Smoggy

Could you not simply relocate the anchor point, either with a replacement or extension?

Well done. You've not only managed to make a few tools but likely learned a fair bit on the journey. You and your products will only improve. Now go search for more stock.....I think you'll be needing plenty at this rate....!

How are you intending moving these axles? Pick up? Trailer? You could calibrate your vehicle ride height to measure the load carried! measure unladen height at tow hitch, place known weight in centre of load area, remeasure. The added weight is the difference in inches. (you can make up a graduated stick if you want) Not extremely accurate but a decent indicator, more accurate than guestimating if you have no reference point also less likely to be argued over by the vendor. Added bonus, if you are ever near to full capacity and the police take an interest, you can at least show you tried to comply with loading regs!

Anyone know what the typical spec is on damper piston rods? Chrome plating aside it looks like a useful length of bar!

Have I got this right......Turning the handle rotates the circular table whilst also rocking the arm side to side......why am I thinking lens grinding? Definitely for grinding or lapping something. Presumably held down by the thumb screws.

Grappling hook release..... attach a second line to the hook end, then if you catch an immovable pull the other line in the opposite direction. Magnets, Some speakers have decent heavy magnets in them and Hard Drives have the rare earth ones that will bite your fingers given a chance!

They're a tad late ordering these Wayne, it's already been looted.....! Very nice work, do you know where they will be used? I'm wondering how many visitors will view these in the future and think they are original items!!!!!

If I remember correctly, in one of Gary Hustons youtube vids he makes a riveting tool (can't think of the correct term at the moment) using a ball bearing. I would suspect you could make a convex punch the same way to fashion eyeballs and a small dot punch for the pupil.

When you burn off the volatiles from coal you are left with coke, in the same way as wood reduces to charcoal. Have you tried burning these 'rocks'? do you have a picture of them?

Is that a nylon insert Das, hence the do not reuse? Ausfre, What makes you suspect Sewell to be an electrical component manufacturer, I would have thought a lifting equipment manufacturer would be more likely. Especially as that nicely put together sclpture looks like a 'crane' to me ( a quick net search found Gregg Sewell Forgings with a few branches across Aus....a likely candidate? )

I could be wrong, others will know for sure, but I think fencing usually or often employed the lower grades of wrought, The higher quality being reserved for structural use, bridges etc, so any assessment of value may need to factor that in.

I have no idea what price wrought iron demands, but I do know there are variations in quality. Is this new or recycle, if the latter do you know what the source was as that may give an indication of it's likely quality.

Now I know a 'sheet bend' (singular) as a rope jointing knot, you're just trying to confuse me Frosty!.

Since posting the above Glen, I thought I'd have a looksee for a vid......found three variants of the knot ......none of which are the one I use or as easy to tie! lol There also appears to be a plethera of alternate names.

Ponder on this subject a little, The afore mentioned ratchet straps have more or less become the industrial standard for most uses, so much so that here in the UK driver training no longer covers traditional sheeting skills but instead concentrates quite rightly on the systems that are now in common use within the industry, However, as always, there is still a place for the older crafts. Not every load is plastic wrapped palleted and carried on a curtain side trailer. I learned from old hands how to sheet down a load using a wagoners sheeting knot.......still prefer it over a ratchet strap most of the time. Anyone else use the knot?

The working of stone, wood, ceramics and textiles all pre-date the working of metals the world over where ever any civilisation evolved. So one could say, if it where not for the foresters, and carpenters, the farmers and ropemakers and weavers, the Pilgrims would not have had the ships to cross the atlantic to found the country! The modern America you are alluding to that was built by Blacksmiths, sent men to the Moon, with the help of a German rocket scientist by the name of Von Braun, Using mapping data produced by the Englishman Patrick Moore, and the endless contributions of Einstein, Watt, etc etc..... No single craft or trade builds a country on it's own, it contributes to the effort of others, and depends on them for support, the farmer that fed the smith, the miner that provided the coal and ore, the forester that cut the lumber to build the smithy....etc etc, All contribute and prosper together, that's what a country is, not just the location. Mankind benefits and expands upon the work others have done before. I think the Great Issac Newton is credited with the quote "... If I see further, it is because I stand on the shoulders of giants..."

There seems to be a lot of those vids turning up on youtube lately, presumably it's the latest craze........I can't help but wonder how long before someone finds an ants nest with a decent amount of dampness at the bottom, the fun will start!

Nice work Francis, I'm familiar with the soap indicator, it works well on Birmabright.

If I required such an amount of timber of that length this is how I would handle the job....... I would not bother with my trailer which is too short, nor would I bother with the Land Rover complete with ex Electricity board roofrack, which was built for transporting telegraph poles and although capable of the task would require loading and unloading. I would simply jump on the bus or hail a taxi to the store/lumber yard. Select my lumber and pay, call another taxi and shoot off to the club for the afternoon and enjoy a pint of best and a game of snooker. When I got home I would find the timber had been delivered and craned over the fence.. Job done! and no police officers tugging at my collar!

A bit of tidying up, and assuming the ways are in good fettle and you've got a very capable little lathe there. If you need info, and you've not already done so, visit Tony Griffiths' site, Lathes.co.uk. plenty of info and photos to interest you and he may even have a copy of the original handbook for this model. ...oh and when it's all cleaned up and running.....we want more photos...

Then either something is running out of alignment due to play re Thomas' reply, or it is binding up likely due to heat expansion of the bearing surfaces. Not being able to inspect it makes an evaluation impossible, unless you find exactly what the problem is I have only two suggestions.......use a different lubricant (thicker/thinner as needed) or .......... give it a shorter work cycle!

this may sound a tad daft but.......... Does this type of blower work cranked ether way, or do you have to turn it in a specific direction? If it works either way, you could try turning it the other way to what you have been doing and see if it still binds up, worth a punt, easier than dismantling it!

" ...He said you could buy anything you want at most hardware stores or some specialty place... " Totally and emphatically wrong, the sort of statement made by an insular, unimaginative minded immature person. I'm guessing he's never been anywhere, seen anything or done anything that wasn't computer generated or go with the crowd. Buy far the best answer you could have offered him would be to suggest he go find out for himself!

You could machine loads of hammer head inserts out of those if you want a brass hammer. They are sizable chunks and many items could be made from them without going to all the trouble of casting, Cut a section and try forging it, if you can manage it then your options open further. As stated above it could easily be put to good use by a bladesmith for guards and pommels. And the longer you have it in stock the more tasks you'll find for it, and it's good trade stock too! Myself, I'd save that as is to be machined into bushes! Possibly casting the turnings and off cuts at a later date into small blanks for.....more bushings!

It is what I've come to know as a blacksmiths drill, but I could see it being used to good effect by a boilermaker needing rivet holes in plates or a joiner on timber. Google "Keystone reversible racket" It would have been used with a clamp of some description.