I keep a copy of the BB to encourage Y deficient students. You can be a great smith even without that pesky Y!

Got this load last weekend from a historic smithy established in 1906.  Owner of the property was clearing it out.  Unfortunately, most of the tools were sold previously.

if anyone has ideas of what I can make out of the railroad plates, would love to hear it.

Track plates make good places for the feet of tables to rest on, particularly outside.

Weld the track plates together and make an acorn platen.

 

 Found this interesting  object lying on the side of the road. 4” in diameter, 3-1/4” high, with a 2” bore in the middle. Seems to have some kind of bronze (?) bushing lining the bore. Some kind of roller?

That bushing is probably "oil lite". If that's the case it means it is brass infused with a lubricant that releases through wear. (at least that's how I understand it from reading McMaster Carr). If you try doing anything with that let us know how it turns out. I have a nearly endless supply of that from the mill I work at. 

 I wonder if that bushing is press-fit inside the roller. Be nice if I could push it back out again and use the steel and brass separately.

Traded the local scrap picker a pack of cigarettes for it. With some clay, a pipe,and a stand it's going to be my new side blast forge. 

Pnut (Mike)

I used to run a Davenport 5 spindle screw machine. They use the same brass bushings. The ones we used were removable cause  i had to replace enough of them. They were not however that big. 

My butcher block brush came in today, a day early at that. It wasn't supposed to be here until tomorrow because the holiday. Can't complain though. This should do a lot better than the little wire brush I was working with. 

You'll be blown away how well it works. The smaller brushes are still good for smaller work. 

Make a good handle for it so you can apply it with VIGOR!

Yeah, I think I might go try it out now. I just checked, I ordered Saturday night, they shipped Sunday and it was in route Sunday and Monday. It's weird, I've never had ups run on Sundays but they did on Sunday and a holiday. 

It's the Winco #225, it's got a pretty beefy handle. I'm probably gonna shape it and then I'll probably forge one. 

This was waiting for me when I got home. Thanks, Steve!

Friend of mine moved into a new place and there are about 6 buckets of these in the old shed. What are they? They say 5/8 on them. I thought some form of cable coupling. They’re tapered so maybe for tension?

51 minutes ago, Chris J Dixon said:

What are they?

Those are cast iron silo hoop couplers/tensioners.  Steel round bar with threaded ends wraps the silo, pass thru that bit pictured, and get a nut screwed onto the free end to keep the load of feed in the silo from blowing out the walls.  

Thanks. That makes complete sense. 

After we cleaned a while he sent me home with some stuff. A couple of nice old saws (a Disston and a Shurly Dietrich), a couple old files, an adjustable wrench (Marked GM), a couple rusty wrenches (I’ll clean up and see what they are if I can) and two pairs of Enders 3/8 farriers tongs (might reforge one to fit 1/4”).

Good haul, if you want to remove the rust, I suggest Evap-O-Rust. Does a good job and won't hurt the steel.

I’ve got some sodium carbonate and those wrenches are pretty pitted already. I think I’ll give electrolysis a go. I’ve never done it so it will be good for experience. 

The electrolysis will work perfectly on those, and a LOT cheaper than Evap-O-Rust.  Be sure the battery charger you use for the electrolysis is a manual one, not an automatic charger.  The automatic chargers "look" for a battery and if the circuitry doesn't sense one they won't work for electrolysis.  Somewhere around 4 to 10 amps is a good rate to de-rust.  Anything lower usually takes a bit longer to work.  Here are some old horseshoes that I used electrolysis on.

1 hour ago, Chris J Dixon said:

I’ve never done it so it will be good for experience. 

It is if you don't turn the current up to high, the shocks take the enjoyment right out of it. Careful where you attach the clips! 

Frosty The Lucky.

Yeah it’s a manual charger and I’ve got it going right now. The meter is reading about 6A. “Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble.” 

Frosty, I have a switched plug on its own circuit in my shop just for occasions like this. Experiments. I’m looking for shocking results of a different nature. Lol. 

Frosty, we never told you to clip it *there*.

Finding a mentor is a good thing, so much for self taught.

Frosty The Lucky.

I got super lucky today and found an old Ridgid no. 2 pipe cutter at a flea market today, for all of $5. (the guy selling it clearly didn't know what it was) It seems to be in great condition. Here it is taken apart for cleaning:

Is there any way to figure out the approximate age of it?

Well there you have it!  The first pic is 2 hours in. The 2nd is just now after wire wheel treatment and a coat of oil. Electrolysis is the way to go!!