wulfgar

cant ice alone put out roughly 3000psi? well freezing water that is.

thanks guys. glad i asked on here health is always number in my books. and hey daryl, you say you work with diesel engines. a little off topic (or alot) but do you know or know anyone who does know a fair bit about the cummins 5.9?

i havent found anywhere that lists chrome in it. the most common and sought after ones are nickel, gold, silver, platinum, palladium and rhodium. and it is either platinum or palladium that is the real high seller.

So here it goes, I work at an auto wreckers. I have access to alot of catalyc converters. The price of them until about 2 months ago was at record highs. Okay enough random babbling, my question is does anyone know how to or where I could find out on how to smelt and seperate the precious metal out of the cats? Or am I barking up to big of a tree?

im new to blacksmithing as well. and i tried to make a sword right off the bat. not a good idea. it will be much wiser and worth while to even just pound out some random steel to get a feel for your arm, hammer, forge, and steel. but anyways welcome to IFI and good luck ;)

Did you find your anvil on Kijiji Calgary (that lady who had about 10 anvils for sale)?

yes actually it was lol. he has a fair bit of stuff there and i took the best anvil that he had. i might go back one of these days and get some of the melting ladels (i dont know the proper term) that he has too.

lol. thomas ironically i am in the auto industry, so if youd like i could tell you ;)

Yesterday I just went and picked up an anvil. Its roughly 100-105lbs. I cant find a dent, ding or scratch on the thing, its in excellent shape. If its been used it hasn't been used much. I payed $300 for it. Sounds like a reasonable price? Im in Canada as well so Im not sure what the prices are like in the US. My camera is broken right now but I'll try and get some pics up. Thank you for whoever answers.

thank you for the helps everyone. i guess for my next questions...how does one obtain them....i dont need anything large.

i hear the word crucible used alot. can someone explain?

does anyone know where to find smelting pots? or of any books or information on smelting? any help would be greatly appretiated. Thanks.

P.S. i made mine from a brake drum from a semi. i used 2 1/2" pipe for the air tube. to fill the holes for the wheel studs and center hub i took a sheet of steel that was laying around and welded it to the bottom, then i cut a 2 1/2" hole in the plate steel and welded the pipe to it. all i have left is to hook up my hand crank forge blower and make legs for it to stand with.

you cant beat the wreckers my dad fortunately for me owns a large auto wreckers. have almost every type, shape, and size of steel imaginable. if you go to a scrap yard look for exhaust pipe off of a dodge cummins 89-01. they all ran 3". you might be able to find alot more useful thing there too. id suggest finding one and taking a look around ;)

Thank you all for advice and experiences. It helps alot hearing what others have experienced. I think my main problem with getting heat out of it right now is the grate that i built for the bottom is wrong. I cut 1/2" slots about 2" apart from each other and cut them 1" from each end of the slots and the whole width of the piece. All in all I think I am getting WAY to much flow through it and it is not able to centralize and concentrate the air flow into a central point. And it burns fuel like mad.

So I made myself a forge out of a brake drum off of a semi truck. It probably has about a 13-14 inch diameter and roughly is 8 inches deep. Is it to large a forge for smaller knives and such? I'd also like to be able to have a forge that I can use to forge weld with. What are you guys thoughts on it. Any advise on how to make it perform well? I'll try and post pics as soon as I find my camera. Thanks.

Thank you guys so much for your response. That explains and clears up alot of stuff. It also opens new doors for me. I cant wait to get some more stuff build so i can try it out :D

i happen to say this alot on here. im new so please be nice my question is what is "etching"? im also wondering about coloring steel. how can i get different basic colors from a steel, red, blue, green, black etc. and which are possible or not. thank you for your time and help.

I'm still pretty new to blacksmithing and knife-making. Can someone kindly explain how the etching and use of chemicals work? Thank you.

haha thats awesome. i as well have little experience in the arts but am eager to learn. the main reason i was wondering about the vasco wear was to hope to acquire some for future dates. as rare metals are hard to find i wouldnt mind getting them if i ever come across them. while im on the topic and boring you all, is there anything that i should be keeping my eyes open for that would be made of titanium or tungsten? and which would make a better blade?

P.S. thanks for all the help from everyone so far

Yes I'm here to bug you all again Wondering if anyone knows or has any good recommendations on where to go for a course in bladesmithing? I'm in Alberta Canada and I can't find anyone in the area that can help me. At this point I don't really care to how far I may have to travel, just as long as the trip would be worth it.
Again thank you in advance.
Wulfgar.

what are they talking about...PSU?

Hello everyone. My question for the day is, what is vasco wear? Does it have a proper name? Or does anyone know what it was used to make? I have a book written by Jim Hrisoulas about bladesmithing and he names it as one of the strongest steels. I would like to get my hands on some of it but I cant seem to find out what it is or anything that was made of it.
Thank you all for your help[ and input.
Wulfgar.

Todays question! I bet you're all looking forward to what it is Ah but if you have read the title I'm quite sure you know. What I am asking today is what are the do's and don'ts of pounding steel at too cold a temperature? First I better start with my problem. I have been trying to draw out an old leaf spring from a truck to make a sword. The way i have been working it (and please correct me if I am going about it the wrong way) is laying it width up and pounding it into a more square shape instead of flat and rectangular (taking it from 2.5" wide to 1" wide). My forge doesn't seem to put out an excessive amount of heat so I've been working the metal at a bright red almost orange color. I put it back in the fire at a dull red. The problem that arose is the metal seperated. Am I pounding it too cold? Can steel be pounded cold and am I just using too much force? Any other criticism or advice is more then appreciated
Thanks in advance to all who respond.

I'm from Alberta Canada and am new to smithing. Does anyone know if there are any blacksmith guilds in Alberta or any place I can to go to get schooling or courses? Thanks.

Hello again to everyone:) My questions for the day can hopefully be answered. I am pretty new to smithing and my only guidence is a book written by Jim Hrisoulas 'The Complete Bladesmtih.' So what I am wondering is what is RCH? Also what is recommended as the best steel to use for making a functional sword. Would old leaf springs be a good choice? Do the stay strong and hold an edge? Or is there a better choice for steel to use for swords? Lastly, in his book he lists a steel called 'Vasco wear' which is something I've never heard of. Is it easy to obtain and is it good for sword making? Any advice at all is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.