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Winter is a good time to live in the South, I suppose. Only downside is I never really get to see snow.

Cool, I order lots from McMaster. Always seems to be pretty good quality stuff and it gets to me the next day. Seems a little weird that all 5 readings were the same? Maybe not, not an expert in this stuff. Mine showed a little variation. Maybe they just round it off.

Yes sir! I believe it was you that recommended I pick up a better test block years ago on the hype free forums. Glad I did. Mines been doing pretty good for the last 5 or 6 years. Hopefully it lasts quite a while longer. But I'm pretty slow about making knives so it doesn't get used too much.

I had been looking at a few from omega. Was thinking about getting a handheld unit. Here's their cheapest one. Obviously you'd then still need to buy a type k thermocouple from them. Might want to look around on omegas site a bit. They've got some good stuff. I'm using one of their omegaclad XL...

My test block is from Westport. Theirs is maybe $82 I think? They tell you +/- 5 points when you order it. Then it is etched on the side of the block with the actual hardness and a range of +/- 0.5 points. They do send you a certification sheet with all their readings on it.

I'll give my quick $0.02 on burners. I mentioned earlier that I was a fan of the forced air or blown-style burners. Venturi burners tend to be picky and fussy. They work best with a certain size forge. Oftentimes they only get hot enough if your forge is very well insulated so you see people...

It usually costs $1 per lb. here. Though I now have a 500 gallon tank and last time I had it filled it was $2.40 per gallon. 1 gallon is about 4.2 pounds so it's a lot cheaper than I was paying. Previously I was using 40lb tanks and they were $40 to refill.

Von Gruff makes a good point with the heat treating. I try to tell people to design their forge based on what they want to do with it. I certainly wouldn't want to use a long 3 burner forge to forge a 4" hunter. But for heat treating, longer forges are more ideal. I have a heat treat oven so I...

Yeah, i don't know how long the tank is but for a single burner forge, I'd cut it down to a maximum of about 16". And I'd put enough fiber blanket in it to get the internal chamber down to a reasonable size. Maybe 6" round inside. And make sure to coat the blanket. If you're planning to go with...

That's perfect. Thickness doesn't really matter. I know of someone who used chicken wire.

Nice setup! I started stabilizing wood several years ago but have so much wood ready to go now (more than I can use in a few lifetimes I think), I've been taking a break from it. It usually takes a few to several hours to get the bubbles to stop (or slow down to an occasional bubble). I've run...

Ohh, I like that a lot. Really nice lines. I'm about to try out integrals for the first time as well.

I purchased that CD when it was available and have the book on my computer as a PDF. Not sure it would be legal to share but it seems to be unavailable so I'm not sure.

I own that one and it does work well. A decent price.

Good deal. Another option which I use for scale removal is sodium bisulfate. It's a bit more aggressive than vinegar so won't take as long, and I believe it is what is used in industry. I find it convenient because it can be purchased in a powder form and you just mix up some with water. You...

Yeah, I'd mostly just reiterate what the others have said. If you're using a gas forge, you want to make sure you have a neutral or reducing atmosphere. Take a look at the flames coming out of the forge. You want the flame tips to have somewhat feathered ends. Another random thought... if...

For the handle it's not really about going deep enough. A milling machine is basically a very rigid precision drill press with an accurately movable table that uses bits that cut sideways instead of down (though depending on the style, will likely cut down as well). So you could get a milling...

I've got a lot of hornbeams in the yard. They get 6 inches round or so then die and fall over pretty regularly. It's very heavy, dense wood. I would imagine it would be good knife handle material but have never tried it.

I'm with Kevin on this one. I started off etching and it didn't take long for me to get frustrated with it. I really wanted my etch to be deep, like a stamp. I did achieve some really nice deep etches but it seemed like I was burning through stencils with the amount of power I was running into...

I've been using anhydrous borax for years as well. I've always ordered from Rose Mill. 25lb bucket for $70 + shipping.