bigfootnampa

I actually think those were used to cold cut RR rails!  I have one too.  They are fairly common.  

Nice article!  I like it... it gives a glimpse of the spirit of the shop!

The easy way to convert the mass between rounds, squares and bars for basic sizes is to use a table showing the weight per running foot of various sized and shaped steel.  You can google these tables up or they have them on numerous suppliers sites to use in determining shipping weights.  for 1 1/2" diameter material the weight per foot would be about 6 pounds per running foot.  A bar 1/2" X 4" would be about 6.8 pounds per running foot.  

SURE!  Quickly too!  You could clay it though and get good service from it.

Looks interesting!  I probably would have upset the bars rather than welding collars on.  No easy task either way though!  I like the texture that I see so far!  

Okay Swede... you just go pour your wine by hand!  The rest of us are gonna relax and just turn our little crank and ENJOY!

If you are cooking big iron you need a big fire... small irons... small fire!  I control my fire size and shape and the overall heat level by adding damp coal or by sprinkling the edges of my fireball.  I would call my sprinkler essential, though I use it only once in a while on most days!  I use coal and it often has LOTS of dust... which when cooked at the fire edges while wet becomes nice large glowing hunks that can be used to roof a fireball or to spread heat out to heat longer pieces of metal! Without water the dust would just blow up the chimney... WASTED!  By keeping my fireball HOT and concentrated while keeping the edges of my fire cooler I am able to get quick heats just where I am working on the metal... this is a big advantage of coal forging that requires skilled fire control... MUCH HARDER to do without a sprinkler can full of water!  Charcoal is different but has the disadvantage of putting out much more ambient heat (the heat that cooks the SMITH)!  This can be limited a bit by keeping the fireball sized appropriately for the work at hand.  Even barbecue grillmasters keep spray bottles handy to manage their charcoal fires!

Right now 12:30 AM it is -20 degrees here in Missouri!!!  This as cold as we ever had when I grew up in Idaho!  That's NOT wind chill!!!  Straight Fahrenheit temperature!

There are a few really beautiful spear heads on that site!  Incredibly complex and graceful!

The nicely rounded end makes me think it might have been a stake or "stump" anvil for sharpening scythe blades.  It is definitely a "stumper"!  Anyway it is kind of a neat object!

Typically anvils do not require tempering as getting overhard on such large chunks of steel is unlikely.  Anvil hardening is usually done with a water drench tank that is dumped onto the anvil rather quickly.  You'd have to make a special fire designed for the purpose... it seems a bit much to tackle at the stage where you are.  I'd say that you'd be wise to use it as is for now.  4140 is pretty decent steel and will wear pretty toughly even in an unhardened state.  Your plan to mount it in cement is a good one.

With the weights (peas) I see them for around $30-$50 in the antique stores around here.  About $20 without weights.

The old scale is usually called a cotton scale.  They usually had a sliding weight and one or a few counterweights as well.

I am not one who does this process, but those I know who do it use only a small squirt of WD-40… it gasifies to fill the container with fumes, pushing the air out through the small hole doc mentioned.  You seem to be using MUCH more than that!

Yeah most lawnmower blades are 1095 or something very similar!  Crazy?  I think NOT!  There's some pretty cheap steel for you!  Mild steel?  NO, NYET, NADA!!!  

Nick that is also the best looking one I have ever seen... even in pictures!  I really like that design!  Your proportions look superb to me!

I would radius the corners and smooth them up nicely.  If I had made it myself I'd have started with round stock and kept it nicely rounded, at least on the top.  One thing to avoid is any dips or nicks that can cause the tools to snag as they are slid along!  A sharp or even semi-sharp corner tends to let the tools dig in and create a nick.  The tools ought to have nice smooth radii on their corners as well!  Round top rests avoid changing fulcrums that will occur with flattened rest profiles... keeping the tool feed smooth and thus the turning as well!  Radiused corners are second best as they soften any such fulcrum transitions!  This is  nice job though and these can be fairly expensive so I am sure it will be appreciated!  I only offer criticisms for even better results in future!

It's a beautiful rest... though, as a turner, I would prefer a round top profile.  More skill with fire management and possibly a larger forge will allow you to handle the larger stock more easily.  Good tongs are really helpful too, as you know already.

Debarking logs is generally a prep for log building.  Of recent times there has been a renewal of interest in building cottages with bark siding though.  This has created a lively market for the bark itself!  I read about one guy who had numerous crews engaged in harvesting bark for this market.  He sent buyers all over the country to acquire all the antique bark spuds he could get!  They are mostly similar to Frosty's description of a barking slick but usually had a sharp edge on the end and also one or both sides.  Some also have a slight curve forged in them.

I usually quench in oil and then flame temper immediately.  Oil flames at about 600 - 650 degrees fahrenheit.  I dip in my quench oil and flame off several times.  It is not too critical as these medium carbon steels will not have the extreme hardening that you might get with high carbon steels so they are not prone to cracking or bending as much as higher carbon steels are.  You get a nice edge that will sharpen up well and has medium durability with quite good toughness... all good qualities for impact tools like axes and machetes!  

Perhaps not an ideal choice of steel but certainly one that will work just fine!  I have made a number of cutting tools from 4140 and they have all served me well.

Interesting!  I usually use glue only as an overkill reflex.  I depend on the melted resin in the wood as my main glue!  I use all types of wood but will carefully predrill them so that I can melt in successfully without overheating.   In softwoods this can sometimes just be a small starter hole but very dense woods I will taper drill to a near fit before melting in the tangs.  I will only add glue to the end of the socket AFTER I have melted the tang in!  

AWESOME!!!!  You and your brother will be off to Hollywood soon!  I did think that you overheated the tang when hot fitting the handle though... ideally I like it to melt into place rather than burning... any charring weakens the handle socket.  To that end I usually use a small propane/air torch for the purpose and track the time of heating quite closely.  Really a RARE treat, IME, to watch a very well done video of a truly expert smith at his work!  Thank You!!!

The reason for those warnings is that NONE of the fast set epoxies are as effective as MOST of the slower set versions... even from the same manufacturers!  I have used a few medium slow set epoxies that seem quite good... but mostly slower set equals better glue, in epoxies!

I have lately been using the fabric paints to coat the bead heads on my fishing flies and as a convenient head cement too!  I thought I was the first to discover this but I have seen these paints on the desks of some fly shops lately... so the word is getting out!  The rubbery flex and deep penetration of these paints can create a nearly indestructible fly!  I don't consider my flies well designed unless they can be fished all day without problems!