FERRARIVS

Yeah, Anvilbrand is the only place I found this anvil when I was looking for commentary about it- and the $595 price tag made me think $400 might be fair, but then price doesn't equal value often enough- especially with nothing to compare it to, or any specifics on how good the brand is...

Thanks I appreicate the suggestion, but regrettibly, those are a bit rich for my means- I could afford around $500 but not any more and then only if it's a really good one- and that'd have to include any incidentals such as travel or shipping LOL What would you pay for the GE though? Or is it just not worth considering because it's on the softer side?

LOL Well that's good to know- I wondered if it were a bit high and the face a little soft. What might be a more 'reasonable' value for this one? And of course I'd love to hear anyone else's opinion- the more the better so I can make a well-informed decision. I only want to do this once...

Hi guys, I have the opportunity to upgrade to a really good anvil and have found a 125lb. 'GE' one that's in pretty good shape save for some shallow marks on the face, which I'm sure I can polish out. The seller wants $400 for it. I haven't seen it in person, but assuming it is in good shape (rings true, etc.), is this a decent one to get and is the price actually reasonable? I've searched here and on the 'net and haven't found any information about the brand, unfortunately so have no idea what's thought of it. Any help that you can offer would be most appreciated. Matt Here are some photos of it- the cast markings and the scars on the face (are they okay or bad?)

Ah, okay, thanks guys- I guess I've just been unknowingly avoiding the chance of this happening in the past, but now I'll certainly be more careful.

Hi all, I'm having a bit of a problem that's come out of left field it seems- after nearly 10 months of working with the same steel and forge, suddenly I'm finding pieces here and there are cracking on me and I have no idea why. I forged the majority of this piece and it was fine but then I went and just to show someone worked on the end on the right, not even touching the area that's cracked, and I didn't quench it super hot or anything- yet there are all kinds of cracks in it now and it's ruined. I don't think I did anything different than I always have- any ideas? Thanks in advance. Matt

Hi all, I'm noticing a strange effect just recently that hasn't happened before- I'm getting nasty orange rust forming on pieces right out of my propane forge and I don't know why or if there's a good way to avoid it; I've been using this forge for near on 10 months now and this has only happened in the last month. I'm using the same steels, although the propane source has changed- but just to a different gas station. I suppose it's possible this is actually better than the magnetite scale forming, but I don't know- anyone know what the trouble, if it really is trouble, is? I tried searching, but do you know just how many threads have the word 'rust' in them? Thanks in advance. Matt

That's interesting- I'd have thought the opposite about carbon. And that's a beautiful piece. The blade I'm trying to replicate, however, is a simple Roman weapon that only has high-carbon edges welded to a low carbon body, so I definitely have to work with HC and MS together. Pattern welding will be another project ;)

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. For clarity, I'm fairly new to forging in general, but have got the hang of many of the forming techniqes and I've done some successful welds (a handful). Not long after I posted my question I was able to weld the HC steel I have (1045) to the mild quite well- it's very strong. I hammered it a good deal and didn't break the weld as well. So at least that aspect I know I can do, and actually a variation of the sandwich idea did occur to me at about 0430 on Friday- using two strips of tool steel for each edge rather than just one. Welding one to one side of the mild steel, then flipping and repeating. Similar in effect to the split-and-insert, which I had considered but was concerned would be rather more difficult for me at least, and just the opposite pattern (HC into MS rather than MS into HC) as the 'sandwich'. The main issue it seems I'm left with is holding everything together- it seems tack welds are commonly used by guys for this, so I'll have to rustle up a 110V arc welder...

Yeah, I've heard iron is a whole lot easier when it comes to welding- I wish I could get some LOL Well thus far my experiments have actually been using all mild steel and I still break the weld, so I can't say I'm entirely surprised to hear high carbon steel will probably be more difficult.

Ah, okay, thanks guys- that's the answer then, I just tempered it a bit softer than I should have. I'll give her another go and this time stop at slightly purple edges- thanks much! Matt

I just made my first sword and I've had my forge for about 2 1/2 months- of course I've been working with it a good deal in that time and I did a lot of practice pieces, just trying to get a couple of inches of blade shape- and I watched some great videos on YouTube so I could see how real bladesmiths do it, and that helped a lot with the fine points. My sword turned out wonderfully- almost exactly as I'd wanted it to (a recreation Roman Gladius mainzensis).

Has anyone ever tried making a laminated blade- one with a mild steel core and tool steel edges? Not a Damascene type, but just straight forge welding of three bars with subsequent forging? I can get the welds, but they break under the shear force of shaping. Granted I'm just doing butt joints and clearly they're not ideal and know a 'v' shaped joint will work better, but it's a LOT of work initialy shaping the elements and I'm really hoping someone else has done it successfully and might be able to offer some pointers- my head's hurting from banging it against this particular wall Thanks. Matt

Oh sure, but in this case I saw the stock bar they cut my piece from and it was labelled 1045. I use a large probably 20L bucket full of water and yes, I kept it moving. The face was only just warm when I polished it with emery cloth. But then I did let it go completely blue before I quenched it again (a deep plunge again moving). It was a second attempt though- the first time I quenched more of the length and I wasn't seeing any color change for what seemed like too long a time, so I heated it to cherry again, etc. I didn't normalize it either after forging or between heat treating attempts- perhaps I should have?

Yup, it's 1045 for sure- I bought it from a steel supplier, it's not scrounged material. I quenched it in plain water, not brine or anything and the problem is that it's a bit soft- the edges are rounding (it's a square-faced hammer). Barely purple at the edges is earlier than I stopped the tempering- I waited until the face was fully blue, so certainly softer...

Hi guys, I've done all the searches I can think of and haven't found any direct instructions on easily heat treating 1045 steel without being able to directly measure high temperatures, so can anyone offer any advice on doing it properly sans thermocouple/pyrometer? I've made a hammer and followed the only basic hardening/tempering instructions I did find, which simply said to heat to a nice cherry red, quench 1" or so of the face end, polish quickly and wait for the blue color to develop, then quench fully. Well that didn't work worth a xxxx LOL The specific directions I found call for heating to 1500F then allowing slow cooling, reheating to 1500F then quenching, and lastly heating to 600-1200F (weirdly broad?) with a final slow cooling. Of course I understand what the steps are, but just don't have the means to measure such high temperatures... help! Thanks Matt

Hi guys, I'm just new to both smithing and this forum- but both are proving to be really cool My general interest is producing ancient ironwork- particularly Roman at the moment. Elements of javelins, speartips, etc. and now as of today, sword blades too. Matt