yves Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 For years I managed to avoid forging one of these. This was inspired by the tripod appearing in Plate VII of L'Art du Serrurier by Henri Duhamel Du Monceau (1767). The book is available free here (the link leads to the Plate). The tripod is forge welded. Instead of having hooks for the trammel, simple lines are sufficiently strong to hold material. These lines are eyeballed and readily cut with a hot chisel. Numerous lines make for precise adjustments. It holds long bars and can be used, with a weight, as a holdown. It is light, easy to make and quite useful. It uses very little real estate and easily disappears in a corner. And it is silent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 That is very cool; I like the adjustment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 Much nicer than the old piece of porch railing i use. Very nice, anything fancy on the top? Also gives me an idea for something to do today. Got a snow day off work and a bunch of square tubing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yves Posted February 15, 2021 Author Share Posted February 15, 2021 Made with 1/2" square for the upright and 1/2" round for the tripod. Top? nothing fancy, a simple flame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 Nice Yves, an excellent "silent helper." I like the name, the best kind of helper. It's an elegantly simple and clean design, an all round good tool. I have helpers I adapted from scrapped road work sign holders but yours gives me a few ideas. With the shaft being square you could chisel lines on all four sides but offset. Say each side being half the distance as the one on the next side. Using inches: 1/2", 1/4", 1/8" and 1/16". Don't say anything yet, NO, you don't have to measure anything but 1/2", just set your chisel between the marks you made on the last side. Yeah, I know that'd be a silly level of precision but two increments maybe? Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 Or make it like the old colonial candle holders where there is a spring loaded holder with infinite adjustable height. (As shown in "Antique Iron. Survey of American and English forms, fifteenth through nineteenth centuries" Herbert, Peter and Nancy Schiffer; pages 246-248) Probably not as stout but won't rattle loose in use either. Me I have a piece of chain hanging from a horizontal rod in my roof truss and a S hook I can place to get close enough vertically. The chain can slide on the rod to get various positioning WRT the forge as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 My adjustable stands are similar. Forge welded legs, a set screw to hold the round rod adjustable member level with my anvil face and a similar weight system to act as a hold down. The top part is a roller that I made. I have 3 and need one more. The square at the top is a forge welded collar welded to the 3/4" black pipe. Here lives the set screw. The rectangular mass at the bottom is a solid piece of 1-1/4" with two forged tenons. The bottom tenon is threaded to attach the legs, the top one slides in the 3/4" black pipe and is forge welded as well. The bracket at the top is a piece of 1/4"x 1" with two right angle bends and two twists in the center to create a centered tab for the cleft weld. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluerooster Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 I like that one with the hook and notches, quick to adjust, and looks like it will work well. May well be the next thing I do in the shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Personally I like my iron flat on my anvil and an adjustable stand with a wing nut is easy to set. Recognize that I use my stands the same way with a number of hardies, all of which are different heights. "Level" is particularly important when separating the mass and starting the right angle face when making tenon's. Not meaning it isn't a nice tool and fun to make. And it doesn't mean that you couldn't make it work. With a concrete floor, you could make knotches to match level with each tool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Yves, i did not realize that the one in the top pic and the one in the bottom pic were the same. I thought the top pic was the one you were trying to reproduce. I should pay more attention at...look a squirrel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 You do some really nice work.. Your eye for details is stunning.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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