August 12, 20187 yr Some old crusty metal followed me home from a kayaking trip down the Youghiogheny river. There used to be train tracks on both sides. One side was turned into a biking trail. I can never help myself plucking a few crusty pieces of metal out of the waters edge in the rocks and tree roots. Alsosome old insulators and bottle parts for my rock garden. My favorite stop is in a little cut out at the old ruins of the Overholt whisky distillery.
August 12, 20187 yr Auction night part deux, New Ridgid straight pipe welding vise Two full propane tanks Heavy cast pot for smelting Two extended air guns, couple new clamps, a slide puller, couple springs and a new USA air filter
August 12, 20187 yr Stopped by the scrap yard the other day and came home with a couple vises. The bench vise is a Parker which I figured I could weld repair and get a new jaw. Turns out that may have been overly optimistic as they had pretty complicated jaws. I'll have to think how I want to do the repair. The post vise is in great shape, threads are nice and square.
August 13, 20187 yr Note the tenon method of mounting the spring and mounting plate indicates AGE! Look carefully in the screwbox and see if it has the screwthread forge brazed inside it. (My oldest vise a 3.5" had the tenon mounting and the wedged pivot bolt and a built up screwbox forge brazed from a bunch of pieces with the screwthread brazed inside it. Frank Turley thought mine might be pre-1800! It still gets used but very carefully and NOT by students!)
August 13, 20187 yr Mine with the tenon mount is an H. LOSE iirc. It is stamped on the flats of the arms going up to the jaws. Iirc it may be late 1700's. Any names stamped on yours? Either way they are older but with common sence normal use they are usable.
August 13, 20187 yr No stamping on mine. The screwbox is a bit more fragile, not an unknown issue as "Practical Blacksmithing", Richardson, from about 125 years ago lists a number of ways to repair a stripped out screwbox...
August 13, 20187 yr I mounted mine to be my portable vise since it will mostly just see twisting and light tool holding. It's got 5" jaws and works great. When I got it the tenon was brazed on but I cleaned that out and made it the wedge it needed to function properly.
August 13, 20187 yr Hey Bryan L: what scrap yard in CT allowed you to walk around? Nice “scrap” you found!
August 13, 20187 yr Bryan, please tell me you got that post vise for scrap price. That would be the icing on the cake. I really want a big 7-8” post vise but there’s a special place in my heart for the smaller 3.5-4” vises. That is a very cool find!
August 13, 20187 yr Lou, I actually went over to Rhode Island at the Exeter scrap yard. But there is another one you can walk through in Stamford, Vulcan scrap metal. And they sold it to me for $35, so I didn't even bother haggling. It was a great find. I'll check in the screwbox when I get home.
August 13, 20187 yr 41 minutes ago, BryanL said: Vulcan scrap metal Just looked at their Facebook page. Guess I know where I'm going in CT the next time I'm on a business trip (other than meeting up with Lou, of course).
August 13, 20187 yr Thomas, took a pic of the screwbox (I think) and I do see some evidence of "red" metal. I don't know much about brazing though, does brazing ever use copper or bronzes? Das, no markings that I can find yet.
August 13, 20187 yr Oh yeah that's a forge brazed one---treat it a bit more gentle that the solid box ones! That has some historical weight to it! Yes brass, bronze and copper were all used; in fact they used to call using it a "penny weld" if they used a penny for the metal---back in the days when pennies were actually a copper alloy...
August 14, 20187 yr For the last day of my vacations, I made a visit to a local scrap yard. Brought back two small coil springs, a garage door spring, a bunch of 5/8" cuts and a set of square tubing racks (probably for a pickup truck), several long bolts, two lengths of black pipe, some chains and two small oil barrels (60L), as well as a few more odds and ends. Total cost of C$50.
August 15, 20187 yr No pictures right at now but a visit with a friend yielded an 8” long heavy wrought iron chain link and a 1 1/8” diameter round bar of titanium 4’ long. He also has 4 large post vises, 6”-7 1/2”, laying on some pipe a ways out behind his house. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t wouldn’t turn loose of one.
August 15, 20187 yr Ranchmanben- ever think about making a post vise the size you want? I have seen them made from forklift forks - the 90 forms the jaws.
August 15, 20187 yr Ive got a few post vises currently but none that large. That said, I’ve actually been fiddling with the idea of forging a post vise from scratch. The forging of the major parts doesn’t seem overly complex other than the standard complications that come with forging any large piece of metal. Although having it look good versus mearly practical might be another story. If I do ever get around to it, I’d start by forging a smaller 3” vise to see how it goes and purchase the screw and box. But that project is a ways down on the “one day I do that” list.
August 15, 20187 yr I learned that I have a Harbison Walker global supply outlet about 40 minutes from my home. Went there today and bought significantly more than I need to make one propane forge.... 55 pounds of kast-o-lite 30, 1”x24”x24’ of 8# wool and a gallon of mystery. On a whim I took a chance on one gallon of their moldable ceramic fiber caulking putty. It apparently dries hard like the castable but has higher thermal shock resistance. It’s purpose is for filling large voids or for use in linings up to 3” thick. The guy printed out a spec sheet on it for me. I’m going to experiment and try making one NARB with it. May make a mini forge with it as well. If anyone is interested I can share the spec sheet.
August 15, 20187 yr K O Lee Universal Tool & Cutter Grinder. One nearly never sees a machine this old in such excellent condition. I have an 11 year history with this particular configuration - loved every minute of it, though scary at times, when the Boss would say, "We need you to make one of THESE". Bed removed for transport. Robert Taylor
August 16, 20187 yr Courtesy of the guys at the college theater renovation worksite, some chunks of heavy angle iron and rebar. (Construction guys LOVE rebar bottle openers.)
August 16, 20187 yr On 8/11/2018 at 8:57 PM, blacksmith-450 said: I just fell in love with this one... she's now in my shop ! I just saw that ad the other day. And drooled, and then lamented the 7 hour drive. I'm very happy she's got a good home!
August 17, 20187 yr Ended up with Jay Sharp’s forge blower today. I’m pretty sure that means I can turn it on and my fire will always be at the perfect temperature and never burn up what I’m working on. It runs perfectly
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