KRS

Oh I think having some more chains around me fits the theme perfectly I have lifted enough heavy stuff to appreciate every little help I will give it try with a L shape pry bar trough one of the holes, that should do the trick for now. the engine hoist is not a permanent solution, that´s for sure

Thomas, yes the stand was included. Its well made, got some beef to it. Once I saw it in person I was glad to take it with me. Frosty, I gave it a try with a long pipe, but it didnt feel very secure. Almost tilted the stand. Maybe I need to work on my technique or it was the rust that prevented it from sliding on the base. Another thing that made me think of the eye bolt is that it makes turning it easier, how I face the sides once turned up. I want to turn it fast and easy and not think "do I really have to" For now I have a engine hoist nearby. But even folded it takes space and belongs in the other shop. Bought one by your recommendation, great mobile tool to have around. I am considering making two triangles to secure it on its front side when its standing up, other ideas? Chris.

I have been looking at used and new Blocks for quite a while. New Blocks are ~1000€ for 400x400mm- biggest of-the-shelve Blocks I found. (15.75"x15.75) Used I found where most of the time in fair price range, but I let them go simply because I managed to work around not having one. Over time this created more and more individual tooling, but it takes time and money for material, fuel and welding. Then I found this Block with a bad description (wrong keywords- it was pure luck that I found it) online for 200€ 550x550mm 110mm thick. (21.5"x21.5" .4") Guess its about 200kg (440 pound) but I have not had it on a scale. Its in perfect usable condition, only the smallest round hole was stuffed with slugs and bird poop welds. No idea why... Now I only need a solid eye bolt mounted trough the roof to turn it on the edges

I do work with lead sometimes, like casting lead hammers. Still alive. Contact with liquid mercury is not dangerous as far as I know because I cant breach the skin barrier. Eating it will cause damage. (some fish have high levels) Vapours will cause damage. Dimethyl mercury will kill you on contact Lead is most dangerous to children, its effects on the child brain are documented. I will lower the IQ. What I am trying to say is that know what you deal with, act appropriate and don´t play down dangers because you handled it safe. Happy Birthday to your Grandfather Mister Powers

I would not do it because it makes mounting anything to the wall harder if you have to drill trough it. I have sheet metal behind the firepot, not tidy nor clean but rusty and dirty Edit: a former neighbour of mine had tiles on his concrete floor without expansion gaps. those that had contact to the wall shattered all around after a few years

I gave FreeCAD a try and it takes more time than other commercial Products to learn. I use it for fabrication and sometimes to get dimensions for forged pieces but I would never attempt to fill a frame with scrolls or anything like that in FreeCAD. If you do a lot of similar parts and create a Library it could work, kinda... Only thing I did today (this evening) in the shop was clearing a hole in a new old swage block

Reminder: The Grinder pictured is only for illustration, the fact that the blade is mounted backwards should tell us that it may not be exactly what is used in the ship yard. Picture credit is by another author from the page, Julie Dermansky. Kozzy, "Meat Axe" has helped me to find this thread: Link removed due to language Exactly like you explained: This shop still advertises this specific blade to be used in a electric grinder: 4-1/2x30t aluminum miller blade part # sk4-1/2-30tcg for back gouging aluminum when welding. Leaves a clean "u" shaped channel. used for milling, clean up and grooving of aluminum welds and cutting out welding tacks. used mainly in the marine industry in a hand held grinder. these are custom made by skookum tools to industry specifications. May be sharpened many times. "other names this tool is known by are: the skookum, meat axe, meat eater, lethal, miller, back groover, aluminum groover , back gouger, aluminum gouger." Stay safe

So much for polishing a piece pf dung.

In general I would agree to the point that dangerous tools used correct are controllable, but when you say that for those that use this specific tool daily its not a issue I disagree. By the numbers given in the article there is every Month one injury, while 4000 use it. The later number is bit fishy and if correct disturbing because: http://blog.al.com/press-register-business/2012/03/austal_usa_receives_2_more_con.html This would mean that every single person on the yard would work with this tool. Circular saws are far safer but I acknowledge that there are restrictions to the tools and if you need to get it done you get it done. But the practice in this yards give me the impression that they just hand it to everyone and say go with it, because its cheap and fast. Edit: If they would have given a limited number of people instructions & better PPE and only those are allowed to use it maybe there would be less injuries. What they did is like handing a chainsaw to everyone (in my humble outsider opinion)

https://www.revealnews.org/article/this-tool-cuts-fingers-and-gashes-faces-but-shipbuilder-still-uses-it/ Would not have expected this in the land of OSHA.

I guess its a dried banana leaf Excellent work, would put it in my Lederhose

I would heat up the shop to be above the outside temperature, let it soak until the tools are warm and then ventilate, the warm air will carry the water out and the humidity from the outside won´t condensate on your tools. If you go the dehumidifier route still heat up the shop to increase efficiency I have a hand broom for the power hammer, naturally it is oily. Everywhere I spot rust I give it a brush with that broom

About the jaw angles, you can make them always parallel if you have a sliding front jaw fixed in a box like so: what you see in this CAD (cardboard assisted design) is the fixed jaw to the right. It is welded to a piece of tine. the distance from the fixed to the moveable jaw is set by the screw in the bottom. You said you got lots of them. To prevent the front jaw from rotating when you spin your thing it is boxed in with some flat stock welded to both sides of the ground plate. The stronger the box is the better you can prevent misalignment of the jaws Some thrust washers are not drawn. Now this is not tested because I got enough ready made vices, but if it works it should be better then a leg vice in terms of parallel jaws?

With analog temperature control make sure you have a buffer between your blade and the heating elements If the blade is close to the elements it could get uneven hot and hotter than your setting

I know you coined anvil envy Mister Powers, but has it ever occurred to you that library envy is a much more serious threat for some of us?