Klorinth Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 Temple stick... That sounds interesting. I haven't heard of that before but it makes sense. To do it myself I'll have to use the FEL on the tractor. I can suspend it in the fire and move it to quench and temper... It won't be easy though. Lots of planning will have to go into it. I'll have t use a pit forge to do the heat. My little forge is too fragile to risk dropping a hundred pounds of hot steel on it. If not that then it will be the big torch. How long would it likely take to heat it with propane? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 how do you plan to quench it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klorinth Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 3 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said: how do you plan to quench it? I honestly don't know. I've never tried something like this. A little piece yes, but a 100lbs hunk? No. I have access to large amounts of water in varrying size containers. A hose if I wish. I assume water is not necessarily the right thing to do... Salt? It would take a fair amount of oil... I think I have a couple gallons of used motor oil. That could make a very pretty fire. Very smoky. I would love some suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Traditionally anvils were cooled under a large flume as it takes pressure to beat through the steam jacket so dumping them, even in a lake, may not be good. Charles McRaven in "Country Blacksmithing" mentions have the local VFD use their high pressure firehose to quench an anvil he had repaired and was re-heat treating. For smaller pieces of RR rail "The Complete Modern Blacksmith", Weygers, has instructions on heat treating. I think your example falls somewhere in between... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klorinth Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 Thinking along the lines of safety... Heating it with the big torch in a stable and upright position with something wrapped around it to contain and focus the heat where I need it, then quenching with a running hose while standing back behind a barrier seems the smarter way to go. Especially seeing as I am likely to do it alone. I'm slowly reading people's descriptions of how they have done it with RRT and other large chunks of steel. There seems to be quite a range in the amount of time people have spent heating it, 20 minutes up to several hours. How would I know what to prepare for? I understand heating to colour but I don't want to have problems running out of propane. Running that big torch for more than an hour is going to burn a large amount of propane. I would only be heating the anvil portion which is a very small portion of the total size, less than 20lbs? I'll use a bit of gas doing the welding pre and post heating. Would tempering be required? I am assuming yes given the potential carbon content. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 I wonder how a couple of big pressure washers would work for cooling. for heating --- bonfire time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klorinth Posted January 28, 2016 Author Share Posted January 28, 2016 The more I read the more I think the hose is the best way to go. I could just set up beside the pond and run the hose continuously. Easy. How fast do you actually want to quench something like this? I watched a video of guys using a 10 gallon Super Quench on their 4140. It certainly worked. I'm not sure if it was any better than just using a hose and water. A lot less steam anyway. Just occurred to me that if I'm doing a fairly small size, <20lbs, I could just carry it into the pond... LOL... Wouldn't that be a sight? Chest deep in the water and steam bubbling up in front of me! Ha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Supper quench might be a bit fast, but the issue with anvils is that they tend to be massive. For something the size of, say a foot of rail a stock tank of water is probably good, TJ used water toats on forklifts in the wash at at his work. Fast and slow are relitive terms, lol. To slow and it's annealing ;-) don't forget you have to temper your anvil to about R55 (file just barely bites (think a good axe or camp knife) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klorinth Posted January 28, 2016 Author Share Posted January 28, 2016 26 minutes ago, Charles R. Stevens said: don't forget you have to temper your anvil to about R55 (file just barely bites (think a good axe or camp knife) That is why I am trying to do some reading on tempering. The better I understand what is happening and why, the better I will be able to tailor the techniques to my situation. i won't be going down the heat treating road until I have a good understanding of the whole process. For now I will be content with the cutting shaping and welding that will have to happen. I'll use it untreated until I am ready for that part. Most likely I will find another anvil to buy before this is completed. I am enjoying the mental challenge though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Sound like the rest of us, lol. If you make a serviceable tool you will keep it around. I have 5 "anvils" 2 comertial farrier's, a modified no name cast with steel face (broken heal and poris horn cut off) a rail anvil and a post anvil that fits the recover for adjusting cold shoes. I have have a dozen anvil projects ( tiny to small) I hope to get back to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klorinth Posted March 13, 2016 Author Share Posted March 13, 2016 So I have made some progress on my RRT anvil... The welding is ugly of course and there are inclusions, but so far it seems to be fine. I did preheat the whole thing, reheated during the welding, and then I slowed the cooling done by keeping it heated for an hour then cooled for another hour. Now I just need to get a stand setup for it. I need to do the same for the other anvil as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.