MattBower

Acraglas is pricey but very good.

Pure copper (melting point: 1981 F) and fine silver (1761 F) should not melt at proper hardening temps for a low alloy, medium carbon steel. However, I would worry about the silver and/or copper possibly dissolving in the etch and then plating onto one or more of the other metals.

Usually when people talk about "carbide" -- as in carbide drill bits -- they mean tungsten carbide (WC), and WC is not steel. Period. I doubt you can forge it, and I'm certain it doesn't quench harden. Often WC is just the brazed-on cutting edge of the tool, although there are solid WC bits nowadays. But I'd be extremely surprised if you were able to forge one into a knife. If I had to speculate, I'd guess your bits are some probably kind of high speed steel. Very red hard, difficult to work without destroying them, but at least steel!

I've considered reforging a ball pein hammer to make the handled punch. Do you see any reason that shouldn't work, Brian?

Just to reinforce Thomas's point, this is what happens when you don't heat your ingot mold above the boiling point of water before the pour. (I can't remember if this was previously posted here, or if I saw it on a casting site.) http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=93a_1251647793 Imagine how much more exciting that would've been if it had been 10 or 20 pounds of aluminum, or even cast iron.

The air pipe that feeds your fire.

You don't exactly put the steel in the flame. You bury it in the hot coals. You also need a way to adjust your air blast. I'm not sure I see how you're doing that. Finally, that's a low pressure, high volume blower. I'm not sure it'll overcome the back pressure in your tuyere and push through enough air.

Around 1926. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Village_of_Euclid_v._Ambler_Realty_Co.

Not to take anything away from IFI, but there are other sites specifically devoted to backyard metal casting, where I think you'll probably find more answers to this type of question, faster. I don't know if I'm allowed to post links, but do a little googling.

In order for steel to harden as a result of quenching, it has to be quenched from the austenitic phase. Iron doesn't begin to become austenitic until around 1400 F (or a little hotter or cooler, depending on the alloy). So no, quenching from a typical tempering temperature won't "re-harden" your steel. Tempering the steel and then allowing it to cool to room temperature can sometimes result in a gain in hardness, if the steel contained "retained austenite" -- that is, austenite that didn't kick over to martensite during the quench, as we would like it to. (Tempering can cause retained austenite to transform to martensite. That's why you can sometimes actually gain a little hardness after tempering.) I think that's one reason multiple tempering cycles are sometimes recommended. But AFAIK, retained austenite isn't likely to be a problem with most low alloy steels. (Don't quote me on that.)

Slight thread hijack, but someone recently posted a link here to a site that contains a video of a German swordsmith in Solingten using a good sized old grindestone that looks like it's probably water powered. The grinding starts between 1/3 and 1/2 into the video. Fascinating to watch. The "hockey goalie" shin devices are very interesting. Looks like they mate up with the wooden board that the sword is mounted on to give a consistent bevel angle. http://www.schwertbruecken.de/deutsch/test_video1.htm

It may. In many it probably won't. It's true that the definition of "art" may be ambiguous; however, the regulators hold most of the cards when it comes to resolving those types of ambiguities. It often doesn't pay to try to be too clever. I absolutely second ciladog's recommendation to read the zoning code in detail. But don't stop there. My county has a chapter in the code on zoning. Then there's one on buildings, including the building and building maintenance codes, which might or might not apply to something like this. Then there's a fire prevention and protection code that could be relevant. There's an environmental protection code. (In my county it doesn't contain anything that would affect a blacksmith shop, but it could in yours.) And so on.

My Wilkinson is steel on wrought. I understand there was more than one maker by that name, but given when and where they were made, I doubt any of them were cast.

An important thing to keep in mind here, which I tried to emphasize in my first post, is that there are multiple layers of law that may be relevant. You have to find them all. The fact that there's no zoning problem, for example, doesn't mean there's no problem at all. fbcreative, you have a lot more faith in judges than I do.

I have not tried it, but I'm really not sure that stuff is intended to approach the strength of epoxy. Be interested to hear what results you come up with. Have you tried Acraglas or G-Flex?

Please be really careful. A stone with structural integrity problems can be very dangerous.

The guy who invented the KA75 is Grant Sarver (Naked Anvil), who posts here on IFI. Grant made the KA150 as well, and as far as I know it's basically the same design, but I don't think he ever did the 150s on a production basis.

In addition to the various noise, zoning, fire & safety, and pollution regs that others have mentioned, be aware that even if you comply with all those regs you may still be vulnerable to a civil suit for nuisance or trespass by malconent neighbors. You may also want to investigate how the shop will affect your homeowner insurance, if at all. It'd be a true tragedy to have a fire, then find out that the shop voided your coverage. These definitely are not concerns to be taken lightly.

I recall Larry posting something a while back about pouring Babbit bearings during a rebuild of a KA150. So I'm betting that's a clue. Larry? Macbruce, I would think that any time you put work between the dies that wasn't perfectly flat, or perfectly centered, you'd get some side load.

We have iron makers here at IFI. If all you want is wrought iron to use, making your own probably isn't really economical -- at least if you value your time at all.

Just FYI, most oils are too slow as quenchants to produce much hardness in 1045.

The fact that it was in the chinking may suggest that the cabin owner didn't think he needed a lightning rod.

I thought the soldered-on handle was just something to hold onto while he worked. When he joined the ends of his blank to make the tube, and then again when he fastened on the bottom: it looked like he brazed the with a paste of copper filings and borax. Did I see that right? I've heard of brazing silver using silver filings, so I assume you could do it with copper as well. But it sure sounds tricky -- a lot more so than he made it look!

I can see it both ways -- but ultimately it's the owner's call as far as I'm concerned. They look good. And modifying equipment was a common way to pass the time in the trenches. Some vintage trench art is awesome. I can see some French dogface turning his issue bayonet into a dagger in his spare time, albeit not with the types of materials you see on these pieces.

:rolleyes: :lol: