March 24, 20179 yr I stopped by Home Depot yesterday partly because one of the guys in the club said they were selling off dull jack hammer bits. I asked a while back and the rental manager guy thought they were worth about 1/2 new price. Yeah right. Seems a while ago someone else said to get rid of them and now they're asking $5.00 apiece. So I picked up a couple 3" spade bits. Frosty The Lucky.
March 24, 20179 yr I found a local source for beeswax recently and landed myself a pound and a half block. I also got a new shipment of known blade steel and my belt grinder belts showed up. Now I just need to finish building the thing and put it to work.
March 25, 20179 yr Fellow i.f.I. Citizens A great source for reasonably priced beeswax, is the local plumbing supply store. Beeswax rings are placed between the toilet and the base of the toilet ring. (i.e. floor). One botched toilet repair (the second try worked out), and I was left with enough beeswax for the rest of my life. I got creative and turned a kludge into a source of said beeswax for my smithy. (& wood shop). I probably have enough left over to put it in my will. The botched toilet ring set me back about ten or twelve dollars. Buying that amount of wax, at a hobby store, would have required a second mortgage on my house. Cheers, SLAGE. So the moral of that story is that there may be a silver lining when you botch a toilet repair job.
March 25, 20179 yr Mine came from a beekeeper and not a toilet. I've replaced those wax rings on several toilets and never knew they were beeswax. Would you mind sharing your source for that information?
March 25, 20179 yr I searched for beeswax toilet rings only to find that they are now made of a petroleum base, not beeswax. I even wrote to one of the major manufacturers of the rings and they confirmed that theirs were petroleum based and that they knew of no current manufacturer who used beeswax any more.
March 25, 20179 yr 28 minutes ago, Michael Cochran said: Mine came from a beekeeper and not a toilet. I've replaced those wax rings on several toilets and never knew they were beeswax. Would you mind sharing your source for that information? 5 minutes ago, arkie said: I searched for beeswax toilet rings only to find that they are now made of a petroleum base, not beeswax. I even wrote to one of the major manufacturers of the rings and they confirmed that theirs were petroleum based and that they knew of no current manufacturer who used beeswax any more. According to the book "Renovating a Bathroom" by Taunton Press: "The English, who invented what has become the modern toilet, used beeswax to seal the connection between toilet and pipe. But as the newfangled toilets gained popularity, they outstripped bees' ability to make wax. Modern wax rings are made of vegetable and petroleum waxes, with polyurethane additives."
March 25, 20179 yr I personally replaced the toilet ring, albeit more than a decade ago, and did so in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Perhaps the situation is different in the U.S.A. or manufacturers have changed the wax they use a while ago. There still may be some old stock bee's wax rings in a smaller plumbing supply shop. For that matter Canada did not go to limited water use toilets like the U.S. did. (thank you Jimmah Cahtah). Incidentally the regulations were changed after the Federal government discovered that many people were flushing twice, end of water saving, and their attempt at social engineering). Bees wax has a very distinctive smell. I know it very well having worked with it for years. Also, most Christian Orthodox Churches only burn bees wax tapers, and not paraffin tapers/candles like we smell in Roman Catholic Churches. The odor is unmistakable SLAG.
March 25, 20179 yr Hmm...I should beg some candle stubs from the ecclesiarch if I make it to the monastery on Wednesday.
March 25, 20179 yr In the world of muzzleloading beeswax is an important ingredient in patch lube. I get my pure bees wax from a local beekeeper. In the it followed me home yesterday, I took our trash to the county compactor and returned home with a truck load of various metal pieces. Another fireplace grate (smaller this time 3/8 sg stock), a square tube frame of some sort to be converted into a stand for the propane forge in progress, 2 sections of black iron pipe 6 feet long and, 3 full boxes of 13 gauge carbon spring wire insulation supports.
March 26, 20179 yr 12 hours ago, Irondragon Forge & Clay said: In the world of muzzleloading beeswax is an important ingredient in patch lube. I get my pure bees wax from a local beekeeper. Aye. It is also important in the leather working world. What type of smoke pole do you have?
March 26, 20179 yr 48 minutes ago, 1776 said: Aye. It is also important in the leather working world. What type of smoke pole do you have? At last count I have 36 total. My favorites are the flintlocks and an original German Jaeger percussion in 58 caliber.
March 27, 20179 yr Since Lisa will not let me take apart any of our vacuum cleaners (including the two we inherited from her mom or our main one that we just replaced), I was rather pleased to spot an old upright that one of my neighbors put in the trash just as I was headed home for lunch. I know most folks consider vacuum cleaners to be overkill for a forge blower, but (A) it's probably less so than the shop vac I'm currently using and (B) it's certainly less noisy. Plus, I can take the shop vac back to the woodshop in the basement to help keep that area more clean.
March 28, 20179 yr 3 hours ago, JHCC said: and (B) it's certainly less noisy. You could put the thing in Styrofoam cooler? Robert Taylor
March 28, 20179 yr There's an idea. I knew I'd been hanging onto that cooler from Omaha Steaks for a reason.
March 29, 20179 yr All my fans are in boxes to hush them up a bit. The big one has a 1hp motor and a 24" fan (at a guess) and is quieter than the cooling fan on the MIG welder...mind you that is an old 500 amp beast. I replaced the brushes on the little fan a couple of weeks ago and took some photos of the box with its internal baffle/flue...may be useful for someone... Alan
March 29, 20179 yr a few days ago a 2.5kw induction heater followed me home from the local scrapyard, it looks complete and ok apart from the E stop button and one ferrite core, made by inductelec at sheffield for heating metal. should be ok for small stock so will give it a try I think
April 3, 20179 yr A 330 lb anvil followed me home yesterday, on loan from a friend (he will never ask for it back). It was his granddad's who was a professional blacksmith in Edwardsville, Ill. The last pic shows my 75 lb Lakeside on top of it. I can't find any markings on it.
April 3, 20179 yr It's okay for a loaner I . . . guess. It's good to see people who'd rather see a good tool in use rather than the shed. How about putting the Lakeside on a chain and hanging it on the loaner's horn for jewelry? Sweet score you lucky dog you. Frosty The Lucky.
April 4, 20179 yr In a moment of idleness I searched on vise in craigslist and found this under "old vise": 4" jaws, shows die forging marks on it, has an Indian Chief mounting bracket and has been ridden hard and put away wet a number of times. Felt so sorry for it I offered US$40 to the fellow just to take it home and introduce it to hot steel again. Now to find someone who wants to give it some TLC. It's gracile and so would make a good light duty travel vise.
April 4, 20179 yr Took the wife to a estate sale on the weekend she came home empty handed but I found this jem 20.00 it was calling to me take me home
April 5, 20179 yr A yard each of sucker rod and HC cable, along with a tracing of his pattern sheet for rose petals, all courtesy of Daswulf.
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