and while hes making hammers,,,make one for the end of one of these air rams... :rolleyes:

Well Axles are a good steel to make blacksmithing tools from but are not "tool steel" if'n you know what I mean...

Well Axles are a good steel to make blacksmithing tools from but are not "tool steel" if'n you know what I mean...

Thanks Frosty and Thomas.


I would also like to share today's find. Was at The Home Despot picking up some cutoff wheels for my angle grinder last night. Decided to go over to the Tool Rental Counter. I wanted to inquire about used jack hammer bits. The gentleman behind the counter said that they usually just throw them away.... But that I could leave my contact information and the department head would give me a buzz in the am. I got the call at 15.00 hrs and was told that I could come by a pick up a whole five gallon bucket full of the little buggers. Pics cause it did happen!

Thanks Frosty and Thomas.


I would also like to share today's find. Was at The Home Despot picking up some cutoff wheels for my angle grinder last night. Decided to go over to the Tool Rental Counter. I wanted to inquire about used jack hammer bits. The gentleman behind the counter said that they usually just throw them away.... But that I could leave my contact information and the department head would give me a buzz in the am. I got the call at 15.00 hrs and was told that I could come by a pick up a whole five gallon bucket full of the little buggers. Pics cause it did happen!

Your lucky, they charge 2 to 5 dollars apiece in western NY

Your lucky, they charge 2 to 5 dollars apiece in western NY

Glad that I don't live there then. That is not outrageous, but I would imagine that it can get expensive in a hurry. I was not expecting them to just give them to me, I would have happily paid for them, but hey I am no dummy. You want to give this to me fine, I take it.

Saks Mark has a whole bunch of "hammers" up aways, now what is the third one from the left, top row called and what is it used for? I have one and have used it for a whole lot of different things over the last thirty years but never knew what it was properly called, now please no smart a**ed answers unless they are down right funny.
That's a great deal on the jack hammer bits, I wonder if they would make good planishing stakes? :mellow:

Cheese fuller (for real!) used for fullering.

if your lucky some of the bits with the collar will fit in the hardy hole... then you just forge out the ends to whatever stake tool you need.. hotcut, bick etc

nice scoop

Glad that I don't live there then. That is not outrageous, but I would imagine that it can get expensive in a hurry. I was not expecting them to just give them to me, I would have happily paid for them, but hey I am no dummy. You want to give this to me fine, I take it.

That's a nice score for sure. While I can't say for sure I'm betting they're either medium high C good for all kinds of handy smithing tools or maybe a S-xx alloy steel, even better for smithing tools.

I'm thinking the next time Deb's driving me to town I'll ask her to stop by Home Despot and ask the rental guys about old hammer bits too. Heck, if she's feeling like it we may just hit all the rental places. I'm thinking they'd be real nice for making some tooling for my new (to me) 50# LG.

Frosty the Lucky.

Glad that I don't live there then. That is not outrageous, but I would imagine that it can get expensive in a hurry. I was not expecting them to just give them to me, I would have happily paid for them, but hey I am no dummy. You want to give this to me fine, I take it.

Good score! Which HD did you hit? Norwood be my guess. I should try that at Lowes or the HD in Framingham!
I wonder if the guy in NY pockets the cash?

Bill

today i was called out to fight a garage fire near my home.the mans equipment now has major wiring burns and the shop was full of mills laythes and the fire stopped 3 feet from the blacksmith shop part of the garage when i say it was full it was so full u had to turn sideways to get to the hotspots in there.i know the man but not well and he has retired from working in his shop and i would like to get your guys opinion on when would be a good time to ask this guy about getting a power hammer from him if he were to let it go?i saw no less than 3 50 pound little giants in there and god knows how many more.this is a true find and i want to be respectfull to him and not belittle the loss of his magnificent shop.let me know thanx.

Hammernhand, that is a tough one. Since you know the fella, starting a conversation should be a little easier, doesn't mean he will feel you are being less of a vulture. Do you know if he still smiths? Since you are close by having an open invite to use a hammer or your forge may help. Offering a hand to help close up the place from weather may help depending on if he hired it out yet.

As for the "part with some tools" conversation, I don't know but be prepared to offer real money.

Phil

If he is an older gent I would go over and ask him if he needs any help cleaning up after the fire, tell you helped fight the fire, then tell him of your love of smithing and tell him you want to help him set things to right. You got to give a little to get something back. He may not welcome your advances at all but wait awhile and go back, keep a sharp eye on the situation because someone else may be working on him too. He could be just totally devastated and want to get rid of everything at once or the insurance company may come in and clear it all out at once by hiring a contractor to do it. :o

"Cheese Fuller".....Thomas, Gives a whole new meaning to "cut the cheese". So is it just a general purpose fuller? I used mine to make dimples in long sections for decorative effect, just had the right appearance.

"I know that insurance hardly every covers everything; so if you ever think about selling off some of your smithing equipment to help pay for repairs I would be interested in making an offer on some of it"

is what I would say---and soon! I know of one incidence of a shop fire where the owner had a stroke just a couple of weeks after the fire and his kids decided to let his 100# LG rust away "in memory of him"...

Cheese fuller; well when you need a fuller like that; that's the one to use! (I don't know of any specialized task associated with it; though I believe I have seen reference to using it in "Practical Blacksmithing", Richardson.)

today i was called out to fight a garage fire near my home.the mans equipment now has major wiring burns and the shop was full of mills laythes and the fire stopped 3 feet from the blacksmith shop part of the garage when i say it was full it was so full u had to turn sideways to get to the hotspots in there.i know the man but not well and he has retired from working in his shop and i would like to get your guys opinion on when would be a good time to ask this guy about getting a power hammer from him if he were to let it go?i saw no less than 3 50 pound little giants in there and god knows how many more.this is a true find and i want to be respectfull to him and not belittle the loss of his magnificent shop.let me know thanx.

Put yourself in his shoes and speak from the heart.The fact that you were there fighting the fire and helped keep if from being a total loss would go a long way if it was me you were talking to.
I`d stop by soon and offer to help in any way you could so he sees that even though he`s retired at least one member of the blacksmith community has not forgotten him.
Kindness,help and honest communication is always returned in kind during times like these.

today i was called out to fight a garage fire near my home.the mans equipment now has major wiring burns and the shop was full of mills laythes and the fire stopped 3 feet from the blacksmith shop part of the garage when i say it was full it was so full u had to turn sideways to get to the hotspots in there.i know the man but not well and he has retired from working in his shop and i would like to get your guys opinion on when would be a good time to ask this guy about getting a power hammer from him if he were to let it go?i saw no less than 3 50 pound little giants in there and god knows how many more.this is a true find and i want to be respectfull to him and not belittle the loss of his magnificent shop.let me know thanx.

I have 2 true stories to go here.
As a kid I lived in a rural area. My neighbor had about 2 acres and we had about 1. My step dad was a real-estate developer and dealer. So, my neighbors wife dies and my step dad asked very politely if the neighbor wanted to sell as he was of retirement age and it was a large ramshackle summer house from the 1910's. He said no, so my step dad said if and when you do, I will buy at a fair price. About six months later we came to find out he sold at rock bottom price to a shark of a developer who crammed 3 houses on the lot.

My other story is one that is still ongoing-
A very good friend and neighbor died about 3 years ago and his daughter inherited a shop FULL of old tools, you guys know how I feel about old tools. So after a few months, I go and ask if they will be selling any of the tools. I get a mixed answer. Husband says yes and the daughter of my friend says no. He had some tools that she will never use because of the specific task they perform. So again I wait and they have some guy come in and tell them how little the tools are worth and he buys some of the best stuff just to help them out....

The moral-
If you want a power hammer, go make him a reasonable offer- be respectful and persistent. If you don't, someone else will.

So what is a LG 50 in good condition worth?
Phil

When I bought my house in Columbus, the seller also had a welding shop across the alleyway that would have made a BEAUTIFUL smithy---all concrete block, Large door, LARGE rolling crane (out of a industrial building). So I asked him for first refusal on it when he's ready to move it out to his new place in the country and he agrees.

Several years later I come home one day and see them removing the crane. He sold the building and lot for about $7000 to a church and so they were removing the crane as un-needed and already sold off to someone else. Shoot I could have paid him 10K for the shop on the spot!

OTOH it's one reason I was willing to move when I got laid off after 15 years working for Bell Labs.

I got an Ebay deal on a post vise! Seller listed as pickup only, and had email for shipping in the body, so $9.99 for the vise and $40 for shipping. Marked "Cleveland" "60" "1911" It is caked with grease and grime, and will need to have the screw and box washed out and re-lubed because of what looks like scale in the grease.

I think I did rather well for $50, which was the top of my budget for a vise.

Please look at the pics and make sure I put this together correctly, thanks. I also need to figure out where I am going to set this up at.

Phil

The mounting plate generally goes right under the yoke for the screw so the spring tends downward and pushes against the moving leg closer to it's pivot point. You only and enough push to open the vise as needed and not so much that you have to work to close it against the push.

Cleaning off the screw and screwbox is a good idea. I will generally soak mine for a week or two in oil and then go at it with the rags wire brush etc. A more aggressive solvent can speed up the process but they also tend to be more dangerous to use due to toxicity or flammability.


The screw looks to be in good shape and ready for a lot more years

The screw looks to be in good shape and ready for a lot more years

Inside the box looks just as nice!
Phil

My previous post sailed off into the great beyond so...

Thomas said most of what I said except that if you`re looking for ideas as to how to mount it do a search here.Brian B. and Frosty to name just 2 members posted bases with a lot of good pics and great design.

Nice score!$10 for a bought leg vise is the record if I remember correctly.Shipping doesn`t count,though even adding shipping you still picked up a prize cheap,cheap,cheap!!

Now THAT'S a deal Phil!

Let me know if you can't find the pic of my mobile post vise stand and I'll send a pic to you, with comments on potential improvements it could use. I almost never build anything that can't stand an improvement or two.

Frosty the Lucky.