HogHearse

IFCW thank you. Would never have thought that. So no heat! George yes absolutely. Thought about that after reading what I typed. I was getting ahead of myself. I'm assuming the jaws are frozen. I need to remember to take one thing at a time. But being from Cleveland Ohio, salt capitol of the world, and being a tech for 16 years I would bet my paycheck that the jaws are frozen. Getting ready to see what breaks loose here in a bit. The post vise seems to work fine. Just no tension. I'll take some more pics in a bit to show what I'm working with. Looks like there is a coil spring around the bolt. Doesn't seem to be doing anything. So I'm not too sure. I have a bunch of leaf packs laying around waiting for a purpose! Hopefully this will be one lol Shoot George. I just reread your response. Are you saying that the jaws are attached to the screw? So if the screw moves the jaws will follow? I thought the screw could be removed separately from the jaws Talking about the reed

Thanks ifcw and Frosty. Yes that's the secret sauce. Thought mechanics were the only ones who knew about that. I have it soaking right now. Unfortunately not submerged. I plan on making a spreader. I have a couple rippers from a box blade that I think will squeeze in between the jaws. If they do I'm going to drill and tap the first one and just notch the second. I'll screw 2 bolts in the tap and slowly tighten until the jaws begin to move. Going to try not to use any heat but that's always an option. I'm assuming there's bearings on the front and rear side of the screw? If there are then heating is not really an option imo. Hopefully this 'spreader' will work. Fingers crossed

So here is the bench vise that I found buried and a post vise I found at a garage sale this morning on my way back. Paid 75 for the post vise. Any feedback on how to mount or what to look for as far as operation is concerned would be appreciated. I did notice there was no spring in between the 2 arms if that makes any sense. The reed vise is frozen so going to fabricate a tool to separate

Thomas that's crazy. You should post a video of it lol

Frosty they can be. As long as the wind is in your face, and you have the right repayment, the hogs will never know. Love technology. I'm using a thermal imaging scope that's mounted on top of my rifle. TP not sure if I'm there yet skill wise but definitely on my list. Had a chance to go out on a hunt where they use dogs to find and hold the hogs while you grab their back legs and stick them in the heart. Pretty wild time.

Thank you. They are really handy. But I think I'm all out of them. Controlling the hogs is almost impossible, actually I think it is. People are making a lot of money off them selling hunts and their meat. In Europe fetal hog is a delicacy. Feel bad for the farmers though. But it is a blast shooting and trapping them (no pun intended) There's nothing like stalking up to a boar in complete darkness and taking him out. It's really hard to explain that adrenaline rush

Lol

Lol. The mini donkey will lug you around.

I met him at the blade show in Brennan a month ago

Is he a younger guy who does a lot of tooling and hammers?

Ahhh. I need to start thinking outside the box and seeing the bigger picture. And yes bringing a metal detector would be awesome. I just need an assistant to carry lol. When I hunt I run and gun. Not good at sitting in one spot. I've found some pretty cool things. A few cool ones were a double side axe. It doesn't have any markings on it that I can find. I rehung it and it rides in the bed of my truck at all times. Another item was a shoe cobble. It's cool figuring out what was going on in the area where I find things. I'm not big on selling things. All of the old stuff that I collect is all put to use. There's something about the holding history in your hands and the stories they have.

I was given a cooking apparatus for the back of an RV that stored a barbeque grill and a cabinet. The whole unit probably weight 400-500 pounds. That piece was the base for where the bbq sat. Then I just cut some brackets from another plate and welded the eyes for my tong holder. Welded some flat bar for the hammer holder. Pretty straight forward. Love Frankenstein builds. And yes there is potential there for other uses. For now it's my portable tong holder. Got sick of putting them in buckets And yes a swage is definitely on my list for next piece of equipment. I'll find one eventually. Also a leg vise. I was hog hunting the other night and was walking through the woods when I tripped over something. So I look and notice it wasn't a root or stump. 35 min later after digging and digging I found a 9'long rail road track and a diamond....a reed 3c bench vise. It's a monster. Well over 100 pounds. After I get back I'll clean it up and take some pics. Super excited

Ok awesome. I'll look into it. Appreciate the info!

Yes sir. That makes sense regarding the 6' distance. Going to have to rearrange some things. The more and more I forge the more I realize the importance of efficiency and keeping the piece as hot as possible. Appreciate that advice. The table that I use for my tongs doubles as my punch hole for making the bottle openers. The holes were already in the piece of steel that I salvaged, I just had to enlarge one for the final step. Thought it looked like an owl so I painted it lol.

So this week I've been at a horse show in Tyler Texas. I needed to bring my equipment in order to fulfill bottle opener and keychain orders. While packing I didn't feel like loading up the coal forge, so my mind started turning. I found an old cast iron skillet that I never use and an empty propane torch bottle. Equipped with a generator and a hair drying I came up with a mini fire breathing dragon lol. All criticism welcome. I was able to forge out 25 openers and 5 keychains. Not to shabby. Definitely going to keep it. Oh and the stand for my forge.....I found in the woods on the property. It's a walker\toilet. A fine piece of equipment. Hope y'all enjoy. Show me all of y'all's portable forges! Not pictured is the grate.