Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Yesterday I was working with the tractor grading the driveway. I needed a pry bar to adjust something, but didn't have one with me because all my bars are too long to fit in the tractor tool box. So today I spent about an hour at the forge & anvil making one from an old rock chisel. The chisel/punch that is like the one I used but longer, is on the right and the new pry bar the left in the picture. The chisel I used was 9in. long and I drew it out to 15in and tapered both ends so it just fits the tractor tool box. I shouldn't have to drive all the way up to the garage to make a simple adjustment anymore. I picked up a whole box of old punches and chisels at a yard sale a long time ago for a dollar U.S. there are 2 of them laying on the stump next to the anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Always a good feeling when you can make stuff from stock on hand! Not only in the shop; I remember at one church potluck where multiple people tracked down my wife and asked for her recipe for what she calls "Refrigerator Stew"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 My mom's written recipe includes instructions to put everything in the blender, strain out any stray bits of packaging, and serve to protesting offspring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkBait Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 4 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: "Refrigerator Stew"... In Wisconsin there's this dish called Friday Night Casserole which is just Monday through Thursday's leftovers layered in a pyrex with cheese and crushed up ritz and baked until the cheese melts. My favorite art of Lent was not having Friday Night Casserole because we weren't allowed to eat meat on Fridays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 At least you don’t need to say grace over it: it’s all been blessed already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedefiddle Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 Good Morning, In our family it is called "Clean Out the Cupboard", the recipe is 'What doesn't go in the Stew, goes in the Soup'. It is always great!! Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 We didn't have a special name for leftovers, it smelled like dinner and we ate what was put on the table. Some things like roast beef would finally end up in home made TV dinners in left over aluminum foil TV dinner trays, of course. Mother and I loved Mexican TV dinners and Dad was fussy so we only got them when he wasn't home for dinner. He almost always worked late, especially after opening his own spinning shop so we'd put a TV dinner in the electric skillet and he could have a hot dinner at work. He finally broke down and got a refrigerator for the shop and put the skillet on a wall timer so it'd turn on at a set time. Drop a frozen homemade TV dinner in the skillet, set the timer and he could have a hot dinner when the bell rang. Yeah Mother usually had to call and remind him to break for dinner. The employees would remind him to put one in the skillet and set the timer when they were done for the day. Mother asked them to you know. A good friend's family called it, Kitchen Surprise, night. I think most everybody had a clear the leftovers dish night name. It was almost always THE night to be invited to dinner! It was a win win, we'd get good grub and they didn't have to worry about ANY left overs. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkBait Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 I took some advice from a little up the page and this is how my stump looks now. I had to chisel out a spot on the lower "shelf" since it's not flat and the rail was sitting a little proud of the top. And then of course I thought to myself "Hey if I pull my bench vice off my workbench and bolt it to this here log like suggested that gives me a good excuse to buy another bench vice" so I did that thing too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 Very nice. Just remember not to hammer on that bench vise; it won’t take the pounding. Still good for twisting and bending, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkBait Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 And risk dinging up the pretty red paint? I wouldn't dream of it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 Frosty and I had an exchange a year or two ago about painting something in my shop colors. I replied to that suggestion that my shop colors are rust, grease, and whatever paint is on it when it comes in the door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkBait Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 My shop colors would end up being pink and white because some genius in Fleet Farm's marketing department keeps convincing them to pump out tools in white and pink to sell to "single girls" and they don't sell so they get put on clearance and I snatch 'em up. I've got a full set of Barbie pink sockets somewhere around here, SAE and metric up to 1/2 inch, that I got for like $6.99. When I get a color choice for tools though I usually go with red. The red ones go faster, after all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 28 minutes ago, SharkBait said: The red ones go faster, after all. Ya but they get more tickets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 Frosty, i had to look up what spinning is. Around these parts we call it turning. And guess what i now do for a living. When i got out of the Army for a few years i ran a Davenport 5 spindle. In may i took a job doing it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 There was a 5" Central Forge(?) HF vise at the scrapyard last Saturday, looked brand new except the front jaw was broken off... SB you need an excuse to buy another vise? I thought all that was required was cash in your pocket or a place that buys plasma! I freely admit that I use my post vises a lot more than my benchvises nowadays; don't have to "baby" the postvises! (Used to be that bench vises cost a lot more than postvises back in the '90's in central Ohio; now it seems like prices have flipped.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjdaggett Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 SharkBait, I love the ingenuity. I'm going to send a picture to my BIL for inspiration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 While I was making the pry bar on Monday, I was using a long pair of box tongs with reign clip to hold the stock. I noticed two things, the tongs were so long that I could have used a stock rest to keep from having to hold them while heating the stock. I have two tripod stock rests but to use them I would have to rearrange some stuff and for such a short job I didn't do that. The other thing was the hood was not pulling a good draft because over the decades the opening had gotten larger because of rusting and the breeze was putting some smoke into the shop. So today I made a stock support/tong rack out of a piece of scrap (one can never have too many tong racks) and fixed the hood opening with a piece of stove pipe. It pulls a very good draft now, no smoke in the shop. Look Ma no cigarette butts. Before: After: I used the old Lincoln Tombstone stick welder because I was too lazy to set up the MIG welder and when I went to shut it off the switch wouldn't flip to off. I wound up taking it apart to fix the switch (WD-40) worked and oil the fan motor which was making some noise. It's running like new now even though it's over 50 years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 Threw together a quick pair of bed rail tongs to hold some hefty leaf spring (after, of course, finishing the job where I really could have used them!): I may shorten the reins later, but I want to give them a spin first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goods Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 Finally finished the siabashi I was making for a Japanese coworker who returning to Japan Saturday. (Yah, cutting it close.) 16” long, tapered from 3/8” to 1/16” from Grade 2 Ti. Finished with wire wheel, chiseled decoration, then polished around the chisel work. Initially, I started draw filing them, but my files really didn’t like the Ti... Wanted a good gift box for them, but couldn’t find anything to buy that was appropriately sized and I don’t trust my would working, so I went with a leather holder/sheath. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
careful_eugene Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 Goods, they look superb and I think the leather holder is the right way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad J. Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 (edited) 10 hours ago, JHCC said: Threw together a quick pair of bed rail tongs to hold some hefty leaf spring I need to make a set of these! How did you handle it? Did you fold the angle over for the length of the reigns or did you cut it off? Is there a tutorial, or should I just get in there and start swinging? Edited September 24, 2020 by Mod34 Removed quoted photos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 8 minutes ago, Chad J. said: Is there a tutorial, or should I just get in there and start swinging? Yes, there is a thread about these; read all the way to the end to see procedural updates from this new pair: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad J. Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 Thanks JHCC! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 Remember to treat them as HC! Goods: Ti seems like an excellent choice for those! I would have temper coloured them though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 If they'd been mild steel, I would have had no compunction about quenching them and drilling the rivet holes. However, knowing that they're high carbon, I knew both that quenching would risk cracking and that it would take quite a while to anneal them before drilling. That's why I chose to hot-punch them, even though punching through a double layer of thin steel is a pain in the patella. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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