March 20, 20206 yr Welcome Steven. My workbenches have both a 6+" postvise and a 4ish" postvise; then I have a "heavy work postvise attached to the utility pole that holds up the roof truss. Then there is a travel set up with a 4" vise. I am currently working on a gazinta to be set in concrete out in the shop driveway for a 6" postvise so I can bend large stuff without running into shop walls. I also have an OLD 3.5" postvise, (pre 1800 according to Frank Turley) and a heavy duty "robustus" postvise I bought for my rental house set up that came back to my smithy when I no longer rented that place. I sold a couple of postvises off last month and hope to sell a couple more soon to get me back down to a reasonable dozen of them....
March 21, 20206 yr A friend messaged me this morning. Said he had a loader bucket full of bolts for me to make art with. For the price,($0.) I couldn't pass it up. All new. He said he got them dumpster diving, and scrap is low atm. Awesome. That'll keep me busy for a bit. I'll be making him a good thank you gift. Perhaps I'll get more.
March 21, 20206 yr At that price ya didn’t get screwed. Had to say it. Keep the faith good things do happen Forge on and make beautiful things Jim
March 22, 20206 yr People will think you sell used cars when you mention all your buckets of bolts. Nice score. Frosty The Lucky.
March 22, 20206 yr Speaking of used cars, I finally managed to find a vehicle that didn't cost a fortune. I couldn't pass it up for$1000. Now I have a place to put my forge when it's cooled off. It's time for a new MarkIII jabod. Pnut
March 22, 20206 yr I'm just happy not to have to walk wherever I want to go. It took me forever to find a vehicle. They've gotten much more expensive than the last car I purchased ten years ago for $500. I managed to find a 2006 Buick Rendezvous with 150,580 miles for a grand. I couldn't pass it up. Part of the deal with the landlord was I had to be able to take the forge down and put it in my vehicle or bring it inside when not in use so the neighbors can't complain. I was going to buy a diamondback series three gas forge when I file my taxes and I still might but I prefer charcoal. I can't wait. Pnut
March 22, 20206 yr Lol Jim. Frosty, sadly I've known techs that would tend to wind up with large spare fastner bins, and not from used parts like I save them from. Congrats on the car Pnut, and the deal with the landlord.
March 23, 20206 yr Always interesting to look in the gravel right outside the mechanic's shop....scary....but fun. My latest scrapyard haul included the 1.5 hp baldor motor, a 3" lifting eye to use as a dishing form---had to unscrew it with a 10' chunk of pipe for leverage, some misc nuts and bolts and washers and a 4" to 3" duct adapter. US$11.05 total There is another 3/4 hp motor I may have to go back next Saturday for...I may get a tumbler built someday after all.
March 23, 20206 yr 1 hour ago, ThomasPowers said: Always interesting to look in the gravel right outside the mechanic's shop....scary....but fun. I had a long wait at the industrial surplus place for the warehouse guys to bring my stuff out (it was a VERY busy Sale Saturday), so I amused myself by walking around the parking lot and picking up any stray bits of metal. Ended up with about a pint of nuts, bolts, and washers, including some of rather large diameter.
March 24, 20206 yr One of my coworkers brought me 7 band saw blades today, 1 inch wide on the flats. I haven't stretched one out yet, but their at least 10 ft. long.
March 24, 20206 yr Stay home folks. Don't let ANYTHING follow you home. Sucks I know, I let a nice PW anvil on Craigslist 2 towns over get away because my father in law who lives with us is pushing 80 with a heart condition is in the high risk category.
March 24, 20206 yr 10 minutes ago, Judson Yaggy said: because my father in law who lives with us is pushing 80 with a heart condition is in the high risk category. Truly commendable. I applaud your consideration. I wish it would trickle down to the bluegrass state. We've had to have police sit outside of an inconsiderate fool's home who wouldn't voluntarily quarantine after testing positive. There's been numerous other incidents also. It boggles the mind how some people have so little regard for others. Pnut
March 24, 20206 yr On 3/24/2020 at 6:18 PM, Judson Yaggy said: Stay home folks. Don't let ANYTHING follow you home. Sucks I know, .. how long can the new coronavirus linger on surfaces, anyway? The short answer is, we don't know. A new analysis found that the virus can remain viable in the air for up to 3 hours, on copper for up to 4 hours, on cardboard up to 24 hours and on plastic and stainless steel up to 72 hours. This study was originally published in the preprint database medRxiv on March 11, and now a revised version was published March 17 in The New England Journal of Medicine
March 25, 20206 yr Unfortunately I am classified as an essential employee and have to go to work until next Tuesday when I retire
March 25, 20206 yr Thanks Hans. My wife asked me last weekend if I had enough coal to last until we can get around people again. Luckily I have enough on hand.
March 25, 20206 yr I'd be retired as of July 1 2019 if I didn't need the health insurance! I hope you have a long, relaxing, and coal smoky retirement!
March 25, 20206 yr Les, happy retirement. Wish i could but that will be many years away if ever. I too am essential, so off to work everyday. Was so hoping for a couple weeks off. I aint had a vacation in 20 years.
March 26, 20206 yr Hasn’t followed me home yet, but I’ve put in purchase requests on some goodies from the industrial surplus place. Normally they only offer the greatest Sale Thursday discount on in-store purchases, but with everyone staying home as much as possible, they’ve extended that to online orders as well. Getting some safety gear, a cart that I plan to modify into a tool rack, an odd lot of tools, and 145 lbs. of hex bar stock.
March 26, 20206 yr No, not yet. It's clearly steel, but not idea beyond that. I'll do some spark testing and test hardening when I get it, but I figured 145 lbs for $24 was a pretty good deal regardless.
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