Gazz

Chip, did you see my post?; I think you have half of what I have. My property has an ice pond and the house was built in 1860 or 61. Would there have been a blacksmith shop to maintain ice working tools? Seems that it would not be necessary but I don't know. Anyway it's interesting that we have both dug up a similar unknown artifact.

Das, I have that same rod shear (see my post from December I think - in the followed me home thread) and I bolted it to a plate with a short piece of square tube welded to the bottom. I clamp it in the vise when I need to use it and tuck it away when not needed. I used it today and it cuts nice and clean. The "blades" are 1" thick so add an inch when you measure and make your chalk mark then slide the bar into the mark. I made a 5/8" piece of rebar fit for the handle. I had passed it up the first day of the estate sale as they wanted $50 for it and later that evening I was regretting that I didn't buy it. I went back on Sunday when they were taking offers on stuff and I was guessing it would be gone but there it was. $20 and it was mine.

Seems to me that a blacksmith type person could make their own. I bought small rivets once to make a quantity of of ember tongs as the heads on them made it easier to use and still have movement but nails would have worked as well. Other times I needed rivets they were made from a piece of round stock cut to length with ends upset either hot or cold.

I believe they are called lead floats for filing lead on auto bodies. In high school we had a lead sprayer that was used in auto body work. It had a hopper to melt the lead in and would then be sprayed onto your body panel with compressed air. We didn't do auto body in school and I can't remember what we were using it for. And that sure does look like a drilling hammer but I never understood or had it explained to me why they had that specific shape.

Refinement of the finished product was the norm for stuff in the shop I worked in. Careful grinding to remove gross hammer marks and to create chamfers was almost always done, refined like fine jewelry. Witness marks, such as a punch mark to locate a bend or other alignment or to identify mating parts were typically not removed. Discussion of the level of refinement and witness marks was a frequent topic. Do folks who view the work really appreciate that extra effort required to refine it it? Is it really necessary for the piece to be successful? Witness marks were left for viewers who might understand what they were for.

My recent online auction acquisitions and yard sale stuff. The hoe is interesting in that it is made of some serious high carbon steel and has quite a ring to it and sparked lots when I was driving the rotted wooden handle from it. It's shape is unusual and appears to have been made that way and is not from wear. Any ideas why it was made/shaped that way? Also, I believe it is one piece and I wonder how it was made like that as in how was the eye formed from the plate? The torches and gauge came from an online auction for only $9 (with some other gauges not pictured) and the burner and rusty snips from a yard sale for a dollar. Does anybody know what the burner may have been for? It has a rather specific form to it and I guess was used to heat a particular thing. I don't know if I'll ever use it but thought it interesting for a dollar and think the gauge might work for controlling the gas to it. I have wondered about spray metalization in the past and may now be able to look into that. Gotta find the powdered metals for it and wonder if the stuff they sell for knife making will work. My buddy got a Rigid power pipe threader for $100 with dies at the same yardsale. He recently made a nice charcoal cooker and wants to use the waste gas to power his propane generator so he needs to do some plumbing. I was thinking twisting machine but he bought as he needed it.

So walking by the mostly filled in hole where the above came from, I decided to pick up the rocks that were on the surface to add to my rockpile. One piece I picked up I at first thought was a chunk of brick but it was to heavy for that - it must be iron. After a few minutes with the chipping hammer I ended up with this. I believe it is made from wrought iron as some grain is visible where most of the corrosion flaked off. I wonder what else is buried out there!

I thought we weren't supposed to post commercial links here. In any case, I think there is only one steel yard in Concord NH so it should be easy enough for somebody to find.

Thanks for the comments! I had thought it might be some kind of burner but so far I see no evidence of holes in the donut body. I believe it is hollow but that is just a guess at this point as there is still lots of dirt and rocks in the stem part. I realize this probably has nothing to do with blacksmithing but thought it interesting and guess that other smiths are as curious about stuff like this as I am. The ice house foundations are poured concrete but of course older. The house was built in 1860.

It was here before me! I had to do some digging in my yard next to the old ice house foundation and this thing came up with a load from the back hoe. At first I thought it was stone as that is what usually gets dug up and I thought wow - a Viking relic! But its cast iron and I can't imagine what it may have been for. It is 14.5" tall and is two pieces I think, a flat back and the interesting hollow donut shape with an extension. The two "ears' are for nuts and bolts to hold the two pieces together. The central hole does not go through. At first I thought maybe a end piece for a trailer tongue but have decided that is not it. Anybody have any ideas?

If I recall correctly, the twisting machine was powered by a electric motor, perhaps 5hp or more with a small v belt pulley to a larger pulley which was attached to the worm gear of a rather large worm gear drive that supposedly came from an elevator lift system. A four jaw lathe chuck was tried first which exploded instantly when power was applied while trying to twist a larger piece of red hot stock. Next a large C. Parker machinist type vise was tried and it too self destructed immediately. The chuck that worked was fabricated from bits of heavy plate using 5/8" socket head screws to hold the work and had a square socket in which the workpiece was inserted. Lesson there was no cast iron or other cast products for the chuck. The bed or frame was two wide flange I-beams and the tail stock was a large pipe vise mounted to a wide flange piece of channel iron and had bearings to allow the tail stock to roll on the I-beams as the twisted stock became shorter. Big stock came right from the forge hot and a large oxy/propane rosebud torch was used to maintain heat or for more localized twisting. There was also a water hose to cool sections that had twisted enough. Many smaller pieces were twisted using just the rosebud to heat them and the motor could be reversed instantly with a drum switch to make more interesting stuff. My thoughts on a twisting machine would be to use a similar I-beam and pipe vise tailstock set up and use a hydraulic motor for power. Then my neighbor gave me two rather large planetary gear drives which would probably make an awesome twister. I'm certainly not going to be twisting any 3" or larger stock.

Heads up to folks living in NH or nearby. If you need/want a section railroad rail saw cut to a reasonable anvil size there is a steel yard in Concord that has them for sale by the pound. 0-15lbs $10 flat rate 16-50lbs $.85lb 51-200lbs $.80lb 201lbs+ $.75lb

I heated and forged many items that were chrome plated before I knew it was hazardous. Fortunately I never did suffer from dain bramage. The forge I worked out of was very well ventilated and the forge chimney had its own exhaust blower.

I would drill a hole through both sides to accept a screw and then open up the front side to let the screw head pass through. Drilling larger holes in thin copper can be challenging though so maybe a die grinder to open it up.

If you use any acids on them be sure to neutralize them after with some baking soda solution and then dry promptly.

They let you carry those on the plane??!! I remember years ago, before 9/11, that they wouldn't let me board because I had some files in my tool kit.

I like the key hook thing!

This is mostly about what didn't follow me home :-( Last Friday, I bid online for a bunch of blacksmith and related stuff. Mostly I was bidding on the Reiter KB1 hammer and it seems that it was me and another bidder only. I bailed when it got to $7k and regret it now but at the time I was sure the other bidder had a very large bid in already as every time I bid I was immediately outbid. Buyers premium was 18% and then there would have been the riggers fee to load it on my trailer. There was lots of good stuff at the auction, tongs, anvils, hammers, forges and stock. I ended up winning an electric forge blower and a drum of coal and now have to drive about 5 hours round trip to get it. A friend also bid on and won a bunch of stuff and we were going to go up in one truck to get it all but last night he texted me to let me know he tested positve for covid so no riding together. My weekend yard sale treasure was a single pick head for a dollar. I must have close to 100 of them now and my dreams are a fence, gate or sculpture with them all.

I was given a similar piece of steel with a bevel the entire length on one edge that was a edge piece for a snow plow. Mine had square holes in it for plow bolts. I cut it for use as a replacement edge for my tractor bucket but haven't stuck it on there yet. I have cut some of the remainder to use as steel targets but haven't shot any yet. A friend also had a similar piece which he attempted to weld to his tractor bucket but there was an issue with the HAZ area and all the welds popped. Maybe needs a preheat?

I've mentioned it before but anybody who is fabricating, welding or blacksmithing needs a oxy/acetylene torch. Cut, weld, braze, localized heat for bending and the list goes on. It was my first metal working tool and I wouldn't be without one, or two. I made enough money welding up junk sculptures to pay for the gas bottles right quick. The gas axe would cut those axles to the desired length piece in a minute. Add a propane/oxy rosebud torch and life is good.

Do your brazing rods have flux on them?

The circular thing on the top swage is most likely part of the handle. Round stock for the handle was wrapped around the striking end of the swage. Probably a bit loosely to prevent impact shock to to the handle holder. There were top tools wrapped like that in the shop I used to work at.

I have had a bottle of tool blacking (same/similar to gun bluing stuff), I think a Birchwood Casey product in my unheated shop for about 32 years and it still works fine. It can get very cold here in NH.

Chieflittlebair, to bad about your spring. How do you temper your springs? I have had good luck using the procedure from the Brownells catalog. Wrap the formed spring in iron binding wire tightly enough to hold the quench oil well, heat it all until cherry, then quench. Remove from the oil and light the oil on the wire wrapped spring and let it burn until its gone. You either have a spring or you don't.

Nice book! Curious to know how much the bookstore valued it at?