

Look up "Fick's Second Law of Diffusion" using your favorite search engine. The diffusion coefficient of carbon in iron is dependent on concentration. Complicated stuff! Not the kind of thing about which we should be tossing absolute statements.

One thing we can indeed state empirically about diffusion rates: plenty of smiths throughout history have welded steel to iron to make serviceable tools.

Did buying a leaf spring cost less than buying steel?

Phil has a good point. I can get 5160 drops from a local spring shop for $0.75 per pound. That's only a quarter more per pound than my local junk yard charges for mystery steel.

Galvy prior to assembly & masking tape to keep paint off the rivets?

Have you looked at the ingredients listed on the side of that box? It would be healthier for you to eat the candles!

I like the candle holder design. Nice curves.

4140 as-quenched Jominy sample (quenched from 1550F) is 60 Rc at 1/4" from end. 50Rc at 1/2" from end. (per ASM's Atlas.) 4160 should be at least as good.

Lot of good information, but always question everything! Even me!

They said to me "Question authority!" I said in response "who are you to tell me what to do?"

Read as much about metallurgy as you can. Compare. Contrast. Decide what writing makes sense and what is just babble. And most important of all: EXPERIMENT FOR YOURSELF!! :D

Coke is to coal as charcoal is to wood, or as whiskey is to beer. :)

Based on some articles I found on boiler materials 700F seems the upper limit of what a "simple" steel can tolerate without being subject to creep deformation (in a boiler application). The material was A106 in one article, but I did not catch the grade of it.

Creep occurs at constant high temperature. Punches or chisels subjected to brief heats would not be susceptable to creep. ;)

Before I welded up my first billet, a seasoned old fellow told me "if you can weld a stack of hacksaw blades together, you can do anything!"

So I dutifully worked at getting a pair of hacksaw blades forge welded together. Took me a few tries. Then I welded up another pair - fewer tries to get this right. Then I worked at welding the two pair into a stack of four.

THEN I found out I was supposed to weld a whole stack at once. So my advise is: weld a whole stack at once.

so in theory it would be a 1:1 ratio overall, but with two reducers? or is that completely eliminating any reducing advantage that you had hoped to achieve in the first place. Something tells me it wouldn't work,

A complicated 1:1 gear ratio would be a little worse than just going without gears. A bit of energy is lost in the gears (turned into heat and noise).

Also can you guys think of any way to set a "stop" or a timed system to do even turns if I want to crank out a lot with a motor?

Add some more gears and something to turn the switch off?

Lastly, will a reducer mean it won't take as much torque (or physical work for me) to turn, or will it be the same amount of work, but seem like less due to it taking smaller bites (turns) out of the piece...

You do the same amount of work, but over a longer period of time. You therefore exert less force and power.

I am thinking a 4 jaw chuck would not hold it well enough, so I'm thinking of broaching several "chucks" to have square holes of different sizes that would be held in place by the reducing shaft.

Four jaw chucks hold pretty well, depending on the individual chuck. They're basically a fancy vice.

I hope your project turns out well. It certainly sounds interesting. You might also want to search for the twister Ric Furrer made. Others here have posted about self made twisters as well.

maybe I am just "nit picking" now too

Another term for "nit picking" is "being precise."

This has turned into a very good thread, everyone!