It followed me home

[Thomas Dean]

Excuse me whilst I wipe away all the drool...Nice score Doug. I keep looking on craigslist but have yet to find a score like that. Good for you.

[Doug C]

The other thing thatI got out of the deal was about four hours of conversation with a guy who started his apprenticeship to a farrier 35 years ago and had to give up his profession because of health reasons. He had all sorts of stories, tips for things I was working on and I think I could call him for advise any time. Now that's a score.

[Frosty]

Crimeny Finn!

I might have to start hating you.

Oh my aching arm.

Great score, congrats.

Frosty

[Finnr]

Thanks for all the good comments fellas. The old girl will need to be gone through from top to bottom. New babbit and some serious tuning up. Top die is pretty well hashed and teh bottom is gone. But for the money I can handle that!.
Doug! Fantastic score!!!
Finnr

[Thomas Dean]

Heck yeah! I bought all new parts for mine last year, mine is a 1926 model, and the parts were around $1500.00 IIRC. The top assembly weighs 200# according to the book and a young friend of mine lifted it off of the bearing cradle with one arm! Ran his arm between the pully and the frame and up she came, He just had me balance it for him! He just turned 20yrs old earlier this month and I think I'm going to start calling him Sir! I'm having a bronze bushing put in the pully instead of the babbitt. Will sandblast, make any repairs and put it back together. This is one of those long time projects at the moment...sigh...

[Michael]

So on the way to do some errands with the family, we drive past a garage sale. The seller is barking *real garage sale prices, two dollars for that hatchet*, said *hatchet* springs into my hand as if of its own volition, there to stay.

Then the seller says *I will make you a deal on that cart, two dollars!*. Now, I've been looking for a metal table of some sort as the basis for the MkII forge. Something waist high, about 2 foot by 3 foot or thereabouts. Maybe with a shelf. I've looked at plant stands and patio furniture, I've lusted after metal mesh cafe tables, scoured restaurant recycling stores and considered wheeling hospital furniture away under cover of darkness. This cart is waist height 18x30 inch sheet steel, heavy wide casters, quarter inch steel rod welded all around the perimeter and two bucks to boot, I could have plotzed right there. So I'm four dollars in, but having a five in the wallet, I grab from the ground a couple of V Blocks, about 4 x inches, and an inch and a quarter thick, square bottomed V groove in one long side, marked Eclipse-made in England and E 106 on the flat next to the V. I suspect they are a larger version of the little one inch V block I used to hold round things that need holes drilled in them.

Five bucks and I'm glad I had both the wife and the mini van, the cart just fit in the back,
the V blocks chocked the wheels to keep them from rolling around and we were off, I don't think we were at the sale 10 minutes.


Michael

[Dan OHare]

Sometimes all the planets line up just right...

[ThomasPowers]

I think the V blocks go into an eclipse vise to hold pipe. It's a well known brand.

Great deal and I envy you the cart.

For others still hunting for a forge cart: find a junked gas grill and remove the grill part, (if Al sell to scrap yard!), and bolt a piece of sheet metal where the grill used to sit and mount your gasser to that. Easy to wheel and even has a place for a propane tank. I removed the wooden bars on the "handles" and replaced with steel ones to make tool racks.

[vorpal]

An Olympic Square Wheel grinder recently followed me home... as did a good size industrial swage block (in the scrap pile of a shut down sugar mill.) And once, I worked at a factory that had a big drill press broken out back. I asked about it... they sold it to me for 20 bucks and I forklifted it onto my truck and took it home. One hour later I had reassembled it and pressed the quill back up into the bearing (the only problem.) 20 - inch variable speed (adjustable sheave) JET drill press. 800 lbs. Retails at $2300!

[vorpal]

I forgot about this. Some one I know found a 7" Indian Chief post vise in beautiful shape welded to a metal post sunk in the ground on the side of the road. An industrial steel company had mounted their mailbox on it! Later that night it followed him home and in the morning I suppose they found a nice pressure treated four by four on the ground next to their mailbox....