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Nice Pugman, sounds like some great deals. Now that I have one I can wait for deals on other ones. Ive scene so far about 4 listed in my area all for 100-200$ and seems to be worse shape they are more pricey they get. Ahh well cant complane.

Thanks Timgunn thats alot of good info. Now I am curious why they say the Zweld is so much better to use in gas forges. The sodium tetraborhate which is I thought another name for borax (not sure of the difference will have to look it up) that makes up 99% of whatever is in it. So essentially they are just different forms of borax. Ill have to do some more research. Thanks guys.

Just a new guy but was wondering could the forge be running to lean, I remember reading something about that but think it caused more scale or something. Just a thought.

Well just like the title says. I would like to start experimenting with doing simple welds and what not as I learn more about forging but also dont want to destroy my forge. It is a propane tank home built guy lined with wool, satanite and itc100. I have scene the Zweld stuff that you can get from blacksmithdepot which is suppose to be good for gas forges but it is expensive. Compared to regular welding borax. I have also heard but not sure that it isnt so much the borax that is bad for the forges but the moisture that is in it. Still a newb and a search didnt really yield the answers I was looking for. Thanks all.

Thats good to hear, figured it was the lowest priced one around here and had all the parts. Didnt think I was ready to make a spring and attachment and what not with my minimal experience. Thanks for the input guys, appreciated.

PIcked this guy up off CL, first time I had scene one local that I wouldnt have to drive 2hrs to pick up and it was $100 which I dont think is great but around where I live any of this stuff fetches a pretty penny or two. Its a 4" vise. Other then that I dont know anything about it, works good, cant find any letters or anything on it, may be some under the paint not sure. Any idea what it is from the overall design by chance. Thanks all, oh and is a general purpose grease good enough for the threads?

No doesnt really matter I suppose. Probably just a bad habit of trying to find info on stuff I find thats older. Anyways right now I wanna try making some hawks and maybe a hammer out of it. I would like to find out if the entire thing is the same metal because then I would cut the T section off the bottom and use that to forge knives and the top rail portion for the hawks and hammers. Atleast this is my grand plans so far, shall see how much they materialize. May also make a small bench top anvil out of a portion of it as well.

If u want to make sure its 5160 and your making knives did you check out Aldos stuff. http://newjerseysteelbaron.com/shop/5160/

Yeah came up with some stuff, seems like it was one of the old steel mills that ended up becoming a part of the US steel conglomeration. I guess it was one of the places that help on the longest for that time era. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/653.html . Sounds like the Illinois steel company is the over all company that made the stuff then South Wks is the actual plant that made it. Kind of curious if thats the date on it or not.

Hey guys picked up a 9ft section of RR track today. Guy had it on his property that use to be a oyster company. Dont know what they used it for but it had been there for a long time. Was curious it says ILLINOIS STEEL COMPANY SOUTH WKS X 1908 on it and I wanted to know is that the date it was produced. Thanks for any info.

Ive been using a 2x42 and finally finished building my NWG this past weekend. I used 3/16 steel pretty much everywhere except for the body which was 1/4" because that was the thickness of the only piece of 4" tubing the local yard had in stock. Its bolted to my work bench and is very sturdy. I went with a 1hp tefc motor because of 120v power and price. Stepping up from the craftsman it is like night and day. So much better. I only have one pulley setup right now but just going with a slower speed and much better motor is so much better. I would continuously bog the craftsman down but have not bogged down the nwg yet. Not a KMG but anyways.

Thats cool oof. I wonder, filling in the space with some kind of softer metal then welding flats on it would increase the weight of the item substantialy. That house sounds interesting.

Yeah ribbon burner, thats what I was trying to say.

Forgot what its called but there is a design for a burner that is basically a square box with a bunch of holes in it that the propane feeds to. They are suppose to work pretty good. May be something to look into as an alternative to make the build a little easier. It is in this forum somewhere.

Thats cool. Wonder what kind of metal it is. Regardless it should work great once you make the proper stand for it.

So could probably make some hawks out of it if I wanted to, just weld in a piece of 1070 or something similar for the cutting edge. Ofcourse cutting it up will be a chore but I am use to that. Joys of free metal, your hands react before your brain has time to think why lol.

It holds up pretty good unless your stabbing it with metal and moving it all over the place. Its actually pretty hard once its fired a couple of times. I like to have that with a brick bottom to sat your work on. I think thats the best of both worlds for my situation.

Yeah that is some cool stuff. Not really setup to make big stuff like that. Alot of cool ideas. Have a few ideas but we will see how easy it is to cut up.

Thats real nice and smooth.

Thanks guys, Rhett I try my best to forge the bevel and tapers in as much as possible but right now with my experience that is rather difficult but I am to get most of it in. Then I take it to the 2x42 to smooth/flatten it out if need be, get the scale stuff off. I will do a rough out on the bevel because to be honest the 2x42 I have the hardest time in the world getting a good grind. Once that is roughed out I switch to files then hand sand to about 250 grit before heat treat. Once heat treated I finished this up 600 grit and hit it on the buffing wheel a little bit. The handle I rough out on the 2x42 but gotta be super careful because that thing will remove a scale pronto, then switch to the foam sanding blocks and other hand sanding items. Thats about it. I do have a no weld grinder in the works, waiting on some belts and need to wire up the motor. Cant wait to try out a more knife specific grinder.

Thanks for the insite guys. Its like a new learning experience both times Ive found anvils. Interesting stuff as I was wondering what date it was made which would be hard to guess but assume its between 1860 and 1910 because of the lip and I am pretty sure the body is wrought and it has a top plate. So the only way to narrow it down more is to find out if it has multiple plates or a single plate on top. Interesting stuff, Ive gotta pick that book up and have a read thru it. Knots the top is not to bad but there is some pitting, I will have to see how it looks and performs after I finish cleaning it up. Thanks again everyone. Oh and wanted to add I did make out some of the numbers on the side where the weight was marked. The hundreds is 1 and the singles is 11 but the middle one is indiscernible. Ill have to get it weighed to figure out how much it actually weighs. I am guessing 170 to 200 just from feel.

Thanks Smith, will get the measurements and look it up. Is this stuff good for anything to make. Just curious if I can repurpose the metal at all.

Well finished up the second guy. Had a little blowout on one of the scales when I was drilling. If I was selling it I would of had to change these guys out but for home its just fine. Even got a little bit of a differential HT line but its hard to see toward the back of the blade. Comments/suggestions always welcome.

Thanks Mac. Looking online it looks like Peter Wrights are wrought iron? I assume I should dress up the edges to keep them from chipping off. Are these still a good anvil if they dont have a steel face to them? Curious as I wont have a chance to use it for a little bit, really liking my other one but its a steel anvil so different critter.

Just curious as I have no idea but was wondering what the big H beams are made out of. I got a big chunk of it but not sure what I can use it for. Its only about 1.5ft long but the H or I is about 10" tall and about 8" wide. Thanks guys.