Irish Rover

30,000 pounds?????
I have the pack rat thingy too but My God thats more then my company recycles in a year!
I've got to come over to your house an play!!!

Thanks every one for the ideas.

article:

Steel could be 800 years older than previously thought.

Researchers in West Yorkshire think they have found evidence that steel was produced 800 years earlier than most experts thought possible.
Dr Gerry McDonnell and Ivan Mack from the University of Bradford believe Saxons who lived in England more than 1,000 years ago used the same type of high quality steel that made it famous during the Industrial Revolution.

The ingots were discovered in the ancient buried port of Hamwic, now called Southampton.

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This turns the conventional idea about early iron-making on its head, said Mr McDonnell.
It proves that blacksmiths made high-quality, clean steel a thousand years before Huntsman's developments in Sheffield in the 1740s.
The fist-sized chunk of metal was most likely developed as a small nugget of steel that was would have been made into knives and other tools,

This steel was only probably made in small quantities and was very expensive, added Mr McDonnell.

When the demand for steel increased in the Middle Ages, mass production of poor quality metal forced out the higher-quality product.

Sutton Walls
Catterick, England
Cow Park, Hartfield

One Roman anvil was excavated at Pompeii. Two Roman anvils have also been excavated in England.
The first, from Sutton Walls, weighs 50.5 kg (111 lb). The second, from Stanton Low weighs 23.2 kg (51 lb).
Both contain holes for heading nails or rivets, and it is probable that they were both welded together from a number of pieces of metal weighing about 7 kg.
A wrought iron beam which weighed 250 kg (550 lb) was excavated at Catterick, England, so we know the Romans must have possessed even larger anvils.
Both of these anvils share a similar shape to the Celtic anvil shown at left, with a tapered base presumably intended for mounting into hole in a tree stump.
The carbon content of the Sutton Walls anvil is 0.5%, and the face was hardened to 190 HV (Vickers hardness scale). Similar examples were found at Mainz and Kreimbach in Germany. Both were very similar to the Sutton Walls anvil, but the Mainz anvil had a flat, rather than a tapered base.
An more unusual anvil was found at Cow Park, Hartfield. It consists of an iron plate 600 x 230 x 40 mm resting on two tree trunks. It dates to 50-135 AD and was found at a bloomery furnace site. Presumably it was used for initial forging of the large iron blooms. Bicks, or Beak-irons were also used, but seem to have been rare. An example weighing 20 lb was excavated at Silchester, England. Another was found at Heidenburg, Germany.

Right handed and use the horn on my right.
I have an old 400 lb Wilkinson anvil sitting on a hard wood stump buried 3 feet into the floor, it took me a long time to make up my mind on this one!
Moving that thing is not something I want to do often.
If I need the anvil the other way I simply step around it, the metal ain't gonna cool that fast.

Try hitting up a 4/w drive shop for new or used take off springs, old abused/worn out axles, bumpers, what ever. Most of the time if you talk to a mechanic you can walk away with some good stuff.
You may have to have a $20 in your hand to off set what they would get from the metal scrap guy. (most of the time its kept by the Mech for beer or lunch)

Most Brass melts at around 1600 Fahrenheit or 870 Celsius and most steel at 2300 Fahrenheit -- 1260 Celsius.
There are many grades of brass (due to alloys) that have far different characteristics, but as a rule of thumb those temps are close.
I would think molding sand would be the far and better choice.

I've never thought of using the cut offs as media, neat idea!
For the most part mine gets used too and little is waisted, but where do you guys keep the scrap till the stuff builds up?
I've tried buckets, wooden boxes, and even the back corner of the shop.

No line was needed around here for many years, then Borg was bought by Yaffie (sp?) and every thing came to a screeching halt.
Where I go now its a simple "hey can I look see what you got or for so and so? and where would it be at?"

hmm, you would ask where I'm at .... not sure really, I'm lost in North Oklahoma some where.
Thanks for the suggestion, I updated the info and even asked a question in the shop tricks forum.
Nothing great nor world shaking ... I need more coffee to wake up.

Got a stupid question,

What do you guys do with all the cut offs and scrap bits and pieces around the shop?
In a barrel, a corner in the back, near the door to chuck at the neighbors or do you sell the junk quick before the pile grows and takes over the shop floor?
{I'd need some sort of artillery, catapult or cannon, to chuck things at my neighbors, and they don't hold still either!}

I've seen all kinds of answers to that question but haven't found the best one for me yet.

Gee I feel right at home all ready!!
Thanks for the Welcome. :)

I've been a member for a while now and thought it about time I got around to posting at least once

I'm not new to metal working but I find my self learning something every time I come to this forum!