Archie Zietman Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Every saturday I bike along a bike path to get to an art studio 3 miles away, where they have a figure drawing class. Along the way, there is a place where 4 houses along with a metal shop were just demolished. On saturday I stopped and scrounged around. I couldn't get the 3 feet of railroad track back as well as my bike with ease, so it is still there, along with various metal tidbits such as lengths of iron pipe, brake drums, and all manner of steel and iron goodies hidden amid the mountains of concrete boulders . Unfortunately we just got a foot of snow, which covered it all up, but this weekend I will probably go back with a radio flyer if the snow has melted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rthibeau Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 I recently scored some 4", 6", and 8" channel iron in up to 8' lengths. It was free so it came home with me. The problem now is, what do I do with it? I already have cranes and hoists built, so what else can someone suggest? Most of it is really heavy duty stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Gold Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Sections of 8" and 6" make great bolt-on side tables for heavy equipment, and the narrower pieces can make cover plates for your anvil so you can do chiselling over the sweet spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J W Bennett Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 I usually find if I drag it home a use for it follows, its only a matter of time. JWB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strine Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Let's see Mecho3hp, is it ten, twenty or thirty years that I have been searching for such a machine. I think it's thirty. I have come close a couple of times but their owners wouldn't part with them. One bloke had one on every bench in his metal spinning/sheetmetal shop. I have only two questions for you. 1. Would you allow me to give it a good Aussie home? 2. Would you give me fair warning of it appearing on eBay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strine Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 My turn to have a win. At approx US$150 could you pass this up? All I need now is an extension to the shed to house it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meco3hp Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Strine, Nice find! Whats the name on it?http://owwm.com/ Try this link for info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meco3hp Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Hello, I've been fighting a head cold the past week and didn't get pics of stuff from last weekend posted, plus I got a whole bunch of good stuff yesterday! The stuff from last weekend included a chunk of 5" dia pipe, a tie rod, a PTO shaft, part from a A-frame suspension, a plow coulter(sp?), a cast "D" handle for a shovel, a chunk of 1" rod, a socket wrench, and a coil spring and some leaf springs (not pictured). The stuff from this weekend included a pile of leaf springs(some are off a semi, 1/2" thick), some 1" rod, a chunk of 8" I-beam, a chunk of 1"x3" bar, a round piece of 3/4" plate, a chunk of 1 1/2" bar stock channel, a chunk of 12" pipe, a PTO shaft, and some grader blade ((((second set of pics)))) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strine Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 LOL, I began cleaning off the dirt and grime with a high pressure hose. The first thing I discovered was that it was originally Brunswick Green in colour not grey. The grey just flaked off under the hose. Under the grey was a sticker showing the name Wolfenden Bros with a picture of what looks more like a bear than a wolf as you would expect. Another sticker up the top is open to interpretation! It has the number 7019 stamped on the edge of the table. A search for "Wolfenden" revealed nothing at the site you suggest but thanks fore the link...very interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbillysmith Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Lets see, where do I start? A lot of things have "followed" me home. The first thing was a 6 inch diameter, 2 foot long "chisel" ( big jack-hammer bit)off of a rock crusher from a stone quarry that busted off of the excavator. Next is a tooth from the same excavator bucket that busted off. A piece of 1 inch, 4 inch wide, 8 inch long plate; a piece of 1 inch thinck, tapered from 8 inches to 3 inches wide and 4 1/2 feet tall; a piece of 1 1/2 inch thick, 2 inch wide, 10 inches long; a pice of 1 3/4 inch diameter, 18 inch long round bar; and four 2 1/2 inch diameter solid ball berings all from the same quarry (the ole' mann's work). A piece of 1 inch diameter, 3 feet long round bar that I made into a pry bar; 2 pieces of 1 inch rebar, 4 feet long that I found at an abandoned house. 2 pieces of cheap angle iron, 1/8 inch think, 3 feet long I found along side the road. 1/4 of a 5 gallon bucket of RR spikes from the local tracks. 3 leaf springs from a friend's junk 2 ton step-van. some old files from my old collapsed barn. 5 cold chisels that cost me $2; a $20 bench vise with 3 inch jaw both from the yearly village festival. A big 1 inch by 1 1/2 tapered steel spike from the edge of the creek bank. A 1 inch pipe 1/8 inch thick, 4 1/2 feet long. A 103lb semi brake drum that I picked up at the scrap yard for $7. A bunch of random steel floating about at my house (which looks like a junk yard by the way). An old axe head that I broke using it as a splitting maul pounding on it. A stableiser bar from my dad's old front end of his pick-up (possibly the old tie-rods and front axel shaft too). A piece of 1/2 inch round stock about 12 1/2 feet long I found by the bank of the river. And I always have first dibbs on ALL of the scrap machinery parts from the tractors and combines from the farmer that i work for (who oddly enough is also a full-time mechanic at a chevy dealer. [Maybe some tie rods and springs?]) I have a lot of other stuff like old hand tools that I save, that sort of thing. How do you like my collection? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strine Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Quarries are excellent sources of stuff. I visit two to three per day. When I need some particular item I'll take it home otherwise I graciously allow the quarries to store material for me free of charge. Everybody is happy then . I have a ready source of material and the quarries maintain graveyards they can be proud of :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbillysmith Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 Yes, yes they are. My dad was layed off of the winter, now, he's back to work again. So, that means... You guessed it!!! More goodies. But I only take the stuff from the scrap bin though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Mack Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 My soon to be brother-in-law grabbed 4 sets of semi leaf springs and some axels for me. I need to go wander my the RR tracks near my house, and see what they have discarded. Still on my quest for real wrought iron, and steel cable. Just havn't managed to find a connection for free or cheep quantities of either yet. Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbillysmith Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Jeff, those semi leaf springs are a good steel. Where did your "soon to be brother-in-law" get get the leafs? I've been trying to get a set myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J W Bennett Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Jeff, A good place to look for wire rope is heavy equipment repair shops and rigging companies. Mines especially strip mines usually have it. We used to give it away but thats been 8-10 years ago. But it doesn't hurt to ask. JWB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie Zietman Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 I just found underneath my porch a good 4 foot length of 4 inch diameter 1/4 inch thick walled steel pipe. The annoying thing is, I just finnished my science project equipment (biomass gasifier eventually for forge gas) by substituting 4 lengths of 2 inch diameter pipe, and I just found the perfect pipe oh well. once I'm done I can make another better one with it in my own time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rthibeau Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Jeff Mack - where are you? I've got 5/8" WI I'm willing to trade for leaf springs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Mack Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Hillbillysmith, He works at a trucking company. He has been saving the ones they throw out. He has been a great source for me. I'd bet most small trucking companies woldn't mind getting rid of their scrap. Rthibeau, I'm near Omaha, NE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Thomas Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Truck leaf springs: I got an entire pallet of truck leaf springs for free, some of them never used. Trucks are going more and more to air shocks. Just go wherever large truck maintenance is done and ask. They should be happy to give them to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one_rod Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 A few years ago a friend of mine went into a place that repairs fork-lift trucks and asked if they had any old forks that they didn't want. There was a scrap truck out in the yard, and the foreman said that if he was willing to strip the forks off he could have them. He went back later with some tools and managed to get just one off. We cut an 18" piece out of it and welded it to a short piece of heavy section "I" beam. It made an exellent, hornless anvil. Those forks must be made of really tough steel because it stood up to years of use with no problem at all. We did have to taper the end of the beam to match the taper on the fork so that the top was level. If I were doing the job again I would be tempted to use Low Hydrogen welding rods (7018 or similar) and use a pre-heat /slow cool on account of the alloy content of the fork steel. At the time we didn't bother with either and it still worked fine. one_rod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbillysmith Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Thanks Jeff, I'll have to ask the local trucking company that is about 2 1/2 miles from me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meco3hp Posted June 4, 2006 Share Posted June 4, 2006 Hello, I got this shear from a buddy. I traded him some used roofing tin that I salvaged and he then paid a guy some cash for this shear and then gave it to me in lue of the tin I gave him. It looks factory to me, and cuts like a dream, nice, clean cuts. I don't see any name or marks on it, but it does need some cleaning up. I'm thinking of de greasing it and killing the rust and painting it up black. Glenn sugjested painting the jaws yellow, for safety reasons, and I agree. Anybody else have a shear like this? Thanks Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonS Posted June 4, 2006 Share Posted June 4, 2006 I went to the scrap yard to buy some 3/8 round and of course I always come home with something entirely different. About 60 lbs worth of stuff: drill bits, wire brushes, a pair of side cutters, rullers, Kline nippers, screw drivers, C Clamp etc. Most of it in good shape. Had to sharpen a couple of drill bits, remove some rust, and put a new pad on the C-clamp. I started mowing the lawn when I came home, but could not resist sorting and fixing stuff instead. Besides it is not good to mow the grass in the hot sun and that's my excuse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolano Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Well, I just got back from a hammer in, and a 130 pound Hay Budden came with me. It was $265, but it needs some work on the face and horn. Mostly grinding, but at some point maybe a bit of welding. And I have pictures, so when I get it fixed up, I'll post some before and after pictures. The face is a good hardness, and the horn is somewhat soft, as it should be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BT Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Some bolt headers in a box of "stuff" from and auction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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