Jerrod Miller

This is important context that is often not in people's minds. Personally, I wouldn't worry about tempering. Though Stephen mentioned he is going to forge weld on some 1084, so in that case tempering is important. Also something very important in things that don't harden much is going to be mass and depth of hardening. For industrial information, look up info on the Jominy End Quench. Lastly, thanks for sharing Stephen! Obviously this is of interest to people.

This did not go un-noticed. I'm judging you...harshly. This whole package is junk now. You'd better keep it for yourself, as it would be unfair to another smith to have this abomination forced upon them.

You can't use one built into an eyepiece nearly as easily as one you look at as if it were a sample. If you want to give it a shot I can get you more info and/or PM me your number and we can discuss it over the phone, possibly while you're looking at it in the microscope or at a PC.

Here is is a a jpeg.

When I have looked at grain boundaries, it has been in easy things like this: square3.tif I generally wet grind up to 1200 grit, then polish on felt with 1 micron followed by whatever I have that is less than 1 micron, sometimes 0.50 or 0.25 micron, sometimes 0.05 micron. I then etch by rubbing the surface with a "lint free Q-Tip" dipped in etchant as long as it takes to go cloudy; typically about 30 seconds. Rinse with water, blow dryer until dry, check on microscope. Re-etch as necessary, typically in 5-10 second intervals (don't re-polish unless you've over-etched). If you can, definitely add scale bars to all your images. ImageJ is freeware that is quite powerful for these kinds of things. All you need otherwise is an appropriate sized scale bar to take a picture of, then make sure you don't change camera settings.

My best results are typically with about 8-10%, when generally looking at steel microstructures for phase determination (pearlite, martensite, etc.).

The lug is on the rifle and goes in the hole you are showing. Alan is referring to a ring, typically integral to the guard, the fits around the muzzle of the gun. There doesn't appear to be one on your piece. (My apologies to Alan if he meant something else.)

That is ... aggressive. I look forward to your results.

Oh come on, you can't leave it at that! My default would be nital, what do you have here and in mind for future use?

Without going back and re-reading Alan's thread from 6 months ago, I'll just also add here that a thermocouple probe is just 2 dissimilar metals that create a voltage difference. So you could buy a K-type thermocouple and just use a voltmeter if you have one. You'll have to also make/find a chart that converts the voltage reading to degrees, but they are out there.

Same!

This is one of those things that some makers will swear by, and others swear against. I will say that I have found it to be more difficult that I would have thought, but seems fine otherwise. I'd definitely plan on scraping (broach) the inside a bit after burning.

Since that appears to be a venturi forge, I'd say start by blocking the doors a bit less. Back pressure is no good for venturi.

Keep in mind that it is direct drive with the 3 phase motor, so it will require a VFD, which doesn't seem to be included.

Assuming something like 1084, pretty much 100%.