It followed me home

[Owen Hinsman]

That info about the star drill is really interesting. I have half a dozen floating around my scrap pile. Also, I found this (or rather my dad pointed it out) on the side of the road. How can I take it apart without damaging me or my tools?

[Dave51B]

19 hours ago, Goods said:

hammer-ins are cancelled for November and December

 Was this perhaps the Vernon group? It was posted on the IBA website a couple of days ago. I did travel down to Odon and pick up some good smithin' coal yesterday for just under 17 cents a lb.   Life is Good      Dave

[Daswulf]

3 hours ago, Owen Hinsman said:

without damaging me or my tools?

Best to take it to a mechanic with the proper tool (spring compressor) to do the job. There is a Lot of dangerous energy bound up in that compressed spring and even the cheap spring compressors are iffy with experience let alone without. I tend to avoid the assemblies and just go for the already freed springs. And I have the spring compressor tools plus have access to a better one at work.  I prefer to only use them when I Need to for repairing a car. Also that looks like one of the awkward ones that like to slip in the tool. 

But yeah, best to take it to a mechanic to take apart if you really want the spring. 

[JHCC]

Or cash it in at a scrapyard and spend the money on something else.

[Goods]

2 hours ago, Dave51B said:

Was this perhaps the Vernon group

Yes, Vernon. I don’t usually check the IBA site, it always seems a bit dated and I’m not on Facebook.

David

[ThomasPowers]

Star drills should be at least  medium carbon steel or better!  They need to maintain the edge being whacked into stone or concrete.  When I added the walls to the carport to make my wife's studio; I did all the holes with a star drill, 2000 blows per hole.  I dressed the striking end a lot more frequently that the cutting end.

[JHCC]

You don’t have to cut off the entire end, though. If you want to turn one into a chisel, just grind off two of the ribs. 

[Don Shears]

These followed me home in the last 10 days:

BS Road kill picked up just past a railway crossing - broken leaf spring is 5/16" by 2" stock still with factory paint.

Various tools from the local Restore $2 each. As a curiosity the 6" adjustable wrench was made for a farrier supply business.

Not shown, the $5 handled cold chisel, hand forged with ~2" wide cutting edge. Nor some the metal pieces from some horse drawn farm equipment I've been given permission to salvage.

[Chad J.]

My gf went to an estate sale and found some stuff for me,  this was thrown in as a freebie.  Is it me reading too much into this or did the beard on this ax look like it's been broken off?

[Glenn]

You may want to dress the hammer end of that brick chisel before you use it.  Remove the mushroomed part back to parent stock. 

Those mushroomed chunks can fly off the chisel when hit and act as shrapnel. 

[George N. M.]

Chad:  Yes, it does but that does not mean that it is medieval in age.  They still make and use bearded axes in Scandanavia.

It's pretty deeply rusted but you might find some sort of manufacturer's mark when you clean it up.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[JHCC]

54 minutes ago, Chad J. said:

did the beard on this ax look like it's been broken off?

A bit of a trim, not an actual shave. 

[Frosty]

The "Shaker" was called that because he had to give the drill steel a shake to break it loose from the cuttings so it would turn. You could hear the drill steel rattling in the hole, you couldn't hear it being turned.

The sound of the drill steel being shaken was part of the "hammer song" sung at the stope. ( or face being drilled for explosives to advance the mine or tunnel.) Hammer songs had a broad, steady tempo and helped keep everybody's timing in sync. A number of hymns were popular at the stope as well but I can't think of any right now. Probably will as soon as I submit this. Eh?

Frosty The Lucky.

[Chad J.]

 Looks like I'm off to look for how to how to safely restore this beauty.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

I would start by soaking it in a vinegar bath overnight.

[ThomasPowers]

Doesn't look broken off to me there is a wide range of how long the beards were in axes for various tasks.  The vinegar soak and brushing should show if there was a steeled edge to it and how much is left. Note needs to be totally immersed if any sticks out there will be an etched line forming there.

If you have trouble getting a container to soak it in: 4 pieces of 2x4, a couple of nails and a plastic bag to drape over the form works . 

[JHCC]

Mail call: a gauge for numbered drills and a metric/SAE thread gauge. 

[Chad J.]

I was cleaning up that old ax, a carpenter's hewing ax.  I found some marks on it but I can't quite make them out.   I am only brushing it by hand.  I found a seem from the forge weld so it's a mild body and hc bit.  

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Chad J. - having a GF who looks for rusty items like that for you is rare.

 

[JHCC]

Good trip to the industrial surplus place today: four rolls (2” x 50 yards) of 180 grit aluminum oxide belting, a small oil can, and three boxes (50 each) of 2” x 72” belts in 120 grit (aluminum oxide again). Those last won’t fit my own grinder, but I figure they’ll be good for resale.

 Also stopped by Airgas and got a new pair of decent welding gloves. 

[ThomasPowers]

John, how much do you want for a box?  I hope to have my 2x72 powered up  within my lifetime!

(Just changed light bulbs in the high ceilinged room, carried the ladder from the shop to the house and tried to figure out how to fit it in between the boxes for both the ceiling fan fixtures, fixed the lighting fixture in the kitchen too.  More light for a S.A.D. wife!)

[JHCC]

I’ll send you a PM. 

[JHCC]

Stopped in at my steel supplier this morning to check out their drop bin and was delighted to find a large supply of rectangular bar stock in 3/8” x 3/4” and 1/4” x 1-1/4” (round, angle, and tube are much more common).  It turns out that they’d been doing inventory and found a place where a hole in the roof had let in the rain, which rusted up a lot of stock. Their loss is my gain!

[pnut]

I love the drop bin. It's where I get most of my steel actually. There's a problem with scraptors stealing everything so I don't keep much on hand. Unfortunately no one has ordered any high carbon in a long time and they won't order it unless it's for a commercial order so I only have mystery hardenable steel at the moment. Iirc they charge between forty and seventy cents a pound. I'm going to have to make a trip soon. 

Pnut

 

[JHCC]

My guy only carries A36 structural steel, but there’s a place on the other side of Cleveland that I’m told does drops of various tool steels. I’ll get over there one of these days!