eseemann

Thanks to Frosty I think I am getting my "T" burner working. I need to get a ball valve in place and close off the front and back of the fire box. The photos are show a (I think) 1" pipe, .03" or .035" mig tip at about 10 psi. thanks for all the help.

It was the alignment of the grain that I was foggy on. I had seen a post that someone used repeated thermal cycling to re-shape the grain but the alignment of the gain is the bit I was missing. This is why, from what I have read, the auto makers and other major steel consumers have been able to take steel and use rolling and shaping to make lighter, stronger and more durable everything from cars to cans over the last 150+ years. There is a book series called 1632 where people find them selves needing to make due with what is on hand and that reminded me of the advances in technology such as the rolling of steel. These books are a great read provided you can suspend disbelief (at least I think you may need to) on some things such as a group of very motivated people making the necessary heating and tooling for a rolling mill to roll railroad track in to strips of armor plate with only the resources found in an average sized West Virginia coal mining town (post mine closing in the gone to seed phase of life) and 17th century Central Germany. The mining town is transported (mine and all) to Thuringia where the towns people to what Americans do best, defend their way of life. The United Mine-workers of America vs the Holy Roman Empire! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1632_(novel) read free at the publishers site http://www.baenebooks.com/p-379-1632.aspx

I love that term "good slam from a forging press". Well Done Sir!

Sorry folks, this is one of the examples of me not expressing my self. I know cast steel is, well, steel and there is a reason that we have kept using it for so long and that is it works. What I was thinking was people that want to cast steel swords and knives and cast steel anvils over forged steel anvils. I know that trying to melt and cast steel is a VERY ADVANCED skill and not something that you want to try for the heck of it. One good example is the Lord of the Rings saga. I have seen people post "can you make a sword like in LOTRs?" and the answer is yes-BUT you would not want to. thanks all

Never underestimate the power of the doughnut!

Hello folks, I have been reading posts here and other places where some guy will ask if he can (some how manage) to melt good steel and cast a good (anything). The answer is, for the most part as far as I can recall, that the melting and casting results in the wrong types grain pattern in the steel. So am I correct in my understanding that it is the hot or cold rolling that makes the right grain pattern and there is only so much you can do with hardening and tempering? Just so you know I am about as close to being able to melt and cast steel or iron as I am to turning lead in to gold so this is just me trying to understand. thanks Ernest

Thomas, A Popinjay is a not very complementary way to describe a person that preens and is all fluffy like the bird. Maillemaker, If you only had money for the hilt I think you done good! that is a VERY nice bit of work. Ernest

And there is another reason for them kids to stay the heck off your lawn.

Yup, she wants (at 11 years old) to be a Vet. I am not really a football person but in Alabama that is like not being a person that uses butter or drinks wine in Paris.

Dodge, That makes sense to my simple (work addled) mind. So you can use the Dragon's Breath as a diagnostic tool, that is very neat.

The food first thing in the AM is a good idea also. I would say Roll Tide but my daughter might end up as a War Eagle.

Good Morning All, So how much (if any) Dragon's Breath do you want coming out of the forge?

Another fine ad from Craigslist. You can find good stuff but remeber that not everyone out there knows what they are selling. Has anyone used a 1018/A32 plate like that as a striker before? I would think you would need to grindi out the dents after every use. Maybe it is an ASG, and Anvil shaped Gong!

I am with the Iron Dwarf! On a hot day show up with a Styrofoam cooler full of gator/power/other aid. You can get it at Sams. The Styrofoam cooler is to show you do not want to inconvenience them by having to keep up with the cooler and you are not trying to attach yourself to them by giving a reason to come back. Coming back is not a problem but leaving a cooler you need to come back for can be seen as a manipulation. Like bringing a covered dish that someone needs to wash and bring back. The _____Aid drinks (and water) is sodas are not the best thing (health wise) to drink when working in the hot sun. This shows you care about their health. Show Love=get scrap!

I agree with the box of beer. I went to where a crew of Hispanic builders were putting up a house in Huntsville AL. I had picked up some scrap lumber and though what would Grandpa do, I got a 12 pack of Bud in the bottle ( I think that is high class then the can) and the crew was very happy. Always good to make folks feel some love!

I understand trying to make some money but I think either this person was ripped off and they are trying to make their money back or they are a crook. What do you good folks think? Anvil - Large Heavy Vintage - $500 Anvil - Large Vintage Heavy Duty weighs a lot 56" long 14.5" wide 30" high with wood base attached 500 or Best Offer

Thomas,. I am planning to buy the crucible since it will be one less thing to mess with. I have seen beer and single malt scotch bottles used as flux.

Thomas, What would you use for a Wootz crucible. I have seen one very modern process that the crucible was reusable and another time (the secrets of the viking sword on Nova) where the crucible was disposable. do you have any suggestions on what to use if I wanted to set up a pot to have at the center of a very hot coal or charcoal fire that is set in a pile of hard fire brick and did not need it to be reused? The main thing is I just want to see if I can get it to work at all. I am not looking for a any outcome other than the most basic of successes. thanks

What kind of glass would you use in the casting? Very neat gift idea.

The thing I like about the rail being the top bit is I do not have to heat treat it! I do not think I could get 100 lbs of steel up to non-magnetic for any meaningful time and then I do not have a rushing river handy to quench. There are some very nice chunks of steel there.

Lesvoo I tried something along the same lines and it did not work well the heat was (my case) too small for anything bigger than my one brick forge. Also if you mean to us this with any kind of a pipe make sure the air intake is well clear of the pipe.

Thanks Thomas, I am not looking to do this my self I was just wondering. I have been told that the high carbon content in cast iron absorbs the energy of the hammer blow but I could not reconcile that with the Fisher and Vulcan anvils having so much cast iron but not being branded ASOs. Until I can afford a good anvil I am making do with a RR track chunk. I am about to add some weight in the form of 120 odd lbs of steel plate under the track. The rail section is around 60+ lbs for a total of 180 lbs + stump.

I am working on putting more weight in to my RR track anvil. I found at my local scrap yard 4 sections of steel plate 1"x6"x17" (approx) that weigh about 30 lbs each. I plan to have them under the chunk of rail that weighs about 60 lbs. What do you folks think?

Good Eve all, I was looking at the ASOs that Harbor Freight sells and I was thinking I remembered something about "newer" post 1920's anvils were a cast iron body with a steel plate. Am I mis-remembering or are these also considered ASOs? Thanks

I went to the scrap yard and saw an anvil that looked a good bit like this one (link removed due to owners request) This thing looked like it had been thought the Nam. The guy that owns the place told me it was "dead". The owner calls a hunk of steel dead when it has little or no rebound and a poor ring. He said that it looked like someone had tried to fix the it by welding on the top plate and killed it. I took a sledge (maybe 6-8lb) dropped it from 5" and the rebound was less than my RR Rail that I use now. This yard is in Tennessee and one thing I learned from my Grandpa not to argue with small town scrap yard owners. Bet you are wondering if there is a question here, well here it is. What do you (all) think about an anvil that is mistreated and is now "dead"? Anyone run in to that before? No amount of old busted anvil is worth messing up my relationship with this guy since I got 4 disc furrow blades, about 110+ lbs of bush hog blades and 4 old 15" files (Heller, Simonds and Lenox) for less than $50.00 I do not want to kill the goose the lays the high carbon steel eggs. Just wondered if anyone had re-habed an anvil that had lost it's ring and rebound and how? thanks all