cpirtle Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Hi all, I'm new here and it looks like this site will become one of my favorite hang-outs. Figured I'd start out by getting a bit of advice.. A couple of weeks ago at a yard sale I picked up a 4 piece set of Roper Whitney/Pexto forming stakes. I got them all for next to nothing ($75) but now I want to put together a dedicated bench plate for them. Picture attached are the stakes and my tractor has a 48" bucket to give you an idea of size. I found a good price on a thick piece of S7 that's 6" x 10" x 2" for $53.. I've never worked with S7 - would it be a good choice for supporting these big stakes and occasional hammering on it as a backup to my anvil? Should I harden it or leave it annealed? If there is a better steel to look for I am open to suggestions. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Good buy! I might be tempted to buy one of the stake holders sold on ebay. other wise drill and forge a taper to match the taper of the stakes and make a holder you self from mild steel. Use a smaller piece of steel that you can heat in the forge and drive the positve taper into it. The weld the negative taper to a large piece for regualr use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 S-7 is NOT the steel to use for a stake plate. Not that it wouldn't work, it's just totally uneccessary, like using a dump truck as a commuter car. It would make a good anvil or other high impact tool. Heck, you could probably sell or trade it for enough, tailgating at the next club meeting or conference to buy something else you can use. What Charlotte describes is a much better choice. If you'll click "User CP" at the top of the page and edit your profile to show your location it can make a big difference. IFI is represented by members from more than 50 countries and a lot of info is location specific. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 S7 is overkill, 4140 or even A36 will do fine and should be MUCH cheaper. However folks sell stake holders and buying a couple or even 4 of them might be a better return on your time. At Chris Thompson's shop I saw a nice set up they had a thick slab of steel set flat as a table with a welded up stake holder at each corner so they could use the flat or have a number of stakes in place to use round robin. The stake holders were just pieces of heavy strap stock welded up at the proper angle to hold the stakes and then welded to the table frame. (If I was trying to do them I would probably use a stake to do the alignment on and leave a little "more" so the final result the stake could go a bit deeper.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cpirtle Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 Thanks for all of the advice and I have updated my profile. I figured S7 might be overkill but the price was right at $1.50 a pound. ThomasPowers, what I had envisioned was along the lines of what you are describing, only smaller. I would like a small and thick work surface that would also double for holding these stakes. The only stake holder I found on eBay was about $80 + shipping and did not look very robust. I would be interested in seeing others if anyone knows of them. I'll give my local supplier a ring and see what they have for options, in the mean time if anyone local to me has something I may be interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Einhorn Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 I agree with the above. If you can weld then your best bet is likely to weld up a socket or sockets to match your stakes from mild steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 I rather consider e-bay a terrible place to find smithing tools; is there some reason you thought it might be a good place to find such items at a reasonable price? What did you turn up looking in the blacksmithing tool catalogs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Browne Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 The old stake holder in the "shop" at home is a hardwood stump with a metal lined hole for the stake to sit in. Leaves the anvil free for hammer work and you can leave your stakes/hardie tools set up in advance so you can use them when ready. Point here is it doesn't even have to be a solid metal holder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 An example on one solution to the problem is currently posted here:http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f48/bear-copper-14013/ Look in the background of the first three thumbnails Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arftist Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 what an awesome buy on those stakes. They may as well have been free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cpirtle Posted August 19, 2009 Author Share Posted August 19, 2009 Thanks again everyone, I appreciate all of the continued ideas. I need to find time to get to the scrap yard and buy a few supplies. I noticed my thread was moved to "tools" (I'm still finding my way around) and a stumbled on THIS thread which has also given me a ton of ideas. Mainly along the lines of what Charlotte suggested. arftist, Broadheadgarret have these in their catalog for just over $1700 combined, I know they can be had cheaper but luckily I didn't need to look around (I wasn't even looking for them, I set out to get a new anvil that day). They have signs of use but I think I can get past that ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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