Came up on ebay and I just had to have it 

Shall give it a cleanup with a wire brush and a good coat of oil. 

Might make a nice part of a shop sign or display stand 

Paint it gold and hang it around your neck....

I did my usual Las Vegas valley exploration and garage sale hunt after work Sunday morning. Filled the car up, but one item I got was a cigar box of coins that a guy's father had collected while in the merchant marine. most are dated in the 20'40's but there are some that go back as far as 1864.  Soooo, what does it have to do with smithing? One coin is a 1938 1 centavo coin from the United States of America Filipinas and the reverse image is what caught my eye. This picture is of one that is in better shape than mine. looks like a smith with his hammer and anvil to me. They also had a woman smith on another coin.

The treats in the box were the half crowns and various pence coins (50% silver) so I at least got my $5 investment covered.

On 3/3/2018 at 11:10 PM, littleblacksmith said:

. Also while I was there I saw a massive shear, about the size of a car, at least 1940's I'm guessing. Only thing I remember bout it was it was manufactured in Milwaukee Wisconsin.

Alligator Shear, my local scrap yard uses one to cut up Aluminum radiators.

Tooo muuch good stuff you people!  A few weeks ago I was passing a lot just a few hundred yards down the road from my place. A tree guy was bucking up some eucalyptus. About fifty yards out, I spied the form of olive tree logs.

An offer to buy and a phone #, and yesterday I found myself loading up. He would not take any money for it, insisting that I am a knife maker, and that I could make a couple of big, non-fancy knives. Fair enough, but for the fact that I have yet to make my first knife.

Here is the first 25% of the haul:

Man I wish I lived closer.  I’d love to get some of that olive wood to carve some spoons and other things from.  

4 hours ago, Anachronist58 said:

An offer to buy and a phone #, and yesterday I found myself loading up. Here is the first 25% of the haul:

Nice score.  I suggest getting some anchor seal or aluminum roofing paint on the ends to keep the checking in check. 

On 3/5/2018 at 9:01 PM, Farmall said:

Man I wish I lived closer.

Mr. Farmall, you are as close as a flat rate box, (perhaps - depending upon the required billet dimensions) but as far away as my ability to properly seal the ends to stop the checking, and to be liberated from this horrible six-nights-a-week job. I have some ten-year-old black locust logs that I sealed the day  I felled the tree. And some four foot sections  of olive trunk, six years old, that I did not seal.

On 3/5/2018 at 10:55 PM, ede said:

Nice score. 

Mr ede, a rather knowledgeable fellow is presently guiding me through the seal and cure process.

Mr. Farmall, do you think that the checking would run the entire length of the unsealed 4' x 10"  dia. six-year-old logs? I am salivating to see for myself!

Finally, where there be a will, there be a way, methinks, to ship anything.

 

Robert Taylor

the checking is really dependent on the speed of drying.  That’s why ends are sealed to slow the process.  I have seen checks run the entire length and be seen from the outside, but I don’t remember any checks that ran the length on the inside and couldn’t be seen externally.  I have seen overlapping short checks that did go the length

 

i appreciate the flat rate offe!  Thank you   

 

 

Internal cracking that may not be visible on the out side can be cause by wind shake.

you are correct, Thomas .   I’ve seen that as well - forgot to add   Thank you

 

 

Nice little pair of dividers. 

Picked up a bin of various tools — mostly vise-grip type welding clamps. Already have a buyer for the sawhorse legs, which I don’t need. 

Those chain visegrips are Very handy when you need them

The black box looks to be the right size for guillotine dies.

I cut the square tube off the c-clamp, but left the half-round and v-shaped additions in place. Might come in handy someday. 

The contents of the first aid kit are untouched, but their expiration dates are from 1981. Does gauze go bad?

25 minutes ago, JHCC said:

Does gauze go bad?

Yes, no, maybe? lol 

If it's non-stretchy just clean cotton gauze in a well sealed wrapper then I personally would think it's usable. Not in any liability sense tho.

18 hours ago, JHCC said:

Already have a buyer for the sawhorse legs, which I don’t need. 

Addendum: I let him argue me down to $20, which is what I paid for the entire bin. Everyone's happy.

On 10/30/2007 at 9:16 PM, whitebear said:

i don't know guys. jonah is a hard worker but to see some of these pieces of equipment y'all are comnigup wiht is making me alittle jelous...no i'm only playing. good on all of you guys for making the scores. i'm happy with jonah he's pulled his weight is the shop more that once..heck he's pulled it mroe than 400 times. he's a helper that's for sure. and he's a quick learner!! which is good because it's getting to the point where i can tell him i need something and he can go figure out how to make it and then make it with no help fro me at all. he makes all his own tools. (i heat treat though) all he asks me is what material to use. it's very helpful when i've got my hands ful with clients. again good on all of you.

That's quite impressive!

Hit a garage sale and picked up a pool pump motor. 2hp and 3450 rpm, so a belt grinder may be in my future. I got the motor, a Toro weed eater, about a 10# spool of tie wire, a box of spray paints, 3 heavy brass faucets, some plastic tubing, and some plumbing fittings for $10.

Also picked up another straight razor-- made in Sweden that appears unused, a new strop a mug, and a couple of brushes for $20.

We had a valley wide yard sale this weekend and I got several items that were great deals , scratch that -FANTASTIC DEALS!!!!!,  but they are not smithing related.

well not blacksmith ordinated this time, but this pretty cool very good condition 12 Ft. old wood boat from the 30s or 40s begged me to bring it home ...   I couldn't resist ... JT

Cool boat for sure! I at least like seeing it.

Well, speaking of not blacksmith related ( other then to get this one from point A to point B),  a new transmission followed me home today for my jeep. And that is also what I'll be doing in the shop for hopefully a short time so I can get back to the forge. 

Das, don't want to alarm you but there seems to be some sort of car in the way of your anvil.  Heads up.

I hate when vehicles get in the way of my anvil space........ They are such pesky creatures. Very needy and refuse to move until they get their way.  Oh it would be nice to have a higher ceiling to be able to have a lift. All the up and down on the creeper gets old. Much better then when I had to change a clutch in the pouring rain and in mud tho. Cant complain too much for what I do have.

Lisa’s taken to parking out in the driveway. I don’t get it: the back end of the treadle hammer only sticks a little bit onto her side of the garage, and I always moved her car out before firing up the forge. 

Cars just parked in the garage = people that don't do much, or they have a Lot of garage. She is looking out for your good name