RogueRugger Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 This was in a bucket of dies that came with a recently purchased treadle hammer. Any ideas of what it might be used for? (I've just propped it in the hardie hole.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin W Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 One thing it could be used for is to back up material while opening up a long slit. There's a picture in the CoSira books shaped like a narrow U , where yours would be a narrow . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedefiddle Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Ask the previous owner. It is not uncommon to build specific trinkets for specific jobs or features. Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you put your general location in the header you may be surprised at how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance. Tough question. Treadle hammers are prime for custom tooling, that could be any number of dies, from a shear/slitter/punch bolster to an outside fluter bolster. If you can't ask the maker it just may have to live on a shelf or under a bench till one day you'll say something like, 'AH HAH!! That darned treadle hammer die dingus is just perfect for. . .UH . . . Where DID I put that thing? Oh wait, I cut it up to make that slinky whooped doodle whatsit. . . Crap. <sigh> Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Coke Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Greetings Rouge, Welcome to IFI... I have made tons of treadle hammer and flypress tooling and this one is new to me.... If I had to guess it would have been for holding a flat plate for edge work... Or to cut out hot dogs for lunch... Forge on and make beautiful things.. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogueRugger Posted July 24, 2013 Author Share Posted July 24, 2013 Thanks for the suggestions. In some ways it's more interesting that folks are puzzled. Things finally came together and I now have the entire treadle hammer. BTW - I don't think there's a absolute sure match with the top die so that's not much help. It made the rounds at an artists BBQ a few weeks ago and i understand the guesses were equally insightful. I do have a line on the smith who originally built it. Not a name, but some tips that should get me close (e.g. "a smith who moved from NM back east"), and who was, IMHO, a very good welder. NM is a pretty small community so I just need to ask around at the next meeting. Thanks again for the bits/guesses. I learned something even from those. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 What are the wear marks on it from use? May help a lot if you can tell where the stock was placed and where it was hit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogueRugger Posted July 26, 2013 Author Share Posted July 26, 2013 Great idea. I had looked at the surface previously when I was trying to determine the top die and I recall it didn't help. I checked again this morning and the reason it didn't help was that the face/edges are still freshly ground. Either it has not been used very much, if at all, or it was freshly ground. (Of course hot dogs don't leave much in the way of nicks either.) The only minor nicks are two that I suspect are from my personal misuse from transporting them in a bucket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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