thingmaker3

I've used hand-forged stainless for decades in the kitchen with no post-forging treatment. Goes through the dishwaser after each use. Zero rust.

The purpose of quenching is to make the material either stronger or harder. Stronger means the item can flex a bit furhter before being permanantly deformed. Harder means better resistance to wear. I really don't think I want to be eating those steaks if the turners & forlks have to be hardened. (Try killing the bovines prior to eating them. Life is simpler that way. )

That is an elegant design.

That's a myth, Buster.

They grow on nut-producing trees. Use the straight-grained white wood. The knots & the brown bits are for the fireplace.

I used to have problems with this too. I picked up a bundle of ladies nylon stockings at the thrift store & cut them to fit over my motors. The nylon fabric won't obstruct airflow, but it does keep gunk out of the motors. I keep my buffer wheels well covered when not in use.

Not where I live... :(

Anyone who heat treats mystery steel should read page 12 & 13 of this document: http://www.abana.org/resources/affiliateshare.old/files/ALEX_BEALER_BLACKSMITH_ASSOC/abealer_newsletter_Feb_06%20%28v%2011%29.pdf and when you get 'round to it, read this: http://www.feine-klingen.de/PDFs/verhoeven.pdf

The old Norse had a concept called "Fehu." It translates poorly into English as "gold" or "money." The concept was more like "life stuff you can trade." Fehu is more than money. It is skill and physical effort and emotional effort put into something. It is satisfaction available out of something. When folk say "you could make more money doing x" they are of course correct. But can you make more fehu doing x? Can you make as much? Do what your heart demands of you. Money ain't nothin' but another promise from the government.

Forge-finished stainless is dark, not shiny. Stainless costs more than mild, but not more than mild + primer + paint + painting time. Stainless takes about 3x as much effort to get to shape.

Only good for nuisance dust? My beard filters out that by itself! (With a little help from an N-95, that is...)

I've occasionally wondered if the "red hair" requirement was to allow the urine to age while being collected. Something in the urine breaks down into ammonia over time. Regarding the thin layer of clay over the edge, I remember reading an engineer's analysis of it. It speeds the cooling of the edge due to increased surface area. I'll try to find the article.

Two tests remaining: first, put it in a strong magnetic field and see if it can be temporarily magnetized. If so, you've got ferritic stainless. Next, dunk it in liquid nitrogen & see if a magnet sticks to it when it is really cold. If so, and if you've determined it is not ferritic, you'ved got austenitic stainless. The more important question, of course, is "whatcha gonna make from it?"

"Examining the Young’s Modulus of each of the materials, we find that our experimental value is three orders of magnitude less than the expected value for the material." Somebody needs to teach these kids about "tensile" versus "shear." "The homopolymeric structure of polypropylene is shown to the right." Somebody needs to teach these kids about "right" versus "left." Somebody also needs to teach these kids about the effect of shape on vibration. And the difference made by rubber coating versus no rubber coating. I'd give them an "F." But Harvard is known for making lawyers & doctors - NOT for making engineers.

Ah. Now that makes sense! B)

How many hoops do you expect a Finnish metallurgist to jump through in order to meet AISI/SAE specifications? (Without charging extra for it, that is?)

Metal. It is absolutely, definately metal. Does a magnet stick to it at room temperature? Does a magnet stick to it after you've packed it in dry ice?

Welcome to IFI! Please be nice to Mr Turley.

AISI steels are very rare birds in Finland. EN45 is much more common in Europe.

Plenty of yellow cherries grow around here.

Forget for a moment about grain structure and concnetrate on cracks. Grain structure stays the same. Cracks propagete. You can't uncrack something once it's cracked, unless you weld it back together. Ever try to forge-weld A2? There is NO application I can think of where a crack won't be bad. (I've never made fragmentation grenade casings.) You say you are making a hack. A hack is for use under a power hammer - that's about as "low stress" as an IRS audit during a sloppy divorce. Cracks can be internal - inside where you won't see them. Cracks can be microscopic - little spiderweb crack networks running along the grain boundries. So... maybe you don't have any cracks. Maybe you do. You gonna stick that hack under a power hammer, call it a "low stress application" and cross your fingers? I hope for your spouse's sake your life insurance is up to date. Also, 550F is in the temper embrittlement range for A2. Temper below 400F or above 700F. - Now a question in the hope for some good news: How did you measure your 1700 - 1780 F austinizing temperature? And how long did you soak at temp for the carbides to dissolve? If your answer involves a magnet, you might not have hardened the steel at all: ergo no cracks!

I really like mine. Cuts beautifully and it can't be beat it jeweler type work. BUT if all you plan on doing is rose-bud type work, get a Victor or a Campbell Haussefield instead.

"Watts" are the spec you look for. Look for something at least ten times as powerful as the rice cookers. 20 times as powerful would be better.

Can you pick the culprit out of this linup? link Note: the ratings on that chart are the maximum a plug type can handle - not the voltage or current your welder needs.

Same rules for diffusion apply to both carbon and nitrogen. Effect of temperature is greater for N than for C. Either way, indentation hardness will read higher on a thin part than a thick one.