General Anvil Related Questions

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Just to be sure of the question, are you talking about a single piece of steel weighing 30-100 pounds, or 30-100 pounds of knife blades?
The best place to get either done is a commercial heat treater, I would contact Peter's HT in Pennsylvania.
 
Even at that size, I would be hesitant to water quench. The die I cracked had a good deal of thermal mass and had a long time to cool down prior to going into the water.

I'd try to get together a larger quantity of oil for the quench, even if it was less-than ideal oil like used motor oil, rather than do a water quench.

Or it might make sense to take it to a place that does flame hardening.
 
Storm Crow said:
Even at that size, I would be hesitant to water quench. The die I cracked had a good deal of thermal mass and had a long time to cool down prior to going into the water.

I'd try to get together a larger quantity of oil for the quench, even if it was less-than ideal oil like used motor oil, rather than do a water quench.

Or it might make sense to take it to a place that does flame hardening.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's an incident that sorta kills my imaginative idea. The fact that it cracked even though it received a good quenching in oil first speaks volumes towards avoiding water with 4140... I was just trying to make the thread more controversial... :D

Does anyone know of an industrial reference one can research that involves larger cross-sections of quenching steel?
 
Yeah Peters heat treating is probably the best and well known heat treating outfit, call them up and SinePari thanks for sharing that link to the anvil, I really enjoyed reading about that.
 
If you're asking about heat treating a 30-100 pound piece of steel, and not a batch of knives, there's a place in Wyandanch that does commercial heat treating. You could drive it there and save a boat load on shipping. I wouldn't send knives there though, send knives to someone who specializes in that sort of thing, like Peter's.

Leif
 
Hi ,
Does anyone know of ways to use these two platforms where trees were cut down.
Only 4 " off ground, they are really sturdy.
They will be just outside the side of the new shed.
I know they used to cut a tree down and build the shop around the stump, to put their anvil on.
This is outside, so anything could be brought back inside the shed or just covered.
I have a couple of old 5" leg post vices.
Also have a cew long pieces of RR Rail.
Any ideas would be great.
Thanks,
Jon
 
The stumps will rot in time.... if they are cut close to the ground, they will rot faster.

The "stump" you see in old blacksmith shops wasn't in the ground from a tree. It is a section of tree trunk cut off at the proper size to make an anvil base, and placed in the middle of the shop.. That is the simplest method for an anvil base.
 
The stumps will rot in time.... if they are cut close to the ground, they will rot faster.

The "stump" you see in old blacksmith shops wasn't in the ground from a tree. It is a section of tree trunk cut off at the proper size to make an anvil base, and placed in the middle of the shop.. That is the simplest method for an anvil base.
 
bladsmth said:
The stumps will rot in time.... if they are cut close to the ground, they will rot faster.

The "stump" you see in old blacksmith shops wasn't in the ground from a tree. It is a section of tree trunk cut off at the proper size to make an anvil base, and placed in the middle of the shop.. That is the simplest method for an anvil base.
Click to expand...

Thank You
Jon
 
Hi Guys,
I would appreciate any info on the following steel types,
And I know tool steel is not needed, but for sake of interest.
8620
4130
4140
S7
H13
Does anyone know what the numbers cor hardness hrc and toughness for these metals in the unhardened, non tempered state?
Thanks in advance,
Jon
 
A post anvil needs to be only moderately hard and tough. S7 or 4140 would be fine. It should be hardened on the end in a perfect use, but even an unhardened piece will work. You can ask the supplier you find for the as delivered hardness. S7 is probably going to be a bit harder and tougher due to the chromium, molybdenum, and vanadium.
http://zknives.com/knives/steels/steelgraph.php?nm=4140, S7&hrn=1&gm=0
 
A post anvil needs to be only moderately hard and tough. S7 or 4140 would be fine. It should be hardened on the end in a perfect use, but even an unhardened piece will work. You can ask the supplier you find for the as delivered hardness. S7 is probably going to be a bit harder and tougher due to the chromium, molybdenum, and vanadium.
http://zknives.com/knives/steels/steelgraph.php?nm=4140, S7&hrn=1&gm=0
 
Ive been doing research into this all day and the only conclusion i can come to is - What are you willing to risk.

I have a 4"X12" chunk of 4140 coming in and what i've been able to gather is i need at least 5 gallons of oil at 120 degrees agitated for a proper quench or make sure all square corners are rounded and hit the top of the block at temp with a heavy continuous stream of water. All this after soaking the steel at 1575 for 20 minutes. And after it can be handled put it to temper for 4 hours at 500 for a RC52-54 for water 48-50 with oil.

All of the above info is for bringing the entire piece of steel up to temp.

My idea is just to put it in the forge bring the top 3" to 4" to temp let it soak for 10 minutes and quench in 5 gallons of canola oil. Let it come down to handling temp then temper 500 for 2 hours.

but that's my idea so, you never know.
 
Ive been doing research into this all day and the only conclusion i can come to is - What are you willing to risk.

I have a 4"X12" chunk of 4140 coming in and what i've been able to gather is i need at least 5 gallons of oil at 120 degrees agitated for a proper quench or make sure all square corners are rounded and hit the top of the block at temp with a heavy continuous stream of water. All this after soaking the steel at 1575 for 20 minutes. And after it can be handled put it to temper for 4 hours at 500 for a RC52-54 for water 48-50 with oil.

All of the above info is for bringing the entire piece of steel up to temp.

My idea is just to put it in the forge bring the top 3" to 4" to temp let it soak for 10 minutes and quench in 5 gallons of canola oil. Let it come down to handling temp then temper 500 for 2 hours.

but that's my idea so, you never know.
 
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