Justin Topp

2 lb hatchet. 16” hickory handle. Forged from 4140 steel. 

I’ll have to try and find that page to go post it!

Thanks Larry! 
 

That’s not my shop unfortunately. It was at a local blacksmith event / class I attended. However I have been working on my shop. I’ll have to get some photos one of these days. After I clean it up some. 

Recently forged this little Christmas gnome thing. 

I also got a new blower so I no longer have to use a hair drier to power my forges! 

I do make sure to stop the power feed to break the chip before it gets too big. They can do some damage spinning fast with how sharp they are. 

Just over 3/8 on the diameter * .200” depth of cut 

This thing makes the last lathe look like a joke. Took a 3/8” cut without any issues whatsoever. Could give it more happily but this was the max for how I ground them hss. 

Trust me I’m looking haha. My little mill is very capable for its size but steel is a little tough for it. I’d love to find something that’s not quite full sized but still with plenty of power 

Got it unloaded finally, and wired it up.  Did my first test cuts in some mild steel and it’s so much better than the craftsman.

with my poorly sharpened hss tool it easily took a 1/8” depth of cut. And very fine cuts as well. In some mild steel 

Excited to get a quick change tool post and some tooling for it. Than I can get busy and make some chips!

Shouldn’t happen with this auctioneer. You have to schedule an appointment so it’s just you maybe one other person picking up. Than there’s also the auctioneer and several employees. Before you leave they go down the list to be sure you have everything that you bought and nothing else. Regardless your always with some member of staff there. 

Will do. It’s just the lathe no tooling so you’d have to disassemble the lathe to get anything. Which wouldn’t be super easy to do discretely

Just won a little something at an auction. Picking it up next Wednesday. 
 

14” southbend lathe. 28” between centers 

Good to know! Thanks 

3/8” round extruded aluminum. 6061. 
 

for this small stock I was using a propane torch. Since it heats so fast. Either works. I’d estimate forging temps to be around 600-700. 
 

you want to use a very thin piece of wood. Like a fine shaving and press the aluminum onto it.  If it begins smoking after a Second or three the aluminum is hot enough to forge. Work until it feels like it’s hardened. 
 

It’s like butter. Incredibly soft. Careful though. Likes to crack if your not very careful with temperatures 

Aluminum is a strange material to forge 

Thanks here’s it all finished up. 

Ah. Thanks for the explanation. Never heard of them before. This is a little different I’d think 

Kama? 
 

It was supposed to say weeder not weeded. Darn autocorrect. 
 

Thanks, no it’s number 25. The “1” is just a chunk of scale that fell off And happened to look like a exactly like a 1 

A few current work in progress pieces. A cape cod weeded forged from spring steel with a bloodwood handle. Which is mostly done and a ~ 3 lb rounding hammer 

Haha thanks! I’m really excited to get it in the garage and put to work. It’s going to make life so much easier 

Its a fantastic old articulating head drill press. The head pivots in two places, the table spins in two ways as well. You can drill to the center of pretty much anything as long as it’s not larger than 4’ in width /diameter. Everything pivots on ball bearings where the body is brass with steel balls so it’s super smooth. 
 

Speed range with the gears and pulleys is  80-4000 rpms. The head has a 5 size step pulley than an oil filled gear box. The vfd will allow more speed control if I need it. Meaning I can get near perfect speeds when drilling. 

Due to it being three phase I will run it off a vfd acting as a phase converter  this will also allow me to reverse it as the original reversing switch was gone  I have a mt2 tapping head which will fit this drill and allow me to power tap holes as well  

There’s t slots all over the table  and a few on the side of the table  and in the base  meaning lots of room for fixtures and clamping  

coolant was an option originally and will be added to this drill eventually. 
 

there’s a “jack” / “leg” under the table to support it for higher accuracy when drilling heavy objects  

Can’t wait to get it into use. Should be a big improvement to my other drill. Which worked fine. But it’s a small bench top drill press that’s got a 1/4 hp motor and goes down to 600 rpms at the minimum. Which is too fast for large bits. 
 

It’s missing a handle but that’s an easy replacement. The original reversing switch is an easy fix as well As it uses a barrel style power control switch. For off, forward and reverse. But since I have the vfd for direction Changing I’ll wait to put another switch in like the original. 
 

Sorry for the rant haha  

Purchased this drill today for 150$. Should be a great upgrade to the small bench top drill I had before. It’s 1200 lbs roughly and made in England. Everything is smooth and functions well 

I like restoring bench vises and any excuses to braze things are taken haha. Prentiss are the best looking swivel jaw in my opinion. So I think I can make it whole again. There’s about half of the last 4” of the slide missing. So some plate steel brazed on should fix it nicely 

Indian chiefs are Columbian. Odd to see no Columbians. They were often marked only on the mounting brackets which got lost often. That could be why. But still weird 

im looking to possibly purchase a 7” prentiss swivel jaw. With a chunk out of the slide. That’s an easy enough fix though 

Thanks!  I have a prentiss jewelers vise. That’s also swivel jaw. But the jaws are only 1.75”. I may be purchasing a larger prentiss swivel jaw soon…. 
 

of the 9 post vises I’ve owned. I believe 6-7 were Columbian. By far the most common I have found. There has been a few not Columbian branded that were still made by Columbian. For other sellers