2 generic questions... and a funny PS

[MXHOWES at aol.com]

Fred makes a very good reply I just want to add something to the technique. 
For those of us that attended Junior High School in the 50's we took a class 
called Metal Shop,(today's kids probably take a class on understanding diversity 
or the threat of mankind on the environment instead) but we would make cold 
chisels, you would heat the finished product to red hot and 'run the colors' 
...... which meant as it cooled a rainbow color would run down the to the point, 
when it was purple/blue you would quench it. Your finished product would go 
to the instructor and he would try and cut a slice off of a 1/4" plate with a 
5# hammer, you held your breath as he tried to destroy your work of art. If it 
broke you got a F..... if it cut the plate you got a C ....... if it cut the 
plate and looked like a jem you got a B ..... A's were VERY hard to get (what a 
difference a few years in our school system make).

Just my .02

Jim