July 30, 200817 yr I have a small "swing set" chain nailed to my stump that drapes over the anvil, but instead of a weight, I have a piece of 1" x 4" attached to the end of the chain. The chain lacks a couple of inches of reaching the floor, so I can step on the 1" x 4" board to hold down my work. I hope this makes sense! Cool idea ! It's probably handy that you can apply as much pressure as needed while still being quickly and easily released.
July 30, 200817 yr I like Deeresmith's idea, too. That makes sense. Maybe that's why I never thought of that!!
July 30, 200817 yr I picked up the top jaw from a pipe wrench that I forged down to fit the hardy hole, then drilled a hole through it where I could attach a spring to it and weld a T handle to the top. When you want to use it, drop it in the hardy hole, attach the spring from underneath and pull up on it, place stock and let down. Found it on the side of the road carpooling to the local ABANA chapter meeting. Not as exciting as that time when I found most of a keg of brand new HC RR spikes that had been rolled down a hill into a ditch and not recovered when the RR crew cleaned up---for some reason folks in that carpool thought I should get a window seat...
July 30, 200817 yr Found it on the side of the road carpooling to the local ABANA chapter meeting. Not as exciting as that time when I found most of a keg of brand new HC RR spikes that had been rolled down a hill into a ditch and not recovered when the RR crew cleaned up---for some reason folks in that carpool thought I should get a window seat... Can't argue with results. I'd build you a seat on the front fender! Frosty
July 31, 200817 yr Naw, the car would sag too much to that side... A friend does tell a story on me about when a mutual friend was moving and we were helping and I called the make of a wrench on the far side of the interstate while we were doing about 70MPH---they stopped and went back for it and I had it right...One sign of age I don't stop in dangerous places anymore to pick up road kill tools.
July 31, 200817 yr I don't know about that, we have a pretty stout car. Unfortunately we're a bit far removed for an efficient car pool. One of the best parts of working for highway maint was getting paid to go through the ditches with appropriate safety gear like arrow board pickups and such. We'd keep track of roll overs and hit the spots as soon as the snow was gone. Crack sealing, ditching, grading the gravel roads, etc. meant a lot of slow going to find the good stuff. I still keep a pair of vests in the rigs for special occasions. It's a good idea if you have to change a tire, render assistance, etc. anyway. A bright orange vest with multiple reflective strips makes sure they don't just maim ya. Frosty
July 31, 200817 yr Unless I'm just off base ....I usally just clap it in a vice and use a hacksaw to split it before I start forging. I have made a set of slip on jaws if I'm making it out of round stock.
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