ThorsHammer82

The threads on some of those can be used to fix/replace the screw on Post vises that may be missing the screw, or have a screw that is beyond repair. I used a house jack make the screw for my vise repair.

I'll second the chainsaw vise theory. The open throat in the clamping surfaces would allow the bar to be clamped but the chain to move freely.

Yes, It would still be useful as a black smithing vise. The wagon vises were just more mobile than a traditional post vise. Still just as functional though. You could mount using the original bottom mount, or weld on/cobble on a leg. The choice is yours. what is the Jaw size?

so the combination of being stir crazy, the little lady being tired of waiting on me, and my brother being voluntold to come over and help with another project, We got the concrete poured and of course the posts in the ground. Got a lot of help from my step son and my father in law lent me the use of his power mixer which made the concrete a breeze. Now I've just got to really heal up before I spend to much time on my feet. I was able to walk around without crutches for a bit this evening. but I'm feeling it now and think tomorrow I'm going to be paying for my transgressions. but hey, The posts are set and now it's just a matter of waiting for the concrete to cure before I throw the vise on there and attach the post anvil after figuring out exactly how I plan to attach it. (Thinking two flat stock straps should do nicely.) Thank you all for the advice and tips. I treated the posts with wet seat roof sealant liberally then wrapped that in landscaping cloth so as to minimize the amount that stuck to those helping with the project. The three posts were coated and secured to each other then the outside of the all were coated well. and left the bottom untreated.

agreed. RR tracks are private property. Taking anything off the tracks can and will be considered theft.

Thank you Frosty. I'm doing everything I can to heal up quickly. Even if that means doing one of the things I hate most in life... Sitting still. My Wife has been a great sport so far, but I've got a pretty strong feeling based on past experience that that will only last so long.

not sure what it has to do with a cooking section. I'm not the ones that asked for pictures.

here you go. perfect Chicken head.

well yesterday brought me from excitement to frustration. The plan was to pick up the concrete for the mount, and pour within the next week or so. However, fate had a different plan for me. As I was loading the second 80 lbs bag into the truck from the cart my ankle/shin made a very loud "SNAP" noise and now I'm writing this from the comfort of my bed with my foot elevated and iced and waiting until next week some time to get an MRI done because the X-ray didn't show the doctor or myself anything obvious. So now it's going to be at least 2-3 weeks before I can get to that perticular project. let alone the other planned projects that I had for this summer...

Rubber chicken heads leave funny marks... don't ask how I know.

did you determine the actual weight?

Frosty, I'm sorry to say, the sarcasm may have been lost on you with my original post.

Looks a lot like the 5" I recently picked up. Save the fact that mine didn't come with the pivot bolt, spring, mount, or screw assembly. Mine didn't have any discernible markings.

Thanks Frosty. I've already drawn out the steps I want to take to make the head. but first things first I've got to make some tools to do the job. I'm currently getting my Post vise, Post anvil, and RRT anvil stand built (should be done within the next two weeks. Once that's done it's onto some punches and a hot cut chisel. once those are done it will be time to attempt the dragon head. I may take several attempts before I come up with something I'm willing to share with the world though.

Vaughnt, You're WAY out of scale. The starting piece will be a section of 2"x3/8" flat stock. The plan is to forge the head/horns, and neck and draw it down as in the prow/keel of a ship. Think the mermaid or skeleton on a pirate ship, but really just the head and neck. It's a Viking long ship so no figure then spike sticking out to hold a sail. Just a figure to strike fear into the poor soul who sees it coming through the mist at them.

I went to abbreviate Blacksmith in another thread and realized it was BS... which makes me wonder if maybe it was deliberate. As it seems to fit quite well some times.

It may be as simple as just adding a spacer between the table, and the pulley shaft mount to get it low enough to mate with the crank gear.

Hey I get it, let the helper man the stand while you mingle. I've got the vice all cleaned up and am just waiting on getting my stand finished up before I post pictures of it on here. Thank you again by the way.

over the last three weeks or so, I've picked up a large acme screw, two automotive coil springs, a small buffer polisher, Misc wood working chisels, a nice 8 lbs full handle sledge, a "Mutt" tool from "the village blacksmith" some brass and steel punches and chisels, a desk top magnifying glass, misc brass and copper sheet metal & tubing, a large brass wall decoration (naval theme) a couple of different knife sharpeners, some old rubber ended hammers, some ball peen hammers, 10 rr spikes and a set of tongs.

ThorsHammer82 said: ... use what you have to make what you need while you search for what you want... Wow. never thought something out of my "mouth" would end up here... thanks

Made it up to the swap meet for a short visit (kids were hungry and wife was over heated). Ran into Andy from Quick & Dirty tools and bought some tongs from him. and picked up some RR spikes to play with as well. Kids got to watch a 500 lbs treadle hammer get lifted from one truck bed and loaded onto another. and I got to see some pretty cool tools. No one was actively forging while we were in the shop but the boys did get to see what a large shop should look like.

That will be WAY To much air if you get it working. You'll just be wasting fuel. My first set up was with a shop vac on blow and I had to open the ash dump to reduce the airflow, and I was still blowing coal out of the pot. a $5 hair drier from goodwill/Value village/garage sale so long as the fan works is plenty.

I'd like to see more pictures. Full tool and both sides if available. I agree that it looks like it could be something to roll the edge of sheet metal but I'm not sold on that. as you'd have to have a vertical bend already. Maybe a barrel sealer? something to roll the end of a barrel lid over to seal it permanently?

A hot cut can be as simple as a edged piece of iron bolted to the side of the anvil stand. It doesn't need to be heat treated as it would loose it's heat treatment due to the type of use it will see. It can also be something that is put in a vice while you're cutting and removed when you don't need it. Just like bending forks, fullering tools, guillotine tools, etc. etc. etc. anything that can go in a hardy hole, can be made to work with a vice as well. So if you're anvil poor like I am, and don't have a hardy hole to work with, you use what you have to make what you need while you search for what you want and then the cycle continues. As stated above. tapers, S/J hooks, scrolls and twists are the best places to start. Square up round stock. round up square stock, taper both round and square stock, bend both round and square, and flat stock, twist square stock. Make a leaf, draw out the pedal and the stem. Punches, drifts and slits are going to be the easiest tools to make. Heat treating being the hardest part of those. the tools need to make them are a hammer an anvil and a file/grinder. Then you'll want/need tongs. tools = Hammer, anvil, punch/drill. after that it's just a matter of making the tools the right size/shape to make what you're trying to make. You'll notice that most smiths who've been in the craft for a while have more sizes of the same tool than they have different tools in the shop. a drift is a drift, but you can have dozens of different sized drifts. A set of tongs is a set of tongs, but you can have dozens of different sizes/shapes of tongs. A hammer is a hammer, but you can have dozens of different sizes/combinations of hammers.

The only Bill Epps Dragon I was able to find was one head he did. So far frosty's link to the yahoo images has been the best help for this current project. In my earlier searching I saw one where someone made a dragon head RR spike knife with the dragon's head as the pummel of the knife. It was probably the most unique head I've seen so far in my searching. Most of the others have been the broad nosed "happy" dragons with the elongated lower jaw that really isn't the look I'm hoping for. I'm just going to have to keep searching I think.