bigfootnampa

IME most mower blades have been more high carbon than mid or low carbon.  I generally treat them about like 1090 or 1095.  They do often have alloying elements that give good abrasion resistance... tend to make good blades!  

The two most likely problems I can think of are: continuing to hammer after the metal is too cool or burning the steel.  A picture or two might help us to help you.

Here are some from my collection.  I didn't make any of these and don't have any that I have made with me now.  These are good knives though!  The two on the bottom are made by a smith who goes by the name "neza" on eBay.  He usually has other knives listed and some are really beautiful!  You can look at them for inspiration.  The two larger knives here are roughing knives with about 1 1/2" to 2" blades.  The top knife is by a well known maker and is more of a detail knife.  I make the little scabbards myself.  I prefer very little flex in my carving knives but I carve pretty hard woods most of the time.  You can use a softer and more flexible blade with softer woods and do just fine.  For me, cherry or walnut is about as soft as I usually work, with but many carvers carve pine and basswood almost exclusively.  

Balance is quite unimportant!  What you do want is a nice sized handle to transfer lots of power to the cuts.  Small blades with full sized grippy handles are best for making controlled cuts, even in hardwoods!  Blades should be tempered enough to be resistant to breaking, but harder is better than softer!  Should be very little flex in a short blade like that.  Do not make the spine of the blade very thick though, as thinner blades slice through the wood more easily.  Roundish handles allow more grip options.  I like to round the spines smoothly so that they can cut curved slices more easily and won't leave marks in the woods!  Hidden tang is the most common style and I like it best!

Looks real to me!  I would hustle over there!

http://www.spiralbrushes.com/brush-materials/bronze-wire-brushes/

http://www.use-enco.com/1/3/bronze-hand-wire-brushes

Here are a couple of sources.  Amazon also sells some.  There are many other potential suppliers!  Your Google fu must be weak!  

I learned to turn on a Shopsmith.  I'd advise getting a mini lath like the Nova instead!  When I had a big turning job to do, I bought a nova lathe!  The difference was astounding!!!  High speed steel is ideal for lathe chisels... I would be satisfied that a roughing gouge made from leaf spring would perform reasonably well though!  A piece of black pipe ought to work pretty well as a mandrel to form the u shape needed!  I wouldn't be afraid to free hand such on my anvil top... but I am pretty skilled now.  I'd leave the leaf spring quite thick, as the weight and stiffness are assets for such a tool!  Ideally, I would select one that starts out at a good thickness so that all I'd have to do is form the tang and roll the U shape!

Cast steel and cast iron are different things!  Significantly different properties!

I have some bronze brushes.  Not pure copper but mostly copper.  I like them as the color range is wider and more dark colors are likely. They are significantly more difficult to use as the temp range for good color transfer is much narrower and you need to be really quick to the quench to hold the colors when you do get them.  Generally the sweet temps are quite a bit cooler than with the brass brushes and the narrow range means that you have to work through as it cools!  Overall, lots more effort required but some nice colors can be achieved!

i quite commonly work through several cycles before I get what I want.  Possibly there is less metal transfer than with the brass brushes... so that several cycles results in a thicker "skin" of alloy to create the colors!

The thin heel and shapely horn show this to be a farriers anvil.  It looks to be a decent size though, might serve your purpose.  It has the look of a good anvil but I would want to check the rebound on it before buying.  My first impression is that it looks like a Trenton... but that could be wrong.  Trentons tend to be good anvils that age well.

Beautiful!  I appreciate your elegantly simple style!  The ibex horn is very interesting to look upon!  Each piece that you've posted pictures of has impressed me!  Fantastic work!

Pferd are the best overall value IMO.  I really like the Grobet files too, but pay quite a bit more for them!  Mostly I use used files now.  I sharpen them in a simple vinegar bath and they cut like new ones!  Like two days in vinegar for real dull ones... brushed and flipped twice per day.  Neutralize, rinse, dry and oil immediately!  

Well, yeah... One as nice as this I couldn't bring myself to sharpen for chiseling!  Mostly I save the nicest ones anyway.  I do like the wooden handled screwdrivers for chisels though!  They just feel nicer in my hands!  I think the older ones are better steel as well!

Draw knives are wonderful tools!  IME they are very forgiving to make.  Good steel is best but even something like 4140 ought to make a very serviceable blade!  Various sharpening angles will work.  I have many antique draw knives and most work very nicely with a little tuning up and some handle repairs!  Steels like 1095 or 5160 would be very good choices!  The main design features to pay attention to (IMO) are to make a stiff spine and about a 10" to 12" blade width.  IME shorter blades and blades with much flex are much more difficult to use!

Regarding the die positioning; I have repositioned mine to the opposite diagonal for specific projects.  Usually I can get my work done without having to move them.  You certainly wouldn't want them facing directly frontward!  Then you'd have only a few inches of space to work... before your workpiece jammed against the back of the throat!

Of course copper furniture would fit nicely with pink handles!  Copper patinas on blades would also look nice!  

It is good discipline to hammer with your off hand sometimes!  I have been told that my stronger right side is a problem... affecting proper balance of forces along my spine, among other things.  I do try to mix it up a little... but control is so much better on my right side!  I doubt that you'll find it as much of a problem as you might expect!

A beautiful piece of work!  The chisel at the hilt makes me nervous... Though I can envision it's usefulness!  I LOVE the scales!  Clean, strong, sharp and handsome!  I would think that you could easily sell these as fast as you can make them!

I very rarely use such screwdrivers for their intended purpose these days.  I do pick up quite a few from flea markets though... they make nice chisels for my leatherwork!  At fifty cents to a dollar each and with just a minute on the grinder, they are better quality and vastly cheaper than chisels from the leather stores or woodworking shops!  Most are not nearly as nice as this one though!  They work well as small wood chisels too, for such fiddly work as inletting door latch plates.

Thanks for sharing this!  I got a good feel for this, just by watching you!  I have my grinder set to rotate the opposite direction.  I do like to watch for the foil when I'm grinding edges!  

These are all magnificent!  I do especially love the one with hybrid scales!  The one with gems and the patterned ivory scales is also terrific!

Although I have heard of mower blades that were not good steel... IME they are usually 1095 steel or something very similar!  Which is definitely decent blade stock!

Here's what I do, and it works pretty well.  I put in a wood wedge that is glued as well... then cross wedge with two hand forged metal wedges.  I usually make the metal wedges from 1/4" mild steel rod flattened... sometimes I use small rebar instead.  I hammer the wedges in then use a 4 1/2" grinder with cut-off wheel to trim them flush.  The final and CRITICAL step is to slightly dampen the 1/4" of protruding handle and pound the wedges on in as I mushroom the wooden handle end!  This way the handle is compressed in the socket and the mushrooming prevents any backing of the wedges and retains the head even if there is slight loosening.  A strong and durable system... but I still check and retighten every year or so.  Black smithing is an extreme test of handle joints and vigilance is advisable!

BTW... this system precludes the neat looking sanded flush factory appearance, BUT it keeps the handles quite secure for actual users!

Aha!  I have made rebar axes!  They worked darn good too!  I used one for a few years as an ice axe to chop access holes in the livestock's water troughs through the winters!  It was self-handled and I turned a hook on the pommel to pull the ice plugs out of the holes. Small, thin blade chopped through, even thick ice, very easily!  Much easier and safer than using a commercial axe or hatchet!  I hung it from it's own hook and used it once or twice daily during cold spells!  Small holes just for one animal to drink at a time proved to be good strategy!  I would add fresh water to keep the level reachable.  Buckets from the creek when power was out!  

Beautiful overall!  The reebok horn is magnificent!  I do think the guard is overdone!  As a knife man I find those big guards get in my way!  I know that it's intended mostly for style... but IMHO you could do better!  Impressive work with the pattern and the graceful fuller!