pnut Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 I worked at Van Melle. I made Air Heads candy. I think they were bought out by another company since I worked there. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 Unfortunately the first couple of miles is along a narrow twisty hilly rural road with an irrigation canal and up to 40' drop off on one side and the other side has the hills coming to about 1-2 feet of the road---no berm on either side. Scary enought to drive my pickup along! We always called the road "the drunk trap". I've been closing out my rental casita down by the border---with wifi and hauling 6 years of stuff 200 miles back to my overloaded house---without wifi. As soon as that was done and I had the job with a 2 week gap bdfore I started; I arranged to drive my Mother out to NW Arkansas to see if my Father's tombstone was installed correctly. Using my Aunt's wifi right now. Hopefully I will be getting wifi at my central NM house soon! Heading back tomorrow; once again without managing to meet up with Iron Dragon; but we did have a 5 generation family dinner! (And eat at B&B BBQ which catered my wedding 35 years ago...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Griffin Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 Those types roads used not bother me. Guess I got older. I don't like driving across tall bridges now. TP, what type work were you doing across the border? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 Glad to see that you're gainfully employed once again, ThomasPowers. At least the scary road has good stuff at either end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 I used to be a Validation Engineer for Dell Technologies; creating and maintaining the test scripts run to validate that the rack mounted custom computer systems were correct for shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 What's the new gig? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
671jungle Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 Met a jeweler the other day and today she brought me this! A few spikes that have the HC stamp and some with textured heads, A couple bolts and a washer to suit, what looks to be the end of a large leaf spring and a curious piece of metal with C 46 84 stamped. Also big congrats to Thomas Powers move! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maple smith Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 On 9/19/2019 at 5:24 PM, BillyBones said: How much syrup does one get from 1320 taps? The quantity of syrup varies year to year, mostly depending on the number of freeze thaw cycles in a season. My best year was 456 gal of syrup when I had 1320 taps, which is only about .345 gal per tap (gpt). The gal/tap or pounds of syrup /tap are the best methods of comparing. While I ran far fewer taps in 2018 and 2019, I averaged .52 gpt in '18 and .49 gpt in '19. By the way, a gal of syrup at proper density weighs slightly over 11#/gal. I found that when I ran more taps I just collected the sap and rarely if ever walked the woods to fix leaks in the tubing, when I cut my taps to the 800 +/- I had this year or the 325 I had last year I took the time to walk the woods and fix leaks. That may be one of the bigger reasons my GPT rose significantly. By the way, I had kidney cancer is 208 and cut back so much because at first I didn't have a surgery date. Then when I got the date I only tapped around my sugarhouse and left a lease set idle. This year I'm well, and tapped 350 at my sugarhouse, then started tapping at the lease, 7 miles away. Then on Mar. 13 as I was drilling and tapping, about mid morning I noticed that each hole I drilled ran solid stream. I then decided to process the sap from both locations and return to tap the rest the next day. As it turned out, the sap ran like that for 9 days before I got to tap more, or instead of having about 800 taps I would have had about 950 taps. At my age I have now decided I will let the lease go and just do the most taps I can from around my sugarhouse. I think I will have about 425-450 in 2020. At the lease I spoke to the land owner. He thinks he will start collecting the sap from there in 2021 but will haul the sap to me for processing. I can process far more taps than I can properly manage in the woods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Shears Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 (edited) I had the winning bid on a lot of pavement breaker points and related items at a local auction last week. All up cost was just under CDN$180 (or under $2 a piece) The lot covered two standard (4 ft by 4 ft) pallets. Took me about ten minutes to hand load into my truck with help from one of the staff. The shanks are a mix of 2 1/8 inch and 2 1/4 inch flat to flat hex. There are 69 pyramid points, 13 with cut off ends, 9 chisel points, 5 wedges, 2 spade tips, a tamper, and what I believe to be a pipe or post driver. Also included were 3 pieces if pneumatic drill shaft, a 2 ft long (octagonal stock) chisel, 2 jack hammers, and 4 sections of air line. The challenge now is coming up with a way to store this before the snow arrives. But I now certainly have enough high carbon stock to last me a long time. Edited September 25, 2019 by Don Shears Resize of photo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 New Gig: sys admin for the local University's Earth Sciences Dept---finally get to use both my CIS and Geology BS's in the same job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedefiddle Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 1 hour ago, Don Shears said: There are 69 pyramid points, 13 with cut off ends, 9 chisel points, 5 wedges, 2 spade tips, a tamper, and what I believe to be a pipe or post driver. Also included were 3 pieces if pneumatic drill shaft, a 2 ft long (octagonal stock) chisel, 2 jack hammers, and 4 sections of air line. Good Morning, Talk to a local Contractor, make your money back and still have lots to play with. Typically Breaker Bits are 1050-1060, not "High Carbon Steel". No problem using water quench when Heat Treating. The drill rod is generally a poor choice for making Tools, makes poor Pry Bars, breaking when under a load. Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAG Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 Mr. Neil, When you allude to 'drill rod', does that include star drills too? Mr. D.S. Would a spark test confirm that the bits are high carbon? Mr. T.P., Would you please define CIS? Thanks, Also, congratulations on your new employment. SLAG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 22 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: New Gig: sys admin for the local University's Earth Sciences Dept---finally get to use both my CIS and Geology BS's in the same job. Rockin’. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 (edited) 13 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: but we did have a 5 generation family dinner! (And eat at B&B BBQ which catered my wedding 35 years ago...) Those are precious. I've been to one when I was very young. It was my great grandmother's dying wish that five generations gather at the old home place outside of Hazard KY. my oldest sister just had a son making the fifth generation. She flew in from Germany to attend. It's a dear memory from my childhood. Pnut P.S. congrats on the new job. Edited September 25, 2019 by pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Shears Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 Swedefiddle (Neil), SLAG - I stand/sit corrected, not high carbon, but certainly enough to be hardened. There's been plenty of discussion threads here on IFI about these. Good for making hammers, struck and hardy tools. Quite a few need re-pointing and I haven't done a spark test yet. The idea of talking to a contractor has occurred to me, just haven't followed up. The pneumatic drill rods are cut-offs, of different lengths and flat to flat sizes. I will have to clean out the air/lube channels before doing any cutting/forging. I do not want any nasty surprises. Thomas - congrat's on getting work closer to home. As a sidebar, at another auction I met up with another fellow (a retired geologist) with a disreputable red hat (sans horns!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 9 hours ago, SLAG said: define CIS? That would be Computer Information Systems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
671jungle Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 Champion no. 108 I scored it off the online auction site. Total including shipping was $80. Everything turns smooth. I am a sucker for functional antiquity. Anyone familiar with the belt drive pulley? Seems a little small of a machine to need it hooked up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyGoatLady Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 These followed me home yesterday. Went with my father- in law on a goat buy. Turned out the man had been a farrier. I asked if he had any shoes I could buy. He took me to his very stuffed shop and pointed to a place I could dig for them. There were probably more, but it's all I could get to. I asked how much, and he said oh, you can have'em, just make something nice out of'em. He said he has a couple of coal forges also. I told him if he was ever interested in selling to give me a call. So who knows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 Ah-h-h-h, the "mother load". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 14 minutes ago, 671jungle said: I scored it off the online auction site. Total including shipping was $80 That sounds like a good deal for a post drill. Looks to be in pretty good shape too. Have you figured out where you're going to mount it? Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
671jungle Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 7 hours ago, pnut said: where you're going to mount it? I’m still in the process of felling a tree to put a shop up in its place. I acquired some 6x4s for mounting tools and stock shelving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 You plan on using it don't you? You'd be surprised how many perfectly good antique tools are bought and not used. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
671jungle Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 Oh yes! I been drilling holes by hand for so long, this will be a sweet treat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 Glad to hear it. I don't usually break out the electric drill unless it's a gonna be a particularly rough go with a brace and bit. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 CGL, making Him something nice out of a few might motivate his selling tendencies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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