Chris C

Back in the 80's, when I was a bachelor, my mother gave me a rabbit fur bedspread for a Christmas present. Sure did come in "handy". Felt really good on bare skin. It was multi-colored but basically brown and white. Pretty thing.

People aren't interested in it if it isn't pretty clean. I know, I've sold wool for the past 30 some-odd years. I don't think I could even give that nasty pile away. But I do have a couple of sacks of balls of woven roving that I paid Frankenmuth almost $300 to clean and process. Pretty valuable stuff. I should probably find some of the guys here on the forum who's wife spins and trade wool for hammer, tongs and tools. Now that would be a hoot! Never tried to shear a Rabbit. I had a friend who used to brush the hair from her Rabbits and would spin and use it in garments. She had a beautiful felted Rabbit hair vest. Tried to buy it for my late wife, but it wasn't for sale.

Well, today was a most productive day, both in and out of the shop. Starting out, I cleaned up and sheared two Llamas. They will be a whole lot cooler with all that wool off their bodies. BEFORE AFTER BEFORE (forgot the AFTER) RESULT This pile is 4' in diameter and about 18" high in the center. I'm not going to send it off to Frankenmuth Mills for processing. Costs too much and I'm no longer needing wool. Besides, I've got too many balls of woven roving already and no place to use them. Too hard to clean and process myself. Lots of good wool. The birds make really wonderful nests out of it. The birds in our area have the warmest, most beautiful nests you've ever seen! Then the post man brought my water mist cooling system for the grinder and my D&D Workrest. Can't wait to put these to good use. The work rest is built like a tank and I don't even consider it an accessory...........it should be part of every belt grinder sold on the market!!!!! I like! So all in all I had a pretty darned good day.

Hey, Dan, I haven't seen your on the forum in a while. Hope all has been well with you and family.

My prayers are with you and your family, Thomas. Hard times, for sure.

Thanks, Jennifer, but that's my forge and storage area that's adjacent to my shop. It's basically a 1 car garage that's 1 1/2 cars deep. The entire building is 36' x 40'.

Thanks, Thomas. That's enough recommendation for me!

Hmmmmmm. Interesting, Thomas, thanks. The fellow said he gets them all the time and he'd call me next time he has some. When I asked the size, he held up his fist and the circle he indicated was about 2 to 2 1/4" in diameter. I'll check into data for both of those steels. Would I be correct in assuming those two materials would make a good choice for the type tools I mentioned?

That's great, TJ, but if you don't find a way to raise than anvil, you're going to end up looking like an old sharecropper who pulls a plow all day because he can't afford a mule. You're going to destroy your back, young man.

Hope I've chosen the correct forum for this quote. (hate getting scolded by moderators) I think I've found a source for axles from 18-Wheelers. Those should make nice hammer heads, flatters, hardie tools, top and bottom tools, etc., shouldn't they? Anyone know what the material in those is?

Unfortunately it's a huge misconception that wax is water-proof............it's not, it's only water resistant so it's not really an outdoor finish. Galvanizing lasts the longest, but is the least attractive for what you are doing.

Chellie, pretty much any finish is subject to deterioration outside and exposed to ultraviolet light. As much as you dislike paint, Rustoleum would probably last longer than most anything.

That thing is just crazy!

Your link is locked, CGun.

Indeed. I heat my shop primarily with wood drop-offs.

Not sure yet, Don. I've got so much wood here it's unreal. You have to realize, I used to be a custom furniture builder and pretty much all the wood I used was pretty fancy.

Accidents happen in a split second. They are more often over before you even know they happened. I know, I've had my share. I only have three fingers on my left hand. Anyone with a strong stomach can request PM'd pictures.

Well now, isn't THAT a clever idea!!!!! That all-thread makes a lot of sense.

When my family owned the business that included a machine shop, all the men in the office wore clip-on ties. Nothing more pitiful looking than a guy with his tie wrapped around a chunk of steel on the lathe pulling him in to his death by his tie. If it rotates, it can kill you quickly.

So today I cut an 1/8" thick "coin" and 1/2" puck off the end of the 2" bar and took it to my friend's forge. He heat treated the 1/8" piece and broke it. Had a really nice and even fine grain. Then he took the 1/2" puck and made a knife for me. Forged it to shape and heat treated it. One thing he noted while working with it was it didn't acquire any scale..............at all.................as he brought it from the forge. Said it was really clean and nice to work with. He wasn't 100% sure it was 4140, but it acted a whole lot like it or something pretty darned similar. So making hammer heads out of it will be just fine.

I like. Looks very useful.

Wow, nice load.

Nice.............and I also enjoyed the full process. pics.

Garreck, Your pictures will post easily if you will reduce their size by 50%. That depends entirely on the starting size of the photo, if its 5 Gig a reduction by half is still too large. the actual size needs to be much smaller so saying 50% is meaningless with out a base reference

"A-Frame"??????? Heck, I don't even have that much assistance. It's all back work around my place. I do have a Hi-Lift jack that has saved my bacon more than once. (that and come-a-longs) Never lifted a vehicle with it, but have lifted a whole lot of other things with it.