Alan Longmire

It will turn green. It's more stable than some other brasses, but it is certainly not tarnish-proof.

Good call on both the ricasso and the ivory. Subtle, but better!

Looks fine so far! The table doesn't need to be heavy steel, it's just there to hold extra coal and steel. Mine is 3/16" plate, but 1/8" or even 11 gauge would be fine.

Oh, anthracite will get hot enough to melt steel easily, but you will need flux. It's just borax from the grocery store, no big deal.

Nice! Are you still doing the full-on traditional togishi waterstone thing, or are you sneaking some gaijin belt technique into the mix?

That goes double for me! Where did you find the stone?

Those are too thin and will warp. You need at least 3/16" plate around the pot. Which you could then set on the cart... I have that cart and it sits a little low for me. I am an even six feet tall, might work for you.

The higher the layer count the more authentic it looks when it comes to blades. Of course, most people have no clue and you could tell them anything. But that wouldn't be nice.

Agreed, it's not a big deal. Annoying, yes. Major, no.

Thanks, that's what I thought. That is some good forging!

That just means it's not fully cured yet, you're still driving off water and that cools the forge. Plain wool is also white, so it looks hotter than it is.

That's some good HDR! I caught myself squinting while you were welding.

Free is good! And it will be worlds better than railroad track or the Harbor Freight ASO. Vulcans chip because the steel face is so thin compared to Fisher, the other steel-faced cast iron anvil. Fishers have reinforced edges an inch deep with flanges that lock them into the body, and the face itself is 1/2" thick. Vulcan's faces are only around 1/4" to 3/8" thick, and the edges are not reinforced. They do have a little spike thingy that locks the face to the body, which is why you'll always have a little spot of face left in the center even if all the edges are gone. I've seen that on a 50-lb Vulcan, it had been reduced to a single 1" square of steel in a sea of broken cast iron. I'd use a thin cutting disk on an angle grinder and carefully slit into the weld bead until the bar pops off, then switch to a flap wheel to level out the weld bead. I'd be afraid a cold chisel would take more of the face with it if the weld bead had good penetration. Or if, heaven forbid, they were stupid enough to have used hardfacing rod...

I agree, Gerhard. Even the best gas forge can't be programmed to ramp and hold steady. There's a couple of good pinned threads on kiln builds here. If you feel electronically skilled enough it's definitely the cheaper way to go, particularly if you're doing larger items. I don't know enough about them to build one myself, but I feel sure that can be fixed.

Me too! Might also be a Trenton. The name will be stamped on the side along with the weight in pounds. There will be a serial number stamped on the foot under the horn. Give us the name and the number and we can provide the date and the material, since post-1916 Hay-Buddens are all-steel anvils.