Rotten Luck

I saw forklift tines mentioned and thought I'd throw in my two cents. As a former forklift mechanic I agree that the tines, or forks seldom break. but they do wear out far more often than you would think. What happens is the lift chains wear slowly over time and elongate, if they are not regularly adjusted or replaced the forks will drag on the floor (in the fully lowered position)causing the heel of the fork to wear. Once that wear exceeds a certain % of the original thickness they are considered unsafe and need to be replaced. The dealerships that I have worked for sell / replace several pair each year and usually dispose of the worn out set for the customer. If there is a forklift dealer in your area they are likely to have atleast one set of worn out forks sitting around. Also you are likely to find bent or broken hydrolic cylinder rods, axel shafts and other good junk for making tools or whatever. If there is a lift dealer near you it may be worth wile to drop by and get to know the service manager or the parts manager, you may score some good material.

Hello to everyone, I stumbled on to this site over a week ago and have been learning from your posts and admiring your work since. Rather than just continuing to visit I decided to create an account and step up to introduce myself and get involved. I am currently in my mid 30's, married and have two teen aged sons. I'm a die hard do it yourselfer and have a work back ground in carpentry and mechanical and electrical repair. I've been interested in metal working since my early teens and have recently, spurred by the intrest of my sons, found opportunity to do somthing with it. Several months ago I was able to purchase a mig welder and oxegen acetylene torches, and one of the first projects we started was to build a propane forge. The forge is nearly complete, and perhaps today we will finish it off and heat our first bits of steel. We also have aquired an old 155 lb. anvil, that I know nothing about, and a few hammers. The first thing I intend to forge is a few pairs of tongs. In closing I would like to say that this is a great web community, and would like to thank all the members for making it what it is. I have enjoyed everyting that I have seen here so far, and look forward to everything that is yet to come. For those interested I have up[loaded photos of my forge and anvil to the gallery. When I figure out how, I will link the images into the post.