starbits Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 Bid on a lot of wrenches thinking the crescent wrench was a 12" wrench and the rest scaled from that. Including fees I paid $38 for the lot. Note the 6" crescent wrench next to the bigger one I thought was 12 inches. Wrench on the far right is 2" and 30 inches long. Box on the left are all duplicates including the 2" wrench next to the box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wirerabbit Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 Nice lot. Are the open ends in good shape? I have been slowly adding to my wrenches. My skidsteer and implements have some pretty big bolts. T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desmato Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 On 9/26/2020 at 3:14 PM, JHCC said: No sacrificing infants to it! Nope, no sacrifices this week ! It looks much better now that I removed the OSHA guard and pressure blasted it. Everything freed right up with zero disassembly so I'm gunna do a few minor things and NOT take it all apart. Time to clear coat the patina and put her to work ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 I think not taking it all apart is a wise move. You might want to start a thread in the power hammer section to keep those of us that don't do facebook in the loop. I had never heard of that make before and it looks like a good one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 Might be time for a couple more wrench racks! I knew all those garden rake heads would come in handy! For the big wrenches you can hot cut out some tines for elbow room. I also heat the tines up and curl them a bit more for a more secure hold. (I've got my duplicates stacked and the whole array sorted by size, top is english; bottom is metric. And of course that is not all my wrenches, not even all my box end combos!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desmato Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 Thomas, I love those wrench racks ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starbits Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 wirerabbit: The open ends look good. Almost a complete set of larger wrenches, missing 1 3/4. Thomas: I have several of those rake heads I bought for holding tongs, but never set them up. Had not thought about them for the wrenches, but that looks like great idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 I've got them all over the shop; I like them for holding files with golfball handles too. A couple of improvised swages from the local scrapyard; dozers really are built from improvised blacksmithing equipment! (I'm going to cut the curved one into a couple of swages, it has a good part to hold in the big postvise to use too. I may rework it on one of them to fit the hardy hole.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
671jungle Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 I really need a scrapyard like Thomas’s. My local metal hole rarely gets big heavy things. Anywho, my Love’s dad brought me some auger bits. Anyone know what the bits on the left are used for? What would y’all make out of them? I finally bought a brush. Pretty cheaply built but I got it for under $10 including shipping. It’ll beat the bbq brush I’ve been using though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 Ones on the left are star drills used to drill holes in concrete or rocks by pounding on the end with a sledge and having the holder AKA shaker rotate it slightly with every blow. Listen to "John Henry"! Probably a medium to higher carbon steel. I used a smaller one to drill the holes in the slab when I enclosed our carport for my wife's studio. 2000 blows per hole as I recall. (No power to use a hammer drill and lots of time as my family had not moved out to NM; waiting on the end of the school year.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
671jungle Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 On 10/8/2020 at 9:27 AM, ThomasPowers said: 2000 blows per hole as I recall Dang! that'll make you strong. When I was in my mid 20's I worked with an old Filipino man who had me dig a crawlspace foundation through limestone. This is where I learned the "slow and steady wins the race" lesson. I will spark test them before forging. This hammer was found on the intersection in Grand Junction Colorado. It has been a treat to work with framing the shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K.Corfe Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Went with the girlfriend to pick up some horse stuff today, seemed like the kind of trip to take extra cash on. I'm sure glad I thought so. These were laying in a corner of the old horse barn. Canadian Forge and Blower Co. No.614 post drill. And a 4.5" vice, unfortunately the vice has been cut at some point during its life, but a cut vice is better than no vice. I will have to fabricate a feed arm for the drill, and clean it up good. Might paint it up nice depending how the patina looks under that grime. And the vice will get a touch of lube, mounted up and put to use as is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 It's not uncommon to see a new post welded on a vice that had had its original cut off at some time. Good score. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Yup and welded by pretty much any method: O-A, forge welded or arc welded, haven't seen any explosively welded or stir welded---yet. Spring is an easy fix---doesn't even need to be "spring steel" mild will do. How is the screw and screwbox? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K.Corfe Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 I may give forge welding a post on an attempt one day. I don't seem to have a shortage of large scrap, er.. stock, coming my way. The screw is awesome, didn't get it fully out to look in screw box but it turns freely and easily until almost out. A touch of dry graphite seemed appropriate, then screwed back in. The bottom hinge point needed an over night soak with liquid wrench, then a little working with wd-40, but eventually it took in some chain oil, and moves very freely. I will probably just mount it tilted a degree or two forward so I don't need to worry about the spring right away. I will need to sink a big post in the ground for it as is, the thing is heavier than both my current anvils. Also my google-fu must be rusty, I am having a hard time finding any sort of dimensions for the feed arm and pawl of the drill. Found a few pics of different fabricated replacements but no measurements. I'm gonna have to do a little trial and error to fabricate one I think. It seems a very common breaking point on this model. So a steel replacement feels best over finding an original part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 Manufactures changes things like the advancement arm all the time; even with the same model you might have differing sizes over time so any dimension you get may not be the one yours's had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Shed Forge Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 Last night after work I made a trip about 40 minutes west to Elburn, IL where an old friend had just cut down 7 trees on his property. I told him that I would like to use it to make charcoal for my forge and he said I could come by and grab as many logs as I could haul, no charge. What a great guy. The best part about it is that the majority of the haul is hardwood! He believes it is English Walnut, his neighbor thinks it is Black Walnut and I, after some research, think it looks very similar to hard Maple based on its bark. Although we are no experts, I know the logs are hard and heavy when compared to the pine that I also grabbed. He also had a few logs of another species that had been sitting on a pile for some time that he told me to take; we do not have a good guess of its species. The picture shows the Walnut/Maple on the top of the pile, with the unidentified reddish heartwood on the bottom. If anyone has a guess as to its species, let me know! The pine is out of the picture in a separate pile. The second picture is of the bark of the possible Walnut/Maple. I am excited to see how it all acts as charcoal! Thought of using the heartwood for scales/handles as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 Definitely maple; both English walnut and black walnut have much darker heartwood and a smaller proportion of sapwood. Maple trees are also susceptible to heart rot, so that's another vote in maple's favor. The reddish stuff might be cherry or apple, but it's hard to tell without seeing the bark. With cherry, I'd expect to see more of the sapwood, which is typically very light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Shed Forge Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 That was my thinking on the Maple too, didn't seem dark enough. Nice, I'm cool with that. He did not mention having an apple tree, but I will take a closer look at the bark when I get home and see what I can conclude. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAG Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 RSF, It is easier to identify the species of the hardwood by saving a twig with some leaves on it. The leaves make identification much easier. If you have to, tape them to the log. Or take photos showing the leaf, (top and bottom), the branch and the way the leaves attach to the tree. Identification is done by using a "key". Check "key" up in wiki and then search for an on line key (ideally for identifying trees). Alternatively show the pictures to a botanist or wood worker. Hope that helps, SLAG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Shed Forge Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 SLAG, That does help, thank you. Great idea to make my own key with pictures of leaves with the log, I will do that going forward. I did look for a comprehensive key online, but all I ever found were keys that showed what the wood looked like in finished or floor-sample form; one that shows it in logs would be ideal. I will do a better search here soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 I've noticed that commercially things are often mislabeled; I saw a set of flooring at HD Sunday where they had a fairly coarse grained imitation wood marked "dusk cherry". Nope not cherry at all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAG Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 RSF., Phone the Department of Agriculture of your state for a good reference. Also the Federal Govt. has great websites. Don't forget books. For example, The Missouri Dept. of Conservation has a wonderful tree book. Other states also, have good resources. (e.g. Wisconsin, NJ., Minn. etc. counterparts) University botany or agricultural schools can put you on the right track. Happy hunting, SLAG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 This site may help. I googled trees of IL. https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/publications/Documents/00000713.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazarus Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 My granddaughter (6yrs. old) w/ the help of her parents uses "https://apps.apple.com/us/app/picturethis-plant-identifier/id1252497129" quite successfully and often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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