thingmaker3

Rusting metal deposits on the surface are not rust of the substrate. Sir. And what power wirebrush? Also, what do you consider "improper" alloys around the coasts? The martensitics? I'll agree. But don't most folk forge 304? (Sir?)

I did a similar thing back when with a sch40 pipe as a mandrel. (Nominal 1-1/2" is just shy of 2" dia.) Heat the middle & keep the ends cool. Bend. Done.

:P A meat hod is obviously a hod for carrying meat instead of mortar. One can easily be fabricated by following the methods of work outlined so eloquently in the first post. (Just don't cut your finger-tip off in the kitchen while loading the hod!)

I'm not the best of anybody, but I'll cough up an opinion as quick as the next guy. Stainless will not rust in any environment where you or I can breath & stay healthy. "Forever" is an undefined term in this context.

How long at what temp is needed to get that pesky graphite to dissolve?

Perhaps the blower was supposed to be $50 instead of $500? (Pardon me sir, is this decimal point yours? Someone has misplaced it.) On the Portland Craigslist, a fellow tried for months to sell a "set of swage blocks" for $300. His "swage blocks" were a mismatched bunch of shop press arbor plates.

B) Tell the customer this. Tell them it can be re-carburized for a reasonable fee when the time comes. B)

Okay. I'm either blind or stupid. (Today is Friday? Must be stupid.) What IS a bevel grinding clamp?

Yep! ASTM-65 sez the grade 1 "soft steel" spikes must be 0.08% to 0.16% carbon, and the grade 2 "high carbon" spikes must be 0.26% to 0.34% carbon. They need to fail by bending, not breaking.

I thought they had discontinued it, but (according to the update on their website) Lindsay Books does still carry Harcourt reprints.

Actually, it is the Feds who make these rules, not the states. Law requires an I-9 form. But the employer doesn't get to pick what documents are presented. Prospective employee picks any one from "list A" or any one from both "list B" and "list C." And the employer doesn't get to make any decision about status. So blame the Feds!! What if Ice-pick offers you $50 to use a corner of your shop for boiling up some crack cokane? He'll stay out of your way and won't slow you down. He's just trying to make a better life for himself.

That's NOT a sign of addiction! We need hinges, after all! And some specialty decorative bits for the foundation! Besides, I'll be living in the smithy. Wife says the new place will be too clean for me to be allowed into. B)

For every two spikes my bandsaw chews it's way through, I can hot-cut three. And I'm a slow smith.

Abrasion resistance is only partially dependent on hardness. A big factor is the abrading material. What's the application here? What is the tool and how will it be used?

This happens a couple times per shift in steel mills. Note well that no human was anywhere near the rollers. They expect this to happen & they stay well clear when the steel is rolling.

You want the moisture, ash, sulfur, and volatiles to be as low as you can get them. You want fixed carbon and BTU/lb to be as high as possible. Your coal is not the best, but it should be good enough.

Certainly sounds like some fun can be had with the answers. I'm thinking I might be well off by following a quick reply with a memorized blurb that educates. Example: "What a coincidence! My grandad was a blacksmith too! After all, prior to the second world war almost every farm in America had a forge and anvil. These skills were vital. A blacksmith might be called on to fix a chain, repair a gate, or straighten the axle on a model T" As for staring blankly at the fire, well, um, I do that myself... :unsure:

http://www.ergopro.com/page.html?id=21 The second line "wrist stretches" work well for me. I do them prior to any work where I will be gripping something. And, yeah, relax the grip when working! Gripping hard provides zero benefit.

A very important consideration when choosing steels for a pattern welded blade is their heat-treatment requirements. 1095 and 15N20 have very similar requirements and can be successfully treated together. L6 and O1 are another good pairing, as they have identical requirements.

In another thread, Tom commented: As one who is contemplating spending time working at such events after retirement, I would very much like to know what the more common comments and questions are. Can anyone share some of them?

First off, thanks for the opportunity to go back through Dieter's book! Fatigue does not leave any changes to the structure. Work hardening does. Fatigue takes place within the elastic limit of the material. Work hardening requires us to exceed the elastic limit. Permanent deformation is required for work hardening to take place. Fatigue failure of mild steel requires 100,000 to 1,000,000 cycles at 40 or 50 ksi. Alloy and spring steels require tens of millions of cycles for fatigue failure. Now let's talk about cracks. Microscopic cracks can form in the heat affected zone (HAZ) when welding. (Note the HAZ is not just the bead, but everything near it.) The more carbon in the steel, the more probable a crack will be present in the HAZ upon cooling. When we smack on something with a crack, the crack propagates (gets bigger) by some amount. The amount might be even more microscopic than the crack, but the crack does get bigger. And the bigger it gets, the faster it propagates. Two ways to help prevent cracks in the HAZ: 1) preheat. 2) post-heat. Both are needed. Less work to just use those nifty rivets the folk are talking about.

Work hardening and fatigue are not the same thing. Work hardening can and does change the fatige limit. Whether it increases or decreses the fatigue limit depends on how much work hardening and what kind of steel. I'll re-read the relavent chapter of Dieter's book tonight & try to be a little more clear about this.

I like indian bread! And you've given me an idea, Mr. Turley. I'm going to try out a steak turner with a spatula on the opposite side. Might be a clumsy thing...

pdf version of Harcourt's book (copyright expired) is available here: http://www.wkfinetools.com/tMaking/z_reading/1920-Elementary_Forge_Practice-Harcourt/1920-Elementary_Forge_Practice-Harcourt-ne.pdf

Me: Sure! I'll take $10. Or even $5. But if you want the dinner bell you'll need to give me $15.