January 17, 20197 yr Will do. :- ) I suspect that the vice has been cranked tight closed for a few decades. Spring looks OK but perhaps all that time under pressure will have deformed it a bit. I dunno... My plan is to clean it all up, fit it together and then check if the spring has enough oomph (technical term round these parts) to push the vice jaws apart. If not, I’ll whap it in the forge, warm it up and bend a bit more of a bend in it. I’m guessing I dont need to worry about heat treating it after, should be enough stiffness there with a simple air cool. Once done I’ll post a before and after pic on the vice thread. Seems greedy to have two post vices, but I couldnt walk away from it. Its a bit bigger than my current one.
January 17, 20197 yr Not greedy; efficient. I have two work benches each one has a 6" and a 4" postvise and I have another heavy duty one mounted by itself for heavy work---I once twisted a RR spike in it---*cold*! I have one for my travelling kit and a sturdy one mounted at my casita as I got tired of the travelling vise not being as rigid as I wanted for doing larger work at my other location. Back in the '90's I was buying post vises for US$20 a piece in central Ohio. I finally put a limit on the number I'd own and sell off extras. However there are some tasks where the smaller vise is easier to use---like closing it with your knee working the handle. Other tasks require a larger more robust vise.
January 17, 20197 yr Remember to spell my name correctly in your will *first*! My wife has a craft she is passionate about as well; so no problem either way with a spouse explaining to the other spouse *why* they need another XYZ when they already have a half dozen of them.
January 18, 20197 yr Got it apart after an overnight swim in wd40. As you predicted TP there was some odd pitting and unevenness on the pivot joint cheeks. Strange. I’ll make a new thread with pics in the vice section and get off this thread.
January 24, 20197 yr Given to me by a friend... Never even used yet. Mower blades for a 5 foot rotary mower.
January 24, 20197 yr Sell the mower blades off and get some known steel. Many mower blades are a high boron alloy that takes a very specific heat treatment to be used. That is, if you are making something along the lines of a knife. If you are making hinges, plant hangers, etc... forge on.
January 28, 20197 yr I sold my wood cutting bandsaw and bought a Makita metal cutting chop saw. This thing goes through steel like butter. It has a carbide blade, 15 amp motor and spins at 1300 RPM. Much faster and more accurate than my portable bandsaw.
January 28, 20197 yr On 1/24/2019 at 5:23 PM, BIGGUNDOCTOR said: Sell the mower blades off and get some known steel. Yeah, I was kinda thinking the same thing. Not sure of the content of the metal. I've personally hit 6 inch shot rock with the same style and type while morning along the highway right of way and didn't dent them. (not on purpose of course) I'm not into making knives yet. Since I'm just starting out. Since the blades are perfectly new and I was thinking since I live in farm country I know a few folks that might like to buy them.
January 29, 20197 yr I had some scrap from a former project at work and a slow day so I ended up with a striking anvil, a pair of tong blanks and spring fuller
January 31, 20197 yr Several bits and pieces that followed me home during the last couple of month: 1 - "dead steel" I found in the fields, broken harrow disk, rotavator blades, pipe cut-off, wrench, tank (or some other military vehicle) caterpillar pins, all sorts of pins. The ruler is 60 cm long. What steel is this caterpillar pins made of? 2 - Hand crank blower, a friend gave it to me, British Alcosa F40 gear box, F56 blower box. It Runs very smooth despite the gunk on it. 3 - Other friend gave this to me as well. It looks like a stand for a hand drill but it is massive. The ruler is 60 cm long and the stand weighs 30 kg. I do not know a hand drill massive enough to be used with this stand, so what machine was it used with? Looking for ideas how to use it beside with the hand drill...
January 31, 20197 yr I find a lot of pins that are used for hitches for farm equipment. Usually medium carbon at best, like 4140 or 4340.
February 1, 20197 yr Look what came in the mail! Courtesy of Lou L, kaowool and Kast-O-Lite 30 for my ribbon burner and gasser. Thanks, Lou! (We had originally packaged the refractory for me to take home after one of my visits, but decided to the TSA wouldn’t be too happy about me carrying half a peck of gray powder in my luggage.)
February 2, 20197 yr Glad I was finally able to get the goods to you. Sorry it took so long but I promise life has been a rush. I decided to take the late hours and get back to IFI. Feels like home. I posted my notes for you just a few minutes ago in the gas forge section. The only thing I didn’t add to them was Frosty’s account for measuring quantities in the pouring of a ribbon burner. Here it is: ”Current ribbon burner form gets 3 lbs of kastolite and 8.25 ounces of water” Frosty found that measuring pure volume was not enough and he ended up having to mix another batch. Figure out your volume and add a bit more to account for settling. His measurement should get you darn close or right on though. Have fun! Lou
February 2, 20197 yr Saw this too late to make use of it, but I’d found in another thread the useful detail that since one cubic foot of mixed Kastolite weighs 90 lbs, that’s 19.2 cubic inches per lb. My mold measures 7-3/4” x 3” x 2”, which is 46-1/2 cubic inches. That gave me a starting point of 2 lbs, 6-3/4 oz of dry Kastolite plus between 6-2/3 oz and 7-1/4 oz of water. It’s been very dry, so I ended up using very slightly more water (about 8 oz total) to get what felt like the right consistency. I didn’t add more to account for settling, but I also didn’t subtract any to account for the volume of the crayons; those seem to have canceled each other out.
February 2, 20197 yr Today’s mail brought a used copy of Stuart Durant’s Ornament. Almost no metalwork as such, but lots of good visual reference — and at $6.72 delivered, you can’t beat the price!
February 2, 20197 yr $25. The 30 gallon drum will be the burner for my charcoal operation. The vise is soaking. Just have to see how long it takes to free it up.
February 2, 20197 yr If you have a torch, heat the pivot points which should free it up. I believe those are cast iron so it will not hurt it. That said, I have had one for about 45 years or more and have never used it. I have seen one in use as a tail stock clamp sort of thing on a shop built twisting machine though.
February 2, 20197 yr Those plumber/pipe fitter vises come in handy for holding round stock, although I seldom use mine.
February 3, 20197 yr I took a quick swing through the local fleamarket before the new student arrives, (got my IFI T shirt on "you hold the cold end and hit the hot end---get it right next time!" my favorite teaching shirt!) Anyway steel block to make an "edge tool" for the hardy hole and a shallow dishing form: total US$4 (16 pounds, weight for the block ) I stopped counting sledgehammers for sale somewhere in the 20's. Everything from brand new to antique (tells you about this fleamarket that they tried to make the antique ones look new) Saw 3 items that would be dropin hardies for $2 apiece.
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