The 4 digit steel designations, (well 5 for 52100),  are a standard commonly used in the USA; promogulated by the AISI/SAE  organizations.   They cover the "simple steels".    A letter followed by a number: S1, A2, D2, S7, are from a different set of standards covering higher alloy steels with the letter indicating something about them, (A air hardening, S shock resistant, D die steel, etc)

Higher alloy steels have their own grades. A letter followed by a number: S1, A2, D2, S7, are from a different set of standards covering higher alloy steels with the letter indicating something about them, (A air hardening, S shock resistant, D die steel, etc)

Other countries/economic groups have their own too.  You should be able to find conversion charts on the net.

As this is an international group expect a mix of standards used by folks from all over!

 

I have seen the term "Die Cast" numerous times since I was a kid, mostly printed in nice big letters on hot wheels cars as a special feature in some design series, what is Die Cast? And is this referring to steel, cast iron, or something completely different like aluminum?

Any metal that can be turned into liquid can be die cast, mostly non-ferrous though.  This pretty much describes the process.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_casting

Oh, alright, that's more simple than I thought, well. Simple to conceptualize, not about to try it at home, not my department (anymore!)

“Die Cast” is a process, not a material. In short, rather than casting an item in a sand mold and then finishing it with additional machining, it is cast into a die that is the exact shape and size (allowing for shrinkage) of the finished piece.

This works best when is the object being cast has a melting point significantly lower than the temperature at which the die will deform, so one most often sees pieces die cast from plastic, aluminum, and other similar material.

And there solves a mystery from my childhood

On another note, I am going to assemble myself a smithy tent because i am tired of rain, I think I'll be using the example set by Jake Pogrebinsky in another thread using a 15x12 canvas sheet and a few saplings

Ahh, good old Jake the Mad Russian! I haven't heard anything from him since he went to Europe. Anybody keeping track?

Before you copy his smithy you might want to read some of his posts and get a feel for how he liked to do things. He had a Mad penchant for doing things the hard way. Did them well but . . .

Also note that smithy was on the bank of the Yukon River and was damaged by the break up floods. Breakup is what happens to rivers in the spring, they start to thaw and the ice begins to break up. Unfortunately it virtually never starts breaking up near the ocean and works upstream. Usually the ice breaks upstream and jams where it's still frozen causing an ice dam so the river upstream floods. 

The Yukon is a BIG river and the floods are epic. 

Frosty The Lucky.

I'm moreso using the suggestion of materials and trying to make myself a nice little pop-up shop I can stuff in the shed when I'm expecting a blizzard or thunderstorm that would blow my setup halfway across the greater Pittsburgh area, some saplings as tent posts due to how many Maple trees like to spring up around my area. The canvas to keep the rain and snow off my hearth, and probably some sort of makeshift foot on the poles to help keep it stable, I got some sandbags I can weigh the posts down with

It's also worth mentioning that where I'll be doing most of my forging is several hundred feet above the nearest body of water

19 minutes ago, Frosty said:

The Yukon is a BIG river and the floods are epic. 

My mom was nearly drowned in a Yukon breakup when she was little, not far from the spot where her father was nearly killed by sled dogs when he was little. 

John; are you thinking of visiting the region? If so; can I have your smithing books in your will?

Speaking of books I just picked up "the Backyard Blacksmith" by Lorelei Sims and have been reading through it

A very good book.

54 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

John; are you thinking of visiting the region? If so; can I have your smithing books in your will?

I visited in the summer of 1987 without serious incident (apart from that business with a mama bear and her cubs). 

I got some Canvas, four 6'x9' sheets, my intention is to use one as a roof, and sew two of them as walls to leave walls open for ventilation, my idea is to make a sloped roof with the high side being 8' and the low side being 6', and I'm thinking I'll need to cut saplings so thst I have two 8', two 7', and two 6' to keep it stable, with some creating sewing and using the fourth sheet to patch where needed to keep it together I should have myself a nice little pop up tent I can take down in extreme weather. I'm basing my design off a Baker tent setup

Update: I made a small paper model of my idea and figured out how I am going to stabilize it and keep it portable, attach brackets to the poles and fashion 3 removable horizontal support beams to keep it upright

I'd take into consideration the weight snow will put on it. We haven't had much yet but it will come. Also take into account what wind might do to it. 

I'm by no means a building expert but I've seen what wind and snow accumulation can do to small light structures like pop up 10x10 canopies and those tin tubed shelters they sell as car canopies. 

I agree, that's why I am putting so much emphasis on it being able to be taken down in the design, until I actually own my property and can build a permanent structure that will hold up to wind and snow (saw a lovely Gazebo that would make a nice outdoor smithy yesterday) a well supported pop-up is my best bet. Yo help with the snow accumulation my plan is to make one side 2 feet higher than the other with a slope to encourage it to slide off (not going to be perfect but hey, I'm not the carpenter my dad was)

That said, I will gladly take some advice or design recommendations!

Jack Andrews described his setup for forging in a tipi in the The Edge of the Anvil (also included in the newer edition). Artist-blacksmith Heather McLarty currently forges in a tipi in the Los Angeles area. Here's a video of Bogdan Popov forging in a tipi in Ukraine: 

 

An interesting idea, seems like it would be more simple to construct and a bit more efficient too maybe?

Wonder if the fellow knows that you have to have a flat face on the anvil to produce good work?  (grin)

I'm sure he has been told once or twice?

I have (roughly) 160 square feet of Canvas sheet, and I am now going to need to source poles, my goal is cheap and effective, and my options are PVC pipe and cut saplings (which are free but time consuming to fine proper candidates that are legal to cut down)

Saplings are less likely to soften in the heat. 

I'll put in the extra work then, PA has no shortage of Maple trees

I used to cut my saplings along a Power Line where they coppiced the undergrowth only trimming it after several years of re-growth giving me acres of choice!

I'll look around for some, I always get home after dark on weekdays