Haasum Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 So I went down to the dump today to drop off some junk and when I got there I noticed their metal section. I have been trying to find something to use anvil wise for awhile so I figured I would take a peek and see if I could find anything worth while. After scrounging around for about 15 minutes I came upon a forklift, tines still in place. I know forklift tines are good metal and can be cut up and welded into a usable anvil so I naturally got really excited. All that stood between me and these two tines was a cotter pin. I didn't have my multi-tool on me, but I found an old bolt that I used to pry the sides of the pin, the pin was so old and rusted simply bending it caused it to break, so I started pulling the bar holding the tines to the rest of the forklift out. I needed something hammer like (which I also lacked) to hit the bolt to push the bar out of the first slot, so I wandered around the dump some more and I found yet another glorious sight. One 55 gallon drum of 1" bar stock and two 55 gallon drums of round stock, 1" and 1/2". I took one of the shorter pieces of bar stock and started using it to hammer the bolt against the bar holding the tines on, and made slow progress. Once I got the bar far enough I started to try to slide off the first tine, but encountered a problem, the bar had a slight bend in it. When I went to pull the tine off, the bend caused it to stop. So I thought I would just put the bar back in the hole and pull it out the other end, since that end had no bend to it. But the bend made it so that I was unable to put it back in the hole so I was stuck with trying to pull the tines off the bent end. So I did what most people would do, I hit it. I hit it hard and repeatedly with the bar stock and sure enough the tine made it past the bend! The first one dropped off and was free! After that the next one was easy enough, I had enough of the bar through so that I could just lift the tine and pull the bar and it slid out fairly easily, I think I only hit it a few times to get it through. There was a second forklift right next to the one I took the tines from, it had smaller tines but the way they were attached I felt was going to take way too much effort to get them off, and I'm not sure anything short of cutting them with a saw/torch is going to get them off. It looked like the tines were welded to the bar. So I went to the dump to drop off crap, and came back with two forklift tines (I weighed them once I got home they are 70 pounds each), and a location for all the bar and round stock I could need for the near future. I don't know what type of iron the stock is and it is badly rusted but I figure there is enough metal in it that the rust will come off and wont do too much damage to the rest of it. I'm going to call up some welding places tomorrow to see how much it costs for them to cut and weld it up for me. The tines are about 3" width and 2" thick, I'm not positive how I wanted to have them welded up to get the most out of them. I know they should be vertical but how exactly to align them, I'm unsure of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everything Mac Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Good score mate! :) You got pretty lucky there. Scrap diving is a seriously hit and miss affair. I scored a two foot length of decent rail track a while back, but not seen any since. Let us know how you mount them up. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbruce Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Nice they aren't tapered, that stuff makes decent power hammer dies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
switchjv Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Wow. nice find. Our land fill doesnt allow us to take anything out. Ive seen a couple of things that i would love to "recycle". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 When I got my fork lift tine I had to saw a 1.5" rod in two---by hand! (Bandsaw blade mounted on a bowsaw frame) It's the mate to this one http://www.marco-borromei.com/fork.html so you can see the rod I cut and how they mounted theirs. It's generally a good idea to keep a basic tool kit in your vehicle for visits like this: 3# hammer, hacksaw++, large cold chisel---old rusty bolts are often best sheared than wrenched, a couple of good sized wrenches and a ratchet wrench set, something to wrap rusty/oily stuff in if you have a car rather than a pickup... Now as to the no-scrounging rule: often put in place for safety/liability reasons---*however* the folks that work there can sometimes be suborned into your agents---get them interested in smithing and you may start getting *too* *much* steel to recycle. Sometimes just a dozen doughnuts now and then will have them throwing stuff in your truck *safely*! Finally 1 solid rule of scrounging: *never* expect something to be there when you go back for it! Stuff that I've seen every weekend for years in a scrap yard will mysterious vanish when I decide I can use it! (Sometimes entire scrap yards will vanish between visits---bought out and scraped down to bare dirt...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyxyx Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 I am trying to get started into blacksmithing and have been looking for an anvil (or something to use). We wound up with a job near a local metal recycler, and I checked there several times for something. They had a BIG bent forklift tine there that I had them cut the straight portion of the back off for me. (no way could I have even moved all of it) I now have a piece 3" X10" X 27" - about 180 lbs worth - that I got for $40 bucks. Now I have to figure out how to work it into an anvil. any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy seale Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 make a stand and stand it on end 3x10 is a good surface (if it is clean cut) then you could lay it down for a 10x27 surface.you may be intrested in a "brian brazeal" style anvil..pictures on this site, show it to us when ya get it done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haasum Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 So I got out the tape measure and made some measurements and did some brain storming for how to cut and weld together the tines. My first thought was to have it like this.... Some notes on the picture, the 17 inch bar on the top, is one whole side of the tine. The 11.3 inch bars coming down are from cutting up the remaining portion of the tine into thrids. The tines are 3 inches wide and 1.5 inches thick, the way I have these lined up is so they lay with the 3 inch wide face, facing each other. The 9 inch bar on the right hanging down I put there because I wasn't sure what else to do with it, it was from the 17 inch length on the second tine, that I cut in approx half so I could get some feet (shown as the cubes at the bottom) to help stability. That was the first design I thought up but then I was thinking that I am unlikely to need a 17 inch working face, and the weight is spread out. So I thought up a second design to try to put more weight directly under the working face. As you can see this one is similar in design but more compact. I cut the 17 inch leg in half for the working face, using the remaining as the feet. The long leg I cut in half and lined them up so the 3 inch face was pressed together. There wouldn't be much over hang, although perhaps if I made the working face a couple extra inches I would have room for a hardy and pritchel holes. I like the second design a lot more, but I figured I would get more opinions on it . Any opinions or advice that might help improve these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Take a torch and cut a slot in the aft end and weld in a chunk of structural steel tubing and presto! a hardy hole. Then make an insert with a hole in it that fits into the hardy hole and bang! a pritchel Second design is a lot better than the first but just a couple of big chunks that you have one vertical and one horizontal will work to get started---then decide what *you* need for what *you* want to do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironman50 Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 That is buried treasure! Fantastic score! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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