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Did a little bit on the forge today
I pulled out some of my smithing gear today and had a go at annealing some cheap files, I want to see how they will go as a plane makers float.
From what I have read they were made from old files by the plane makers sometimes.
After heating the files up quite bright I slid then into the bucket of saw shavings, and put a lid on it. 6 hours later they are still to hot to pick up with bare hands.
At about the 3.5 hour point I took one out and put a bit of water on it , it sizzeled away , I left in on the wooden bench for five minutes , then dipped it in some water, I did a test and hammered it on the face of the anvil, the metal deformed, which is a good sign , the non annealed files crack like glass .
When I held the end of the test file half an inch over the edge of the anvil and gave it a whack ,the half inch snapped off. Im hoping the tool will hold an edge in its annealed state, its not a fine edge like a woodwoking chisel at 25 degrees, with a guess its more like 35 degrees. and its pushed not hit. Any one have any opinions opinions ?
Apart from that ,I want to put the missing hood back on my forge one day . like the one in the drawing.
And the one to four blower set up with the gate is how I have been pumping the air to the fire .
I drag all this out of the shed when I want it , exept the forge lives under a sheet of tin out side on my favorite {messy}side of the house.
Rob