James Markstahler Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 John, I will get better picks and a display. I used the pic I bought them from. I need to get them cleaned a little and then show how it all works. I have done wrought iron items but I have only done one forge project and that was a knife from a file in high school and I am closing in on the 50 year reunion lol. Thanks for your comments Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilwaukeeJon Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 Just bought a vintage blowhorn stake and was wondering about setting it in a stump instead of a stake plate. If one does this, do you drive it into a hole snugly or put it into a larger hole where it stays kind of loose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 Snug, no movement! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arftist Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 I have a double seam mandrell. Often wondered it was originally mounted. This picture is fascinating to me. I wish this fellow had returned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert33usa Posted August 22, 2019 Share Posted August 22, 2019 Does anyone know the proper height a stake plate should be mounted at? I came across a Pexto plate that fits some stakes I have. Thinking of making some sort of stand for the plate out of wood. Just need to know proper height. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Sorry to bring back such an old post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reeltree Posted August 22, 2019 Share Posted August 22, 2019 A height that is comfortable for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 22, 2019 Share Posted August 22, 2019 What are the stakes you use the most? Mount it so they are in the best working height. There will always be stakes that are too high or too low. Note that if you work sitting on a stool factor that in too. I know an armourer whose stake bench has two levels to deal with different stakes and how he uses them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SterlingABSAS Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 (edited) You got a great deal there with the plate and stakes! The plate is typically mounted flush into either a wooden or metal table. It would be almost impossible to find a matching metal table, but you could make or buy a wooden bench/table and first cut out, then route out, then chisel out the corners, to the right depth so that the plate is flush to the table/bench. It has to be clear underneath so that you can insert the assorted stakes without obstruction. Should you decide not to use them, let me know! Keep in mind that these items are for non-ferrous metals; that is, they are NOT for beating steel or iron for blacksmithing or bladesmithing. The stakes are not hardened, made from soft steel, and using anything other than the appropriate hammers will ding them up quickly. Edited October 20, 2021 by Mod30 Remove excessive quote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 Hello and welcome to the forum, if you haven’t already then you might wanna read the (read this first thread) it’s full of information that will answer some questions and help you navigate through the forum, On a side note if your afraid of dinging up stakes you should see some that Thomas made from recycled railroad hammers, I’m pretty sure you couldn’t break one with a 10# sledgehammer lol, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 A couple made from a cylindrical RR spike hammer and a squarish cross section RR spike hammer; a lot of my friends are in the SCA and work steel sheet for armour and making stakes for heavy usage is a common thing. Most don't have stake plate tapers though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 Ive been picking up a spike mauls every now an then as I come across them, I plan on copying that idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 Good! I'd like to see your take on them. Once I have power to the powerhammers; I plan to do another and draw out the cylindrical ends into tapers as I like a small diameter bick for a bunch of projects I do. If I do a 1.5" sq shaft I can mount it in my Fisher or my bridge anvil's hardy holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 I haven’t got around to doing anything with them yet, I planned on using a horse drawn buggy axle for the shafts, but I’ll have to do some upsetting work first to beef it up, I may scrounge around an find some bigger stock to work with though before I build one, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 I tend to find them either dirt cheap or way too high priced; never a medium price. I wonder why. My spike puller hammer was scrap rate; but not as "upcycleable". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 One of mine I traded labor for, one I found at a yard sale for $2 and the last one was free from a customer of mine who was a truck driver for a company that contracted out to the railroad to haul scrap off, so he would always pull a few things aside for me before he dumped a load, I got a bunch of cool tools and junk that way lol, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 Good friend to have! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 I get to meet and talk with all kinds of interesting people from all backgrounds an professions that pass through my shop, sometimes that opens doors and sometimes it means good scores on hand me downs lol, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 2 hours ago, SterlingABSAS said: You got a great deal Who got a great deal? A lot of replies on this 2 year old thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 Thomas: I would speculate that the high priced RR spike hammers are going to the collectors of railroadiana. I've got one marked D&RGW (Denver and Rio Grande Western) that probably has decent collector value. I wouldn't recommend modifying any of them that are marked for a particular railroad line. The unmarked ones are better to modify. For replacing the wooden handle with a steel base do you treat like a big rivet and make it a bit longer than the depth of the hole through the hammer head and then forge it down into the handle hole and file or grind off anything proud? I recall seeing these when we were set up near each other at Battlemoor (an SCA/medieval re-enactment event for you mundane folk) about 6 years ago but I don't recall looking closely at the construction details. Thx. GNM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 George, One of mine is marked Kansas City southern along with some numbers, Ive thought about keeping it like it is an just hanging it on the wall of the shop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 I hear you about the "collectors items"; but the prices didn't seem to be correlated with marked RR IDs. I don't usually shop in the "collectors" sales so it may be people having seen such prices but not knowing the *why*. Like a dealer a friend of mine ran into in Ohio: Going rate for "farm tongs" was $US5-10 and the dealer had a set marked US$45 and as he was trying to figure *why*, th e dealer came up to him and said---that's a great price and showed him a book where a set of tongs made by Henry Ford (?) as a demo with solid provenance had sold for $90 and so they assumed that common tongs would be a good buy at 1/2 that. Sort of like saying Diamonds are worth $5K per carat so limestone gravel must be worth $2 a carat! As to how my stakes were made, yes I forged a tenon on the end and used the eye of the hammer head to fit it till it seated good. Then I trimmed for length, reheated the tenon and riveted in place with a heavy hammer leaving it a bit proud for cooling shrinkage. Flattened it out after cold with a heavy hammer and then ground smooth. The small one with the twisted shaft was tig welded around the interface by a friend to gussy it up. The long shafted one I was planning to hard face the "flat" and use it for an anvil---still waiting on power to my welder...However it hasn't shown any movement at all in the last decade of use! Liked them so much I've been saving hammer heads to make more; as I'm in an old mining area some "funny hammers" show up from time to time at the scrap yard. (Like that RR spike puller hammer, been smithing 40 years and that was the first one I had seen like that!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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