Tom Allyn

Cold cutting RR rail
This is how I was told it was done year ago.
The rail was spiked down to ties the rail was scored all around where the cut was to be.
Jacks were uses to apply pressure then with hot rail from the sun or a torch ice was applied and the rail would brake at the cut line.

I'm think they're for tapping something like head bolts or some other high strength application. Whatever they were used for, the user was counting on all the threads taking load. Maybe holes for pressure vessel bolts?

I recently acquired an old cut devil. My question is, is it a hot cut tool or a cold cut tool? How where they used and by whom? This one has a railroad stamp. What would have been it's likely use? Any comments are welcome.

They used two fork trucks to put the steel plate in my F-150. It is 48"x96"x1". I figure it weighed about 1000#. After they got it in, the owner said $95.00.

Sorry-I guess we kind of highjacked this thread but the tools mentioned WERE about horseshoeing..

Craigslist has gotten whacky lately. People are asking at least $4/lb for even the crummiest anvils. It's insane. There are a couple here in my area that have been listed at those prices for months. Not surprisingly no one has jumped on them.

Just be careful working around sharps sticking up out of your stand.

Known as a Saw set. They came in various sizes for setting the teeth on a saw, from a 20-30 tooth per inch (TPI) dovetail saw, to the coarsest of crosscut saws (misery whips to those of us that used 'em)

I've taught myself to do a number of activities left handed including hammering, sawing, shovelling, raking, pushing broom and swinging picks/axes/sledges. It's a good idea just for the benefit of building both sides of your body symmetrically. You'll have less back issues, too.

When I'm learning a new activity I will study closely the way I've been doing it right handed. Body position, arm position, hip angle, etc..... It all goes into the work.

For learning to hammer there's nothing like a few boxes of nails. Start with some 8 penny nails. Drive a couple dozen every day for a few days. When you're starting to get comfortable with those then go to 16 penny nails. The 16 pennies will require harder blows and you'll start to gain power in your off-handed blow. When you're comfortable hitting nails then start swinging at things on your anvil.

Is that granite?

Silver Sulfadiazine cream, it's prescription only. My Dr. understands what I do and he writes it before I need it.

Sweet deal! Show us some more pics when you get it.

A similar device called a log dog is used in hewing timbers. The tips of a log dog are typically formed perpendicular to eachother so that each tip penetrates the wood in line with the grain. See link.

http://www.fhwa.dot....ge21.cfm#fig097

Not destroyed just altered about 80#

Someone did a terrible job of "fixing" the face and used bondo, yes BONDO, to try to rebuild the horn!

I went with 2X12's. I used an oak stump first, but I couldn't cut it straight enough.

This is interesting for the do-it-yourselfer. It's from a rocket stove website. There's a section on home made insulative ceramics (page 27). I wonder if they would hold up to blacksmithing work.

http://www.repp.org/discussiongroups/resources/stoves/Pcia/Design%20Principles%20for%20Wood%20Burning%20Cookstoves.pdf

One of their selling points is that they use fuels that others have already passed over, twigs and dry grass and such. They use about 1/3 the fuel of a 3-stone fire so much less fuel needs to be gathered. In deforested areas that's a big plus.

Insulating the combustion chamber is a key element in the Winiarski rocket stove. It causes the chamber to burn hotter and more efficiently, producing less smoke.

http://www.bioenergy...Principles.html

Scroll down to the 'Principles' list. The main idea is to extract the most heat energy possible from the fuel and deliver as much of that energy as possible to the pot.

Recall, the rocket stove is a cook stove. A rocket mass heater is used to warm buildings. Similar principles but entirely different execution.

Nice shop. I wish I had one like that.

All concrete slabs crack over time. Rebar or remesh will control the cracking and keep the pieces together.

I built a rocket stove and use it from time to time. It's a cook stove. I wouldn't want to use it as a heater because it requires frequent tending, advancing the fuel into the fire chamber.

Mine is made out of a propane tank and some 3-1/2" electrical conduit.
CAUTION - electrical conduit is galvinized and the galvinizing MUST BE removed before using it in a stove.
The stove body is insulated with wood ash. I've also built a shroud to focus the heat energy around the pot. The shroud attaches with magnets.

The fuel is fed into the stove on top of the flat shelf in the intake. Combustion air flows up through the lower half of the intake. I generally use handfuls of twigs as fuel.

This stove will heat one cup of 50° F water to boiling in 2 minutes.

Wow! Sweet deal.

Thanks, John.

just some pics of my forge...

I've never found them in 24 grit at my local supplier. OTOH, 24 grit sanding discs are always in stock. But I'll defer to you on the availability in the UK. Of that I have no knowledge.