Paul TIKI Posted December 9, 2023 Share Posted December 9, 2023 Blue Rooster, you just gave me a heck of an idea. There is a Habitat for Humanity Re-Store, nearby that sells old used kitchen cabinets. Pick one the right size, put casters on the bottom, and a hunk of plywood on the back and top... Make a toolbox dirt cheap. Matter of fact, I have a few spare cabinets that are gonna end up thar way when I get my strength back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted December 11, 2023 Share Posted December 11, 2023 A couple more additions to the library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Direwolf Posted December 14, 2023 Share Posted December 14, 2023 Hi all haven't posted in a while thought you might get a kick out of this load I brought home. My best friend Dave is a picker like me from the UP (Michigan) I live real close to the border closest big town for me is Ironwood. He bought this load of iron at an auction with some things he wanted so he brought it home. I go visit a lot so yesterday he said if you want this iron give me $50.00 and take it all or it's getting scrapped. The mandrels or dies if you rather are for bending pipe 2 1/2" to 5 1/2" and they are heavy. 15 pounds to 45 pounds each. The stake plate is not marked but in mint shape and heavy 75# or so. The tinner stakes are untouched nice shape. What looks like a bending brake is not a brake but perhaps to size or form tubing I'm not sure.Only mark is 1-4, inches I assume. The place these came from was a hardware store that also did plumbing, electrical, HVAC for 80 years that closed and sold out. It took ten auctions with 1,000 lots in each to sell out the place. If anyone recognizes the bending dies or the brake looking tool let me know. It was a heavy load at least 400 pounds of nice iron. I have stake plates and stakes but a few more never hurts at that price! I hope the pics are ok I took em with an old camera the Fred Flintstone model if you will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted December 14, 2023 Share Posted December 14, 2023 Nice assortment of usable tools there. You could do all kinds of shaping with em. That's a steal at $50. Great score. In the middle of picture two looks like a tool last stand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 15, 2023 Share Posted December 15, 2023 Pretty nice score even if you don't use the stuff. On a side note, I married a UPer who lived on the edge of Ironwood. An all time excellent score for me. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted December 15, 2023 Share Posted December 15, 2023 Even if you don't use it most of it would make really good tailgating material at any blacksmiths' gathering. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shabumi Posted December 15, 2023 Share Posted December 15, 2023 I managed to hike this beast a half mile out from an old (1930s) mine site on a buddies mining claim. When I told him I forged, he mentioned finding it with a metal detector, buried near the entrance to the mine, and said if I could carry it out I could have it. I can almost guarantee that the reason it was still there after all those years is the hassle it took to get it out. I haven't done any measurements yet, but I'd estimate it at 80-90lbs based on it being not quite as heavy as 2 bags of chicken feed. She's pretty pitted from rust on the faces, but some of the sides look decent.I like how the hex sides are split and have different sizes in each slot. Time to do a clean up with a wire wheel and see what's hiding. Might just be a conversation piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnskij Posted December 15, 2023 Share Posted December 15, 2023 Look what followed me home! Haven't gotten to try it out yet as passing cyclone and subsequent flooding took precedence, but hopefully within a couple of days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picker77 Posted December 15, 2023 Share Posted December 15, 2023 10 hours ago, Shabumi said: She's pretty pitted from rust on the faces, but some of the sides look decent.I like how the hex sides are split and have different sizes in each slot. Time to do a clean up with a wire wheel and see what's hiding. Might just be a conversation piece. Could at least the top be resurfaced by a machine shop or foundry without spending a fortune? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caotropheus Posted December 15, 2023 Share Posted December 15, 2023 6 hours ago, Bonnskij said: Look what followed me home! Haven't gotten to try it out yet as passing cyclone and subsequent flooding took precedence, but hopefully within a couple of days! How big/heavy is she? what is the counterweight weight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnskij Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 8 hours ago, caotropheus said: How big/heavy is she? what is the counterweight weight? Weighs about 150 kg. It's a John Heine 182a, so that makes it a 3 ton press I think. I don't know the weight of the counterweight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad J. Posted December 17, 2023 Share Posted December 17, 2023 Because of how busy Christmas is going to be and excitement on my GF's part, I got my Christmas present early. I've got a keeper here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BsnNFrnt Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 In the finest tradition of Thomas Powers, people call me and ask ___________ blacksmithing tool and I say yes. Here is an HF anvil from a co-worker’s uncle. I made a Tri-pod stand with left over parts. I figure free is free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 Chop six inches off the legs, and make it the anvil for visiting children! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mothman_c3w Posted December 20, 2023 Share Posted December 20, 2023 Brought home about 40 feet of this forklift leaf chain from work. It's about 17 lbs/foot and about all I wanted to handle getting it into the truck, even in two separate pieces. During our last planned maintenance outage at the manufacturing plant where I work we replaced the lifting chains on our Taylor "Big Red" forklift and they let me take the old stuff home. Anybody need some ridiculously oversized holddown chain? One day they'll replace the forks on that thing and maybe I'll get to make off with some 12"x6" cross section 4140...not sure how I would ever cut it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted December 20, 2023 Share Posted December 20, 2023 Mothman, any idea on what type of steel is used in fork lift chains? Thx. G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mothman_c3w Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 George, I'm not sure what steel the links are, I am pretty sure it is something better than mild steel though. I like to make bottle openers out of this type of link and I once broke one with a pretty light tap after dunking it red hot in water which tells me it hardened somewhat. I believe the pins are some sort of mid-carbon like 4140. I can also tell you that the rollers out of Roller Chain are bearing steel. ... You got me curious so I did some research. I found one manufacturer that claims they shot-peen and heat-treat the links, so presumably something better than low-carbon if they heat-treat. Looks like the main standards governing the manufacture of leaf chain are ASME B29.8M and ISO 4347. I don't have a copy of those standards, but there's an off chance I may be able to find it at work. That's not my industry though, so I doubt it's on the shelf. Unfortunately that info seems to be hidden behind paywalls on the internet, but the descriptions of those standards seem to indicate they cover dimensions and minimum tensile strength. I imagine it's a lot like the standards for rebar; it doesn't matter what steel the manufacturer uses as long as it hits the minimum design criteria. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted December 22, 2023 Share Posted December 22, 2023 A neighbor was selling an old steel scuba tank for $5. Not yet sure if I’ll make another bowl mold or maybe a blade quenching tank or what, but it was a good price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted December 27, 2023 Share Posted December 27, 2023 I went back for the other 2 bolts today. Managed to keep my hoofs out of the picture this time. I may use them for a small bedside table legs.... or something. Bolt man sculpture possibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted December 27, 2023 Share Posted December 27, 2023 So, I drove down to Colonial Homestead in Millersburg, OH (in the heart of Amish country), where I traded a bunch of my old woodworking planes: For a bunch of new (to me) smithing tools: Two half-round swages (one handled, one not), three forming hammers (of different sizes and shapes), an all-metal adjustable bevel, a rather nice straight-peen hammer (with a rectangular face), and a steel block with a bunch of differently sized holes, which should be good as a bolster for punching holes. They have a great variety of tools of all sorts: blacksmithing, timber framing, cabinetmaking, woodcarving, leatherworking, measurement, layout, and more. Good selection of anvils in good shape for decent prices. Two things caught my eye that I didn’t get. One was a pair of tin cans full of old bits of metal for $300, which turned out to be a set of decorative punches and bolsters from an old-school tinsmith. Gorgeous tools, but out of my price range at the moment. The other was a nifty little combination pouring ladle and mold for casting lead hammers: Dan (the owner) is very clear that he wants to sell to people who actually practice the crafts, rather than those who want to pay premium for “antiques”. He gave me a fair deal on the planes and cut me a bit of a break on the items I picked out for trade. I’ll definitely be going back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caotropheus Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 A "couple" of jewelry/hand vices all of them needing repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 Mail call! Three different weights of grinding belt tape, shipped from an eBay vendor in China. For further discussion, see my Splicing grinder belts thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 20 hours ago, JHCC said: nifty little combination pouring ladle and mold for casting lead hammers Do unique tools just gravitate to you? I've never seen one of those before. I want one and now I know what to look for. I suppose you didn't take a photo of the backside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 Since I appear to be in the hammer-buying business at the moment, I also picked these up via a FB Marketplace listing this afternoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goods Posted December 29, 2023 Share Posted December 29, 2023 I grabbed two fixture bases from work. The other 38 went to scrap, I just couldn’t see them all go. Here’s the second one before I lifted it out of the truck: and here’s the first taken apart and stacked for future use as (your guess is a good as mine): Also in the second picture is another section up 10’ ball screw the guys saved for me. The ball screw seems insignificant in size compared to the plate steel… (main plates are 30mm thick) And I’m supposed to be cleaning the shop. Where am I going to keep this stuff? I can’t lift the main plates without the crane and even the smaller plates are not easy to move. I’m going to have to come up with some robust storage or get really generous at my hammer-in… Keep it fun, David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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