Jerrod Miller

Don't do that. Contact a supplier (like True Grit or any of the others) and place an order for an assortment of individual belts. You will be able to place one order for any number of belts in any combination of grits.

I'll throw out my guess as something to hold pieces while you set (start to set) a rivet?

Just so you know, I am still using a bucket of refractory that is about a decade old to patch/reline my forges. Take care of it and it will keep.

This^^^ Also, you could put the blade in the ash/vermiculite after the sub-critical anneal if you want. Just don't do it from above critical.

Also, you could weld it the best you can, then run a bead of RTV silicone to plug the holes. It should hold up to the temps, and as long as your welds will hold the pieces together, it shouldn't fail mechanically.

I too find them to be be too fragile. And oxy acetylene works well, too! For short use (i.e. single heat) you can even get by with just twisting the wires together. When we do surveys of our HT ovens at work, we use the wires with the ceramic weave shielding. If I were in your situation, that is what I would get and just leave the ss tube you have in the HT chamber and slide the wire up and down in that tube to get temperatures within the chamber.

No, that is the dragon's breath, and indicates that you have more gas in your chamber than oxygen required to burn it, therefore you have a reducing atmosphere (no decarb). I was referring to a blue flame right at the burner inlet to the forge.

Thanks for the update, but please don't consider this closed until you give us an update after some driving tests!

That link did produce anything useful when I clicked on it (welding and lens related products, but not a good video lens for use during welding). I can tell you that I looked really hard in the past for one and could not find anything suitable. The best thing I could rig up was a camera operator holding a welding hood replacement lens in front of the camera right before welding started.

I am glad you posted the SEM image, because I think it confirms my suspicion that the dark (black) spots are not inclusions, but rather tear-out. The tiny remnant of a grain that catches on the polishing pad and tears out at the grain boundary. You can see that there is actually a pit in the one vertically centered, far left on the SEM image. Unless you were referring to the gray spots, which could just be uneveness in the etch, but could be something else, too. Can you also show macro pics of the samples? Fun stuff, thanks for sharing!

It might also help to search for it by its other specification names. AISI 1080: UNS G10800; AMS 5110; ASTM A510, A576, A682; FED QQ-S-635 (C1080); MIL SPEC MIL-S-16974; SAE J403, J412, J414. AISI 1084: UNS G10840; AMS 5110; ASTM A510, A576; FED QQ-S-700 (C1084); SAE J403, J412, J414; (Ger.) DIN 1.0647.

Add refractory cement. How's that? Looks like you aren't getting the blue flame that you want. Play with your air/fuel mix to get there.

The rebound test generally used in industry is the Leeb Rebound Hardness Test. We have one at work. To sum it up: A spring loaded shuttle is shot at the surface to be tested. The speed just before impact and the speed of the rebound just after impact are compared (1000*vr/vi = Leeb Hardness). That can then be converted to HRC. Given the light weight of the shuttle at just a few grams (the whole unit is the size of a slightly bulky pen), it is interesting to note that the sample to be tested must be at least 11 pounds. For what it is worth, I don't trust these things at all and wish nobody would every call out a specification with them. Traditional Rockwell or Brinell are both MUCH more reliable. I would even take a file comparison test over rebound tests. The place a rebound test really makes sense is when you are interested in the rebound properties of the part (as opposed to hardness). Obviously, the first thing that comes to mind here is the ball bearing rebound on an anvil. In material science, hardness is defined as "resistance to plastic deformation". Note the distinct lack of the word "rebound". Sorry, but much like "temper colors indicating temperature", this is one of my buttons, apparently.

It is definitely related to both, with geometry being a very strong factor, but hardness will play into it as well (as that effects the modulus of elasticity). You'll often see that modulus of elasticity is a material constant, but 5160 tempered to 50 HRC is effectively a different material than 5160 tempered to 40 HRC or 60 HRC. In the case of my federschwert versus the newer models the same maker offers, I think it is purely a change in thickness. I will try to measure my buddy's newer model sword soon and see how it compares to my sword's thickness (and width).

You can add as much refractory cement as you want over refractory blanket, but you only need a little. More than 1/4" generally becomes very hard to rationalize (more cement = more strength, but what on Earth do you need that much for!?). The ITC-100 is just mixed to a thin slurry (pancake batter is often referenced, but it can be thinner with more coats applied). Anything refractory gets harder to cure as it gets thicker. You must drive the water out slowly.