[TheForge] chinese ASOs

[Jerry Frost]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Chuck Robinson" <robi5515@bellsouth.net>
To: <theforge@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2003 8:15 AM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] chinese ASOs


> Hey Jerry,
> I met John Allgood when he was the master smith at Williamsburg about 40
> years ago.
> When I asked him where they got the old colonial style anvils they were
> using at that time, he said that they made up a wooden master and had the
> foundry at Newport News ship yard  cast them.
> Somehow the foundry people believed that the anvils would be show pieces,
so
> they cast them out of an alloy like monel,  as a  gracious gesture to
> Williamsburg,

I can see how something like that could happen; living meuseum and all. I
bet they'd polish up really pretty. Wonder what it'd cost to have my
Sodofors chromed? <grin>

> When I asked John If they weren't  just about worthless he said no, that
> they pretty soft, but every so often they would beat them back into shape
> with sledge hammers. He also said that the anvils  gradually work hardened
> with use.
> I wouldn't be overly concerned about hardening the anvil face. Grader
blade
> is usually made from 1095 or Vasco Wear, and like you said, they should
air
> harden sufficiently to work OK.
> I think many smith's worry too much about having a hard enough face on an
> anvil.
> You're supposed to  hit the soft hot plastic billet instead of the anvil
> face with the hammer.
> It can also help to draw the hammer face a little softer.
> Chuck
>
>

You're right, you can do fine work on a soft anvil and grinding the dings
out of his has tought Richard to hit the work instead of the anvil. Still, I
really notice the difference in hardness. I have a 125 lb Sodorfors that
must have a face somewhere around a 60-62 R face. It'll blunt a cold chisel
without marking and a new sharp file will just barely cut it. I have a 200
lb Trenton that's probably in the 50 - 55 R range and there's a noticable
difference. When I tried Richard's ASO it felt like forging on dirt. It
seemed like the steel hardly moved at all. It's a matter of perspective, we
set up to compare them so we were tuned for a difference. I was just
surprised at how noticable it was.

I was really rolling on this thread, I like having holes punched in my
ideas, sounds weird but really saves work down the trail. Anyway, various
suggestions for steels made me think about what I was using for facing. I
don't know what we buy for grader edges but I'd put money on it not being a
simple steel, 1095, etc. It's just too tough. I've done a lot of cutting,
welding, heating, etc. on the stuff and it doesn't act like simple steel at
all.

Late last winter we got a batch that didn't fit the new graders, bolt holes
lined up but the lengths were wrong so we were torching about 18" off one
section (4 sections to a mold board) to make it fit. We put the cut off
section in the center of the blade so we can use the double holes at the end
of the mold board. It torches nice, like high carbon but shows little or no
heat effect. The color runs pretty far from the cut, maybe 3" or so and I
don't waste time cutting.

Anyway, one of the other operators caught maybe 1/4-3/8"  of a manhole in
7th gear 75,000 lbs of Cat 14H with nose plow and wing came to an abrupt
stop from about 22 mph. Shattered the manhole cover, blew the ring out of
the road in pieces, nearly ripped the circle off the grader and the operator
got to spend about 8 weeks on workman's comp. It was a new blade that
morning with probably a good 8" left and it caught on the torched off
section. Though it damaged or destroyed almost everything else involved, the
grader edge came through unscathed.

So yeah, trying to heat treat it will probably be unnecessary. <grin>

Frosty
------------------------
If it ain't forged
it ain't real.
Wrought iron is.
The FrostWorks

Meadow Lakes, AK.