It followed me home

[Daswulf]

That's a nice assortment. I can see them selling well. Really like the cats. 

[gewoon ik]

Well your cacti look very exciting!

[Frosty]

You're probably not charging enough for your forged work. I know I'd have the horseshoe art priced higher, +50% maybe but it's almost impossible to raise prices if they're already selling. 

I love the selection on display, I'll bet you run out of stock!

Frosty The Lucky.

[Daswulf]

On the tool truck today, used Hypertherm powermax 600. 40amp plasma cutter. 

Hate it when I can make payments, makes it too easy to buy it. 

I already have a couple plasma cutters, one light duty and one heavy duty, but this might be replacing one of them. 

[Shainarue]

Estate Sale goodies:

And a gift from my mother in law from the shed she recently had torn down:

[BayardStrachan]

Call me an idiot... but what is an estate sale?

[JHCC]

When someone dies and their heirs sell their stuff. Basically a car boot sale for dead people. 

[Gazz]

A few weeks ago I attended an estate sale that featured a blacksmith/metal worker shop up north.  As I rooted through the stuff I came across some kind of tool I could not identify nor guess its intended purpose.  I was thinking some kind of gasket cutter punch or maybe something to expand tubing with but none of these guesses seemed to make any sense.  I threw it in my pile of stuff as I knew it would not really cost me anything by the time I had collected a bunch.  Yesterday I was cleaning in my shop and got looking at it and  wondering about its purpose still.  Rubbing at the corrosion and staining I see the words "split-all" stamped lightly and by hand in the side.  Then I suddenly realized that the hole in the side was a touch hole or place for a fuse and that the thing was a black powder log splitter!  I'm gonna try it out today and hopefully a video will follow.

 

 

 

[Frosty]

Oh BABY you bet we want video! 

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

And want you to be safely away from it when it goes boom!  I don't think a black powder log splitter would be cost effective; but sounds like a lot of fun!   Hmmm now you got me thinking of making some splitting wedges from truck axle that would fit down the barrel of my falconette....

[BayardStrachan]

7 hours ago, JHCC said:

When someone dies and their heirs sell their stuff. Basically a car boot sale for dead people. 

Lol, Sounds morbid 

[ThomasPowers]

How do  people get rid of stuff non of the heirs have an interest in where you are at? 

I've been to several "blacksmiths only" estate sales where the local blacksmithing group sells off the equipment for a Widow.  We tend to make sure that they get a fair price and they don't have to deal with the emotional overhead while they are in mourning. (Or put outrageous prices on everything so nothing sells and it has to be done over!)

[George N. M.]

I've been told that one of the problems with a black powder log splitter was finding the "cannon" again after it went flying into the air.  Also, I beleive they used blasting black powder which had about pea sized granules.  Around here they were used AFAIK to split 4-5+' diameter logs.  I don't know how effective theyl were but, like Thomas says, great fun.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[JHCC]

Emotional overhead doesn’t go on the price tag. 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

I have used a friends blackpowder log splitter in the past. It had a sharper point than that one for driving it into the logs end grain. They are a blast. Kinda like shooting the anvil. My gas powered log splitter is way faster and less dangerous. One time my friend found the BP splitter up on the garage roof.

16 hours ago, Shainarue said:

a gift from my mother in law

That looks like a great gift, a complete Buffalo Forge & blower wow, if the blower turns all it should need is a little oil just don't over fill it. If it doesn't turn or makes ugly noises the first thing to check is for critter nest's behind the fan. If that's clear you may have to clean the gunk out of the gears with some Kerosene.

You might want to clay the pan to make a ducks nest firepot, although a steel pan doesn't need it like a cast iron pan.

[Frosty]

When John says a boot sale for dead people he doesn't mean they're selling dead people or having dead people show up and do some shopping. Of course he could be referring to selling the dead person's boots. Sometimes there's just no telling about John.

Frosty The Lucky.

[JHCC]

Yes, a boot sale on behalf of dead people rather than a boot sale of dead people or to dead people.

[Gazz]

Not really obvious in the picture is the chain that is attached to pointy eye thing.  The other end of the chain is attached to the splitter, a tether of sorts.  So my guess is you drive the spiky thing into the chunk of wood and when the cannon shoots, the tether chain keeps it from heading off to the next county.

I'm sure a hydraulic splitter is much faster but I don't have one - I split my wood with a maul (if I can't buy it split already).  I use the chainsaw to bust up crotch pieces which I think the split-all will do as well.

 

Splitting wedges fired from your cannon Thomas?  Make sure you have a good backstop!

[Frosty]

I've heard tell of losing BP splitters and or finding them in the woods. I was thinking that backing the splitter with another round needing split would stop it if not maybe on a lucky day do a twofer split.

Of course if I have to drill a hole anyway, I'd try charging the hole and backing it with another round with a matching hole.  Maybe even add a little color to the powder for the show.

I kind of like explody stuff.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Daswulf]

Zombie boot sale? Lol. "Get your brains!" 

[JHCC]

Do zombie boots stumble around on their own?

[BayardStrachan]

3 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

How do  people get rid of stuff non of the heirs have an interest in where you are at? 

i dont really know, probably have a garge sale, just never heard the name estate sale. 

1 hour ago, Frosty said:

When John says a boot sale for dead people he doesn't mean they're selling dead people or having dead people show up and do some shopping. 

Lol, yeah that would be very morbid indeed 

[Farmall]

We used a blackpowder log wedge a lot when I was growing up in the 1960's and early 70's.  Ours was round with a fuse hole on one side and the driving point was a cone around 2 inches long or so with about 1/2-inch hole into the body of the wedge.  don't know how big the cavity was inside.  We'd fill it with the blackpowder that was VERY coarse - like George said, about pea-sized granules, drive it in the end of the log, put a fuse in it, light it, run behind the truck and wait for the Boom.  Ours never went more than about 10-15 feet away from the log.  There was a Boom and a loud "Ting" as the wedge self ejected.  Dig a good job cracking the log so when we cut it into lengths, was easy to split.  Dad got worried about the old one and, since he was working for a railroad at the time, had them copy the old one using railroad car axle.  both worked well.  Really stopped using them only when it became difficult to find the coarse blackpowder.  Was afraid any finer blackpowder might cause an unwanted BOOM! that affected more than the log.

[JHCC]

I imagine you would want a pretty slow explosion. 

[George N. M.]

According to the magic google the coarsest blasting black powder is 4-8 mm in diameter.  I have no idea if it is still manufactured or used today.  Some mining users preferrred black powder for certain applications because it was a slower explosive than dynamite a "pushed" rather than shattered the rock.  Various grades of ammonia based explosives (ANFO) may fill that role today.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."