Chris C

Well, I heated about 8" of the end to non-magnetic and just now put it in the vermiculite. Will leave it until tomorrow when I plan on trying to cut a piece off the end for testing. I've got a guy who is extremely knowledgeable about steel in relationship to forging, knives, etc. Will see if he can help.

Amen to that!

"Better Safe Than Sorry", Frosty. I don't consider that "stop(ping) living".

Be EXTREMELY careful when following advertisements for anvils............or anything for that matter. I had one of those "too good to be true" offers that I finally realized was just a setup for me to show up with $400 cash to be robbed. I got suspicious and contacted the local Sheriff's Department in the town and explained what was going on. After giving the Sheriff the name of the guy, he said he was a felon and had been convicted for just this very thing in the past and it was good I shut down the "deal" when I did or I could have been robbed and harmed. Later, I was talking with a good friend of mine who is a Sheriff's Deputy and she said the next time I do a Craigslist (one of our trading sites in America) give the seller the address of the local police departments parking lot and make the exchange there. They have cameras all around the police station and at least there would be a recorded image of the bad-guy's license plate and pictures of him/her. I've done exactly that since and have felt a whole lot more safe during the transactions. Too many scam artists in our world today.

Nicely tapered. Good Job.

The night Don gave it to me, we put it on an abrasive saw and I've honestly never seen a piece of steel take so long to cut through. Actually overheated and shut down the saw. Luckily it reset and ran again. That's one hard piece of steel. My plan is to put it in the forge and get it white hot............then stick it in my vermiculite bucket and let it cool down over night. Then I'll try and cut a "coin" off the end of it to test.

Oh. Well, what if I cut a piece off of the shaft, harden it and try and break it in the vise. If it hardens up enough to snap before tempering, would that lend credence to it being a drive shaft? Oh, and did you make it to LA's today?

Man, I'm gettin' to the point in life I wouldn't mind picking up a good engine hoist for $50. I even think my little wife would approve of my spending that amount for one. Even picking up that 80# upsetting block and putting it in the back of my truck yesterday was a bit on the edge of what I can dead-lift like that. I can handle 60# bags of grain with little problem, but that extra 20# like to torqued my back. I cleaned the rust off of it today with my r-angle grinder and will have to admit I did it on the floor and not up on my work bench!

Yup, have had that happen already. I had one fall right behind my ear the first time I forged, Frosty. Little bugger burned a nice deep hole that took some time to heal!

Er, uh, I don't think so. If slag can set your coat on fire, it can burn your skin!

I've been considering a thin doe-skin shirt for that very reason, Justin. I had a flannel shirt do that one day while I was Oxy-Acetylene welding back in the 70's. Didn't even know I was on fire because it was just smoldering and I was leaning over. The smoldering material wasn't touching my skin. When I stood up it didn't take me long to get out of my shirt!!!!!

Oh, by the way, Don, I don't know if you caught it or not, but the reason I wanted this upsetting block is I want to make a hammer head out of part of that nice piece of axle you gifted me a year or so ago. So a hammer head is definitely on my list of future (near) projects. So thanks again for the gift.

I just thought "maybe", since it was so large, it was meant to do something "serious" and might be a bit better than your typical DIY store 1/2" rebar.

I was at the scrap yard yesterday and saw a piece of rebar that was about 2 1/2" in diameter and 3 foot long. was tempted to buy it just out of curiosity. I wonder what it might be good for? (in relationship to the blacksmith's world)

Really nice looking forge.

Sorry, but you must have sent someone else the PM. But I just sent you one. By the way, NORTH (SE 55th) is on the top of my picture.

LA'S RECYCLING, 500 SE 55th Street. PM me if you want directions to the bin.

Way more than my old back could handle. They've had this wire bin with a bunch of them in it ever since I started going there. They range is all sizes. I really wanted larger, but when I took this one out of the bin it was the heaviest I could pick up. And it was all I could do to put it on the guy's scales and get it in the back of my truck. (I hain't a spring chicken any more, Don.)

Stopped by the scrap yard on the way home from some errands today. I wasn't looking for anything specific but there was a chunk of steel I'd pulled out of a bin to look at several months ago thinking it would make a great upsetting block but knew I couldn't afford it at the time. I had a little cash in my "stash" envelope, so decided to bring it home. It's 9" in diameter and 4 3/8" tall. Right at 80 pounds. I figure it ought to do a pretty good job for upsetting things.............................and if she happens tosee it, it'll definitely upset my little wife! s

I'll tell you what...............whichever steel the one I used was, it was hard as heck.

Naw, dem's termite holes. Call pest control. Just kidding, of course. JHCC is absolutely right. But as much as I love my anvil, I don't think I would mark it up like that just to prove my chisel/punch was "hard enough".

Well, Frosty, that's quite simple to answer. I like the 1" bearing because it's what I have.

If it were me doing the testing, I'd prefer a 1" ball bearing. Can't tell you anything about the anvil. All I can say is if it's 90kg and has more than a 90% rebound I wouldn't be able to get the money out of my wallet fast enough. I can't see any markings on the anvil, so have no idea what it is.

This thread hasn't been visited by the original poster since March 20, 2019, so you might want to send him a PM>

Good for you, Don. One of these days you'll look up and he won't be there. I wish I'd spent more time with my Dad while he was still alive. Oh, and just flip that cart upside down and weld an angle iron brace along the bottom under those openings. That should reinforce it nicely.