Canska

Fdisk, are they thin pieces? I've been making a pair of 5160 (spring steel) blades recently, and they (1/8th inch thick) like to warp too. The first one stayed straight after being annealed but warped considerably upon hardening. I normalized it 2 times in a row (heat to critical, air cool), then annealed and it was fine. And it was still straight after hardening. Learning from that, the second blade went much more smoothly with 2 normalizings, annealing, then later hardening and tempering... everything went smoothly. Normalizing is the key! Also, its good to make sure the piece is evenly supported and that both sides cool at the same rate.

That is stunning, beautiful! If you don't mind my asking, how is the butt cap attached?

I've been looking for an effective way to etch for a while. Would that be this blueprint? Has anyone had success with that method? I'd think cutting out the mask/stencil by hand would produce inconsistent results. Can you elaborate on your electroetch machine, please?

KYBOY, how long does it take it to finally get up to speed? I've got a 4"x36" belt sander, its slow to start when its <20F too, but it gets up to full speed in about 10 seconds at most. It seems the belt rollers have grease packed bearings, and when very cold, that grease is thick as mud. Which would explain why it runs fine if the belt is loose, or once the bearings have warmed the grease up enough. I don't think these things were really designed for freezing conditions. :)

I'm a pack rat, I keep all scrap bits. Mild steel bits go in one box. Carbon steel scraps, if I know what type they are, get labeled with masking tape and tossed in another box. Unknown bits have their own box. They're the first place I check when I make anything. Why chop up new stock when an old bit will suffice?

I use a 1000W tripod light. Its not as fast as putting a hot plate on the anvil face, but at close range, they put out a surprising amount of heat.

I've been lurking for a while, reading up on the thousands of interesting posts here. Finally getting around to introducing myself (since the forum keeps nagging me to!) Lets see... many men in my family were iron workers, welders, and mechanics, so I've always had an interest in all things related. Back in 1992, I cobbled a small forge together using a cast iron hibachi, a shop vac, and a few bags of smithing coal. That worked ok, and I was hooked, and started collecting equipment. In 1993, I built my first small propane forge with a large coffee can and castable refractory. Around 1994, I got a section of elevator down pipe and built my current gas forge. Finally in 1999 I bought a very rural property with a 40'x60' machine shed and set up a decent shop. I've gotten pretty good at a few things, I've made some decorative stuff, a lot of hardware for things around 'the farm', a trebuchet (like a catapult), some knives, and most of my smithing tools. Unfortunately I don't have a whole lot of pictures yet, but there are a few on my site, here and here. Nowadays, I'm looking to build a serious coal forge and maybe get a power hammer. I've already learned a lot reading IFI posts here, and look forward to learning a lot more.