Jerrod Miller

The NJ Steel Baron sells 48" of the same for $17.59, and he will definitely cut it down for shipping. Not sure what he charges for that, but it is definitely know as good quality steel. Also, I wouldn't plan on forge welding early on. Consider it an advanced technique for when you have a couple/few dozen hours of forging under your belt. And you don't need a welder to do it. Wire works, and the smiths of yore certainly did a lot of it without welders.

So others don't have to do the math: $450 for 93# = $4.8/#

I would think that induction is not the way to go with a blade blank. I wouldn't think you would get an even enough heating to avoid warping. Luckily, @Dave Stephens has an induction forge and could chime in with his experience with using it for HT. He may not have tried a HT with a blade though. In which case I would say he needs to suck it up and try it so we can all learn.

Something that may help to think about: Would you be this worried if it was a BBQ? Is this any different than a BBQ (from a propane safety standpoint)?

H13 is probably about the best you are likely to find. Properly heat treated 4140 and 4340 can be quite serviceable, and even quite good, but just not great. Nimbas are 8640 and by all accounts I have heard they are quite good too. And remember: ASO = Anvil Shaped Object. That means it looks like an anvil, but isn't really one. Good steel in a good size IS an anvil, even if it doesn't "look like" one.

Cast, heat treated, and ground. Shouldn't be significantly different from rolled and heat treated. That is one of the purposes of heat treat after-all.

My testing with 4340 indicated that it isn't a great anvil alloy. Both chippy and dent prone. I considered it when making my anvil and had to pass on it due to not liking the reaction it had to a hammer strike. Heat treated properly, it would probably be great for a power hammer anvil base, but if you are using dies, then so would mild steel.

It isn't the color so much as branching of the sparks. Search for videos of spark testing and you'll find plenty of examples.

Taking Alan's comment to the next step, consider what alloy you are using. There are some that are more forgiving than others when it comes to speed. If you are using 5160 (or similar), a little unpredictability is probably fine. Something where a medium oil is borderline anyway, you may not want to mess with something that is unknown, when fresh is still pretty cheap.

There is a great thread pinned in the Tools and Tool Making section for tongs.

I'll always recommend making tongs for beginner projects.

Sadly, I don't have the equipment for a scientific test either. Maybe I could rig a bend test with my torque wrench, but nothing better than that. I know where to have the tests done, but that costs a bit of money.

I was thinking really low layer count though, more like actual plywood, so maybe up to 10 layers max? And then some bend tests. Tensile tests would be neat, but who is going to spring for that?!

This all makes me want someone (certainly not me) to start some experiments with alternating orientations of wrought (like plywood). And since Will here already has the samples...

This actually depends on alloy, which is not specified at all by the AR designation. The alloy we use to make the Rhino anvils is an air hardening tool steel that we generally sell as AR500 or AR400 (the number designates the hardness in Brinell and is achieved through tempering differently). I can assure you that it is not bendy at all, and the Mn is not overly high. A36 should generally be considered as not hardenable whatsoever. Perhaps you can provide the proper material and have him cut it out of that? I know 1070 is relatively common in sheet (I have a local waterjet place that I know uses it for things).