odblacksmith

Honestly the intended use would tell us the most as far as how to treat them,depending on what they will be used for and the size of them the answer could vary a lot.4140 is "supposed" to be hardened in oil...but in thick sections can be water quenched...then the application? if they are simple blacksmithing punches they may not need to be hardened at all.

Im up for anything although as has been mentioned the rules and perimeters need to be set up,and as you said one "Roll" per day,And if i understand correctly a "roll" is announcing an attempt at something and the DM informing you if or how successful you were...If you could set us up with some place "neutral" to start off (i just mean not too wet not too dry)and then the desert,rain forest,tundra etc; We would be cookin' with GAS.

Sorry my weekends can be kind of busy from time to time,should have replied sooner i also should have been more clear about "my" shelter from the get go.I was always taught to line a structure with "an arms' length/thickness of leaves and branches from the outside and line the inside/ground with soft evergreens. i was hinting towards the orange tent...but some people wanted to go exploring.I think if we do another one of these there should be a set # of people in the group and a basic layout of how things work(this isn't the usual format but if everyone is on the same page we can be more linear).I REALLY enjoyed this!

So we secure the camp into one large shelter and all begin discussing plans I had assumed since we have had fires going nonstop the skipper and mate knew where we were.We did find an old damaged bright orange tent...

FTB and I did go on our trek yesterday,this morning i ask if anybody wants to go all out and attempt to make a proper axe (in the event we find any timber large enough to float) risking it all on a good strong folded/forge welded axe we find what we need in the pile and get to work.Noticing Thomas getting sluggish we all seem to catch a second wind and wrack our brains to find a way to the next island.People have been monitoring the tides(luckily we have a vast range of skills in our group)I grew up in Michigan so the only bodies of water i have experience with are lakes...

The chopper i made was from a piece of angle iron, hammered flat then two splits put in to wrap back toward the handle and secured with cordage.NO no bear hunting or hunting of any type yet,simply planned on seeing what we can see on our trek.I also have a spear made from day 1 because lets face it if you are in the wood you might as well have a sharp stick...

I decide to tag along with FTB but ask him to wait until i finish forging a primitive axe/chopper in case we run in to anything large that we cannot easily bring back.As we walk off i grumble about how "i like catchin' em more than i like eatin' em" hoping to spot any trails/bedded down areas where red meat might be...

I saw him last he had eaten some berries after he grunted like a neanderthal...

First thing i would be looking for is metal of any type,you did say how long until we would be forging?so Prevenge and I rummage through and find what we can(i assume as Dm you will let us know)we had hoped to scavenge some metal bits and generally useful junk from the piles.We headed back to join the others and get some spears made because i thought i heard someone say bears...

Okay lets give this a try...if we are now on to shelter and fire as well as water,i would look for natural rock formations to build off.For building materials you mention all the trees are fairly small so i would go and grab "sickly" alder saplings(i havent done alot with alder but would assume a dying sapling can be yanked up by most adults).After getting a lean to set up i would gather tinder/twigs to dry for the first fire...as for starting the fire i would guess alder drill on a spruce plank would work(bow drill).then i would look into lining my shelter,the first night or so i would collect rainwater anyway possible and be on the lookout for anything to hold it and sterilize it in (scavenged or made).I dont have a ton of survival experience but was always taught seek/make shelter then make fire and fire and water should both be number 2 on the list because its no good to you if you can drink it. Great topic Frosty!

that looks like the 100lb unit,good for delicate work...

As said above check out some of the threads on simple forges,there are plenty of ways to make them just takes a little scrounging.welcome to the craft

Either i guess,was just in a kinda jokey mood.We all give each other a lot of advice so why not a "Bad back" section.We could discuss titanium and what kind of "lock-tite" the doctor uses.

Is there a thread for that? lol if so my profile could be changed to say "Youngest old man on the site" herniation at s-1 l-5 with stenosis and "total disc collapse?"Going to have a fusion in the next month or so,the neuro i spoke with told me after all this time of doctors telling me to try this or try that they should have just faced the facts 6 months in and sent me for surgery.....baaaah enough of that.People LIFT WITH YOUR LEGS.

I'd have to agree with Gunz on this one but it would depend on the thickness of the steel.id lay them OUTSIDE and run a torch over them (thats why i brought up thickness)use a propane torch if they are thinner,let them cool then use a scrapper,wire wheel,flap disk what ever.Or you could toss them in a big bonfire...

just make sure you put the same hammer in the same spot for the new pic.

Very nice tooling.Looks like fun,its hard to find a sucker...ahem i mean striker where i am located.

It would have likely been casenite/cherry red or some sort of "hardening compound" i use cherry red for certain items.what effect it would have on a knife i have no idea.maybe if the blade was forged very thin it may help.

I've never purchased a pair of tongs but i have made a set of very ugly "wolf jaw" when i was beginning,if i were to make another set i would say to leave plenty of meat in the jaws and fuller in the parallel and perpendicular grooves.When i first tried this i forged the jaws to desired thickness then tried working them into a bottom swage with a cross pein,it worked fine for the first groove but once i tried to put in the second set i got a lot of distortion.I think if i did it again i would work them over a bottom fuller or use a piece of stock to put the shape in.

I like it,looks like just an extra piece of sq tube welded to the stand so when its removed nothing will interfere with your forging.Good design and well executed and a big bonus that it fits on the back of your truck.

All depends on if you can weld or know someone who welds,do NOT discount what Charles has shown in what can be done with a piece of rail you can have an anvil/fuller/horn/hot-cut all from one piece of rail on end if its done correctly.all i was trying to say was a piece of solid round/square probably has the best surface for "beating on things" until you learn the basics.

My only experience with Wrought was a piece of 1.25 square in an L shape i bought from a garage sale thinking it was just mild steel from a piece of machinery.once i got it home i thought "great now i have stock to make bottom tools" I forged it just like you would with a big piece of mild HOT.I was making an "Edge tool/anvil block" and once it hit a certain shade of dull orange splits started to appear,so i went inside googled wrought iron and realized i could go back out and just forge weld it back together...now i have 5-6 bottom tools and 1 top tool made from WI,I can only assume it was pretty well refined due to the fact that it has held up well as tooling.I have little experience with it but Wrought iron was just the mild steel of its day and blacksmiths being blacksmiths worked what they had and made due.

I would just recommend going to a scrap yard that sells to the public or to a machine shop and ask if they have anything they would be willing to sell.If you go to a scrap yard take a 1-2lb ball pein give the piece a tap if it has rebound(even if it dents slightly) there is your new starter anvil.If you go to a machine/fab shop a worker or owner will be more likely to know the type of steel,i would try for 4140 or something that is tough but unhardened,another good suggestion is as Charles said 2'' solid can be found lots of places because nearly everyone has known someone with a truck...once you start looking you will realize whats available to you.Best of luck

My first anvil was a 25lb block of mild steel and trust me that's plenty to learn the basics,read around on the site there is plenty of info on starter anvil/homemade anvils,what you want is depth of rebound(as much steel under your hammer as possible) a 3 inch piece of round steel vertically mounted is better than 12x12x1 mounted horizontal. I wouldn't mess with any ingots associated with George Washington...

Hard to judge dimensions by the pics,but looks like the "C" channel could be part of a base/stand.Again it's hard to judge the size of the rail but it could serve as an anvil possibly.Another thought is if 6 bucks got you this i would go back and spend another 10-20 on stuff the same "size" or larger and you could be doing pretty good. And i think this is the first time i have ever beaten Frosty to this so here goes,if you put your general location on your profile you may meet a member nearby to help you along the way.