quint

Thanks for the input guys. Judson I am pretty leery when it comes to that stuff. This chain has the black paint they use on some of them and it had quiet a bit of surface rust. Still caution is a paramount plan. Elemental its hard to tell. I am pretty sure its newer stuff and not really old. The chain itself almost looks like a forged lap weld but hard to verify. I cant see a big weld like what you would expect for a electrical type weld on something this size. Now the center bar, it is definately electrical welded on one side and pressed on the other. I did a ton of searching trying to find stuff out but its really hard, apparently the chinese dont follow all the alloys that are commonly used so you cant compare theres with any of the world wide standards atleast that I could tell. Everything I saw on current stuff for this size ranged from some kind of medium carbon alloy to some kind of simple stainless alloys. This makes me wonder because of the A313 testing standard which as mentioned is for stainless wire so there could be a possibility of it being some kind of simple stainless. However not sure because I know the simpler stainless alloys can and will lightly rust in adverse conditions but not sure of how much.

Thanks John, thats about as far as I got with anything. Mark the material itself is 1.5" diameter, the entire link is probably 8" or so long (would have to measure). Thanks NJanvilguy

Hey guys so a little while back I came across some large anchor chain. Its 1.5" diameter. Thought maybe it could be wrought so brought it home. Well its not, way to new. I got some information off one link. It says 1 1/2in (the size), 14J China (origin I imagine), set of numbers CH53341-C (no idea what this is), and then there is a small iron cross followed by A313 (assume thats the testing standard but dont know). Would anyone that has any experience on this have any insight to possibly what its made of. Spent several hours on the internet with no luck. I did cut a piece off and forged it a little bit then dunked it in water, hardened up some. I tested it at about 55HRC, this was just a heat to bright red and quench. It was still pretty warm when I pulled it out of the quench as it was a thick piece. Anyways thanks for any input on this.

You can make light boxes out of alot of cheap stuff or repurpose things. A tupperware storage bin, the ones that are almost clear with a slight haze can work. I have made a frame out of pvc pipe and wrapped tracing paper around it. Ya could take and make a frame and cover it in tracing paper or even plastic sheet that is almost see thru and place that between a shop light and the blade setup with the proper background. These things may not be perfect but can really help.

Looks pretty darn cool. Gives me even more things I need to try out. Good job.

Nice little anvil. Not sure if taking a little off the face of these is as much of a concern since they dont have a thin top plate but I could be wrong. Only issue I could see if how deep the hardened part goes. Cant help ya with the date. Mine has it stamped on the side.

Congrats. I will get one of those eventually. I made a NWG about a year ago and it is so much better then the craftsman I was using previously. Really like that stand you made for it as well. Gives me some ideas for what I should make for mine.

Ive been thinking about this thread for a little while. I have three anvils. A HB, PW, and a sodofors. The HB and Sodofors are both very hard anvils. They will probably chip before they dent. Now the PW which is a little more beat up and probably scene alot more use has decent hardness toward the front and back but the middle where your always striking is soft as mild steel almost. Any sort of miss hit leaves a mark or dent. Easily worked out but still always a thought. I was wondering if maybe since these guys have welded tool steel tops that it had just been warn thru over time and thus I was getting into the softer metal underneath. Not really sure as even where I can see the line it is less then 1/8" I think (hard to tell). It only has about 60% rebound but is very quiet. Would like to use it but afraid of causing more damage. Been thinking of having it repaired when I get the time money to maybe bring another 100 years of use out of it but not sure.

Something I do which alot recommend is use apiece of angle iron or similar. Strong enough not to bend at tempering heat. Temper the blade with it attached to the angle iron raised by some pennies or some kind of shim. I use pennies or those new dollars or something. Use one of those little twist clamps. Bend the blade in the opposite direction of the bend, I usually go a little over then when its been at tempering temp (400f or above) I take it out still attached and dunk it in sink full of water. This will help set it. Is only one way of doing it, there are many others.

Good looking anvils. I like the large area under the sweat spot.

Forgot to post these over here. Figured since I couldnt find much if any info for this guy online that these videos may help anyone who ends up getting one like this and is looking for information on it. Videos arent the best but wanted to show what I did to get it working and its general operation. Couple things, I did grab it a few times and used the arms to help me move it, shouldnt do that. I didnt put alot of weight on them but still should just use the body to move it. Also dont drive the one V shaped shaft out, just push down on the top lever if you want it to slide out freely. Hope this helps anyone by chance you find yourself getting a hardness tester from the 20's or early 30's.

Amazing anvil. Do with it what you will but I would try and pass it on and take the best of care of it. Ive got a 200lb sodofors which was the first anvil I got and will be the last to leave.

Got it figured out. One of the guide bushing assembly thing for the plunger rod was stuck. I didnt realize it was suppose to be free floating (no experience with these). Got it freed up and everything cleaned again. Works great now, just waiting on my test block.

Thanks Biggun. Ive got the procedure down. I ordered a test block off of MSC. Hopefully be here soon. Still trying to figure out where my problem is with it. When testing a piece of stock like 15n20 annealed, I set the preload like you were saying (3 revolutions), release the lever so it goes thru its rotation. Then once the needle has stopped I pull the lever back to release the weights. The needle only moves about 3 HRC, basically it will read everything in the 94 to 98hrc range. Tried a few different hardness metals. Could be the indenter as well but it looks pretty good actually.

Very nicely done. Great work on the fittings and everything all together.

I am up here in the Bremerton area. Not too far.

Looking for anyone with any experience with these hardness testers. Cant find much if any info online. I picked up one its very old. Any input on setting it up and what not would be very helpful. I went thru the whole thing and cleaned it up (pics are previous to that) and everything operates smooth. I found instructions on how to do the actual hardness test which is simple enough. There are just some things on dialing it in that I am not finding anywhere. Thanks. Oh also if anyone had a manual for this particular one that would be super helpful. Patrice on another forum hooked me up with a manual but its a newer model, still helpful but not all the points are the same.

Thats nice on many accounts. The chipping isnt that bad and could easily be rounded a touch. Looks new other wise. Up in my pars that thing would probably go for closer to $4 a lb. Funny I grew up in oak run and lived down in redding for a while. Left when I turned 18 but nice place to grow up for the most part. Well except for the summers, 115f is to hot for my blood.

Aldo the steel baron sells most of the good quality knife steels, is great to work with, and sells quality steel. I am not sure of anything he doesnt have that you will need except maybe some wrought iron for the outer layers.

That would be nice to have, great score. I would love to have one in the 250 to 350 size range.

Very nice, like it alot.

Hey guys recently finished this little guy. Its forged from W1 round, differential HT. I ground this one clean. Used some redwood stabilized and wrapped the front in brown died hemp string and then natural hemp string and epoxied it. The string works really well for a front grip but I wasnt too pleased with how it worked out as far as looks go. Next one I will have to play with it a bit. Alright though since its gonna be my new leather trimmer for detail work. Hope you all like.

Good looking setup. Has kind of a old hunter style to it.

Sounds great, nice getting good feedback. Good looking blades.

I just used my ferric chloride solution. Vinegar works as well for removing scale just takes longer.