rustyanchor

Twigg,

Emerald ash borers got a few of my ash trees last year, I just dropped one and it looks like the wood is still sound. If you would like a split to try to make handles with, PM your address and I'll mail you one.

Andy O,

I didn't see a date reply to your orig date question, from AIA, it looks like it was born in 1943. Another nice war baby TreXton.

If you are a history type geek, AIA is a fascinating book. Richard Postman did a fantastic job researching and compiling the info. There is more info out there and I hope somebody can add to the reference.

Any way you found a very nice condition and very usable sized war baby TreXton.

If you fill the location info on your profile you might find a few folks near you.

According to AIA if I'm reading the S/N as 213277...1943 to Apr of 1945.

Cool anvil.

Ecross:

I plumbed my gas grill and generator along with a heater into a 300 pound tank, it took a bit of creative plumbing.

Your hook up looks easier than what I ended up doing, as long as the tank has a reg on it. I would pull the galvo fitting off, find the brass fitting that your reg screws into and another one that will screw onto the fitting on the tank and you may need another to connect the two.  If you have to run a line from the tank to the shop, I was told to use copper or black iron pipe. Your forge gas line has a reg/pressure gauge in the pic. If your big tank has a reg attached to it, you only have to connect the two.

My problem was a longer run and I needed more pressure for the grill and gen, with a lower pressure line for a house propane heater. The grill and gen also have the hand tighten quick connects. Got 2 portable tank valves from my propane supplier and plumbed them in.

The line going into the house for a heater is double regulated, one reg on the tank, another before the line goes into the house. I needed higher pressure for the grill and a propane generator than the heater needed, so I had the gas company split the line after the tank reg. The heater is on one line with a "house" reg. The second line runs to the grill and generator which each have their own reg.

My local hardware store had the all misc fittings I needed.

Hope this makes some sort of sense

KS and Gazz

Thank You.

I know it is very limited in it's uses with no dials, but it's a cute little baby. It will be a good starter lathe, and most of the metal I monkey with is small stuff that doesn't need real tight tolerances.

Thomas,

I do think I made a friend out of the deal., so that is a nice thing.

The only lathe parts were 2 drill chucks, 2 cutters and the assorted wrenches. The 4 jaw chuck is much too large for the lathe, but maybe someone with a bigger lathe and more smarts than me can put it to use.

I started cleaning the accumulated gunk off and started oiling the machined surfaces, things are starting to move easier.

From the little bit of nosing I have done, there are parts and accessories available. Probably spend more for repair/upgrades than I paid for the lathe.

Please do not tell anyone, but I have used my Jet midi wood lathe, with a 3 jaw chuck, to turn small metal parts, used drill presses too. I have a NOVA chuck for the wood lathe, I wonder if I can adapt it to the metal lathe...

I finally get something to post!

Went to an auction Sat. with one of the featured pieces being an anvil. One blurry pic of it in the sale ad. 

The anvil was an 80lb ACME with nice rebound and a nice looking top plate. I was curious to see what it would go for. Pretty much every tool in the guys shop was Craftsman or Sears branded. So I figured the anvil was sold thru Sears as a rebadged Trenton. S/N and weight were in the correct location on the front foot.

Auctioneer started the bid at a thousand with no takers...the anvil went for $425 with a 10% buyers premium and 6% tax. Guy told his wife he wanted the anvil and she came to the auction and got it. I did tell her it was a nice anvil, but didn't comment on the price.

Anyway my goodies...A Craftsman 109 baby metal lathe, 105mm howitzer brass powder can, a bunch of misc metal, and a huge started for something...it was 1 lot and I wanted the lathe. I was bidding against one fellow and hit my limit, he won but only wanted the table the lathe was mounted on. We chatted a bit and he took the table and I took the lathe.  We both walked away happy.

I found out that the 109 has some short comings but for what I want it for (small parts) i think it will be just fine. 

Marc1,

That is a big dude. It might work pretty well for cracking black walnuts 2 at a time!

I absolutely love seeing the old industrial iron, and old tools in general. I don't have any use for the big stuff, but I love seeing big toys. (Especially being put back to work)

Nice vises.

The Columbian is a monster! Any idea of the weight?

I found a pdf book which lists steel and aluminum weight by shape and size.

It is on EMJ metals website. Not sure if I am allowed to post a link, so I will not to ensure I do not incur the wrath of the Mods.

24 minutes ago, jlpservicesinc said:

I usta use math all the time in Scuba diving and for figuring out volumes for metal and such. but now I use math once every 3-6months unless it's simple addition/subtraction. 

It shows.. LOL.. 

 

Figuring out residual nitrogen times and remaining bottom times perhaps? Everybody has a dive computer now, are dive tables still taught?

Thomas,

I feel your pain in driving anywhere, I would not give up the country life for the convenience of a city. I just lucked out with a great steel supplier 15 miles away. I do tend to pick up an extra stick or two when I go by...I went for 2 1/2" sq stock, ended up with 4 in the shop. It will get used for something some time.

I had a smart phone when we moved here, but no cell service at the house and I didn't get any smarter, so I went back to a flip phone and seem to be OK with it. The GPS would be useful for trips, but I usually manage to get where I'm going.

JHCC,

Thank you! Maff has never been my best friend. I can wing it and get close enough for what I need, but you really don't want me figuring out stress loads for bridges or designing airplanes. The rules and formulas just never stuck. Graph paper and a scaled ruler are my friends. 

9 hours ago, JHCC said:

Remember that steel is 0.284 lbs/cubic inch, and you won’t go wrong. 

Thank you.

I'm sure there is a readily accessible chart for size versus weight by length, but I never thought to look for it. I would also bet there is something in Machinery's Handbook, but I haven't tried to look it up, and don't carry it around.

3 hours ago, Fowllife said:

I'm surprised that some guys are still buying as low as $.35/lb since that's below wholesale price on most if not all shapes.

I believe a lot of their misc. (the $.35/lb) is mill 'rejects', for jobs not requiring a spec. steel, the stuff is fine. I got some 1/4 or so round stock thinking it was cold rolled, it is hard and a bear to bend cold, but it welds up fine, so it works for what I need. They do have odd drops and some recycled parts, and lots of other odds and ends. Great place to waunder around for a few hours.

4 hours ago, jlpservicesinc said:

.850 per foot on 1/2" sq hot rolled.  I get 17lbs per 20ft length on 1/2" sq. 

Is my math off? 

3 hours ago, JHCC said:

No, your math is right. Must have been the flat bar. 

OK, I solved the weight mystery, I went to the shop and looked at the square stock and it is 1/2 and 10' long, but there were 4 10' sticks rather than 2. I weighed 2 10' pieces and they weigh 17 pounds according to the highly calibrated cheap fish scale. So guess I bought 4 sticks and the weight was 34 pounds.

Thank you both for keeping me honest.

20' of 1/2" square hot rolled is either 24 or 34 pounds and cost me $9.60 or $11.90. Not sure whether the flat bar or the square was 24 or 34 pounds and I'm too lazy to go to the shop to weigh anything.  

On 1/2/2020 at 2:24 PM, Steve Sells said:

How can they sell new steel for that price? that was the question,  not scrap

Most of the stock was new steel when they got it, some has the mill tag still on the bundles. I 'assume' that the stuff is steel that didn't come out to specs.

Dunno, maybe they raid the mill storage lots at night...kidding they are a great bunch of guys to buy from.

They don't care if I buy 20' sticks and hack them up with an angle grinder in the parking lot, rather than paying any cut fee. I think they will do a couple of cuts with a torch for not much if anything.

The 'misc' steel is what they call the 35 cents a pound stuff and most of it is under covered storage outside, they have the 'good stuff' inside.

I got 9 10' sticks of 3"X3"X3/8 angle (75 pounds or so each) a bunch of 10'  1-1/2X1-1/2X3/16 angle and some and a couple of 1"X3/6 flat for a combined weight of 900 or so pounds, for $350.

It is a real place with good deals on new steel.

35 cents a pound for misc. mild steel at Sandusky Sales in Columbia KY. 

Please don't monkey with the face plate until you have used it and found out what it cannot do in it's current  condition. It still appears to have plenty of intact face attached. Probably took a hundred or so years to wear that much off, looks like it has a few hundred left in it.

Just my opinion...

Have you done ball bearing and ring "testing"?

Not sure how deep the hardening actually goes, but the rebound on mine, if I miss a blow, is shall we say....eye opening.

I may be wrong, if I am someone will be along to correct me, but I believe HB went to that horn shape and the tool steel upper in 1913 or so. The logo style may also help determining a date but I don't have any info on the different logos used. 

Looks like you have a 1918 or so HB in beautiful shape. The top half should be solid tool steel...no face plate, awesome anvil. Mine is a 1919 150lb 'baby' compared to that one. Great find.

My uneducated SWAG is Hay Budden. Look under the horn, on the front of the foot for a S/N.

Hydraulics on a tractor work really well too. I used a backhoe as a crane to set my anvil on it's stump.

I know it's cheating, but my back thanks me.

You could get shorter blades made to take the stretch and adjustment into account. I have been buying blades from Woodcraft Bands Inc. for years. They don't have a big selection of metal cutting blade stock, but you could call them and see if they can fix you up. Good people to deal with.

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