[TheForge] Trenton ID

[Steve Smith]

I definitely agree with the idea of preheat, just wondered if you had 
reasons for going higher in temp.

Steve

Andy Vida wrote:

> 
> Steve Smith wrote:
> 
>>Is there an advantage to preheating to 500? I have no idea, just hadn't
>>heard of doing this before.
> 
> 
> 	As I mentioned in another post, we'd (NJBA) always gone to
> 	300-350.  This year, for whatever reason, they were taking
> 	them to about 500.  Didn't seem to have drawn the temper.
> 	I reground about half of the dozen or so anvils and the
> 	original steel faces were still quite resistant to the
> 	abrasives.  I was, to be honest, a bit surprised.
> 
> 	As to your question, if you mean why preheat at all, it is
> 	my belief that a slow cool from a tempering heat (let's
> 	just call it 350*F) reduces the chances of developing stresses
> 	that will end up in latent cracking, which in turn leads to
> 	failure under impact, which makes for sharp little bullets
> 	flying around the shop and a loused up anvil.  Manufacturers 
> 	say it isn't needed, but I don't trust that so much.  Anvils 
> 	often have sharp edges that must endure high impacts.  I see 
> 	fit to give those high stress structures every chance to be 
> 	as tough and long lasting as possible.  Look at it this way: 
> 	if you have only one anvil, why not best ensure that it will 
> 	last your entire lifetime?  A few extra hours to heat and let
> 	slowly cool cannot hurt you.  This year was either the fourth
> 	or fifth anvil rebuilding event and as far as I know not a
> 	single one of the beasts has failed yet.
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