Charlotte

After some reflection  Steve it is highly unlikely that he has anything other than an alloy.    At a guess I'd say he has something like an like a piece of M2 which is cobalt/chrome and a little Iron if I recall.  Cobalt is also found in high grade magnets and use in nuclear plants .  General smiting would be the place.   

I've forged H-13 and from looking at the PDF file above  I notice there is a similarity in the forging conditions for H-13 and the cobalt alloys shown.   There is a very narrow range of conditions that permit forging.  Too cold and it doesn't move.  Too Hot and it cracks and crumbles.    Forging conditions would be right at welding temperatures for high carbon steels.

Hmm,  Should not have bothered you with that kind of opening.  What was in shed before?     Have a doctor check you out and have fasting blood test.  Sounds like there is more going on.   Is this a new forge?  Is there any zinc or coated sheet metal in your forge?     Worries me!

your results are surprising but very interesting.  I have often wondered if things were actually as hard as common conversation supposed.   The results for the drill bits kind of explain why I have had to invest in cobalt bits as my go to. 

Short answer they melt or they fall apart or both.

Soft brick is insulating fire brick.  Hard brick is solid, heavy, and had the insulating ability of an open window.    The use of hard brick is one, wearing surface, two, heat retention, three heat storage.    Takes a lot of gas to heat hard brick but once it is hot it reradiates the heat and keeps a more even temperature.  Hard brick is used in commercial furnaces/forges because they don't need to worry about the fuel cost just speed and convenience of a hot forge all the time.

Hobby and Individual business men find a smaller  well insulated gas forge more suited to their resources   I personally find that solid fuel forges are more useful for ornamental items whitch often are three dimensional and don't fit in a  normal gas forge..

Fantastic!  Hard to say not to use it but it might go to a museum  or for a collector!  Great find!    Actually, I'd be a little concerned about the windings of the motor and the other insulation on the electrics.  They often break down with age.    OTOH I would make a great conversation piece for your fairs.! 

I'm a little more rust preventative but then I live in an area where humidity below 60% is news!   Have days during the spring and fall where the dew point is higher that surface of any metal not in direct sunlight.   Had days at work where the floor of an elevated warehouse would say damp from 7 am to 5 pm. I've compared going out side on a summer morning to being greeted by the breath of a very large and over friendly dog. 

Linseed oil for short term Idle on metal like shovel blades.   LPS 3 ( a heavy nasty thick coating) for long term.  3 in 1 rag handy in reach to wipe any bright metal at the end of day.  (saw blades, punches etc).  Boiled linseed on wood any time.   veg cooking oil is not really good on wood.  Food items often get mineral oil from the drug store.   Normal handles for daily use hammers get nothing as skin oil and handling takes care of it.

Glad to hear from you Lionel.  I'm down by New Orleans but there are active folks in Baton Rouge and Lafayette..

Welcome.!

ABANA website has posted a complete schedule and layout of events for the Conference in Salt Lake.

1 hour ago, Bo T said:

Charlotte You are the first person that I have known to have tried these types of oils. Don't all oils, brine, and water have some difficulty wetting the surface of the metal due to a vapor jacket at 1500 - 600 F temperatures? This is the first time I have thought about part of quenching.

Speaking only from personal experience,  The break down temp of silicone oils seems higher but they don't wet seem as effective as similar viscosity veg oils. My experience was limited to specific types of vacuum pump oils designed for pumping oxygen  and oxygen compressors,  I was told by a manufacture rep that they were similar to some of the oils used in transformers.  BTW  don't mess with used transformer oils.   Some transformers still contain materials that produce really nasty cancer causing effects. PCB's  for one.

Silicone modified  oils would probably not be really suitable for  quench.   Transformer oils are selected for their stability and their ability to conduct heat and not absorb moisture.  Their ability to transfer heat in contact would be limited by their general in ability to wet out hot surfaces.  ( These statements are based only on personal experience with silicone modified oils not technical investigation)

Spent years of my life analyzing the whole suite of petroleum based products that are commonly in gas or liquid form.   Long story short, every variety is potentially hazardous. Some are worse than others.  Breathing any liquid oil vapor is potentially dangerous.   Most of the plant based oils are less dangerous than mineral oils because of their more complicated structure. On the other hand the stuff that come to live in them can, in some varieties, be actively poisonous on skin contact. 

Take away.  Treat is all with caution and avoid as much  skin contact and respiration as possible. Keep tightly covered when not in use.  Plant base materials should be disposed of when ever they become cloudy or smelly.

Das, you continue to amaze me!   Wonderful!

Depending on the size of the forge you may be able to get a propane regulator at a hard ware store depending on what part of the country you live in.  The adjustable regulators used to boil or turkey fry are often used.   Personally I recommend a propane regulator from an Industrial Gas supplier which has a higher volume delivery, better control, and gauges. There are some things I won't buy from harbor freight.  Gas welding/cutting  equipment is one of them.   Too many safety issues connected with their suppliers.

 Off topic but :Wait till you get the sweet young thing that wants you to make Her ritual dagger!  got to have jewels and all

Gets me that every so often that movie makers show supposed steel swords being made in final form by casting.  

300 deg would be adequate according to Lincoln info I have.   However, that kind of assumes you are using a stick and industrial capacity welder.  Not really and expert opinion though as I'm a HOBBY class welder.

Much heavier that is really needed for an anvil stand  imho.    When my stump rotted out I followed the basic design of Mark Aspery's "Skills of the Blacksmith"

Get  mine from my welding supply    generally limit out at around 500 which is the normal limit of preheat.   I usually try to use one low, one on and one above target

jeremy k,  That is an excellent analysis and great posting   really deserves to be permeant part of this forum.

Bad eyes so I bought prescription #3 welders green safety glasses.  I've complained for years about the radiation from coal fired power plants in comparison to well run nuclear power plants.  (got one just across the river from me).  Lived in Tennessee for a while, all of the rivers I wanted to fish had so much mercury that you couldn't eat your catch. 

I have frequently been annoyed by people not thinking the problem and solutions through.  These are classic examples

My first thought was that frames can be reinforced and stiffened to suit the work.  The only user of an English wheel that I knew was making aircraft skin parts for private aviation. My memory of his shop is that the frame was reinforced with mild steel pieces.

Wonderful!!