June 14, 20251 yr EXACTLY, good old Danno was salt free, did anything he could to avoid making a decision, his idea of discipline was to invite you to attend his church services next Sunday. In fact that's exactly what cost him his position and an "offer" to retire early or take a position with no authority. After one of the guys on the crew threatened to break my back and kill me. We'd been in the field too long but still. Danno's solution was to have us all into his office to thresh it out and the assaultive fellow told us vociferously and angrily that it had happened before and would again. Danno sat there smiling like everything was resolved. I started carrying a pocket recorder from then on and made sure to record every conversation he took me aside for. Alaska is a single party consent state. Recordings are legal in court, local, state and federal. Human Resources played it for him and explained his binary set choice. HIs final b a d decision was to threaten to revoke an already approved leave, I was scheduled to demo at the State Fair, unless I joined him at church Sunday. I mean seriously, what government official in the USA would buck a documented blatant violation of the First Amendment to the constitution of the United States Of America? It's almost enough to make a body feel sorry for the poor fool. Frosty The Lucky.
June 14, 20251 yr On 6/11/2025 at 3:29 PM, JHCC said: I would have plugged it in and tested it while it was still in the warehouse, but it has pin-and-sleeve connector that doesn't fit a standard electrical socket. Specifically: Which has now been replaced with a standard three-prong plug, and the motor runs just fine. All well. Just for fun, here are a couple more views of the grinder: Still haven’t found any manufacturer’s name, but it appears to be quite solidly built.
June 14, 20251 yr It's a Wilton Square Wheel belt grinder. It might be one of the other makers version but I believe this is it. I'll PM the url. Frosty The Lucky
June 21, 20251 yr I don't know why I drove for 35 minutes for all this. I did it on coffee, so...Seems like a good score for $50. Lifetime supply of files for making knives. Has anyone ever tried the trick of soaking a file in muratic acid to renew it? I've done it a few times. Seems to work. Other approaches to renewing files are welcomed.
June 22, 20251 yr There is a company that does refurbish or sharpen files - Boggs File and Tool sharpening - you can find them doing a search. I have not used them but have heard they do good with their process.
June 22, 20251 yr 1 hour ago, Gazz said: There is a company that does refurbish or sharpen files - Boggs File and Tool sharpening - you can find them doing a search. I have not used them but have heard they do good with their process. Thanks. Prices aren't bad, but shipping from Florida might be prohibitively expensive, unless they do flat rate boxes. I've tried acid, but I haven't tried sand blasting. Wonder how they do it? I bought a set of three files from Lowes recently. I used the round file on mild steel making a stamp for use on my power hammer. Just that one session ruined the file. I took them back for a refund. So, maybe I've got some gems in that Bag O' Files that are worth renewing.
June 22, 20251 yr 23 hours ago, MeltedSocks said: Other approaches to renewing files are welcomed. I've refreshed some using 30% cleaning vinegar, regular 5% distilled vinegar will work just takes longer. I can’t control the wind. All I can do is adjust my sails. ~Semper Paratus~
June 23, 20251 yr 23 hours ago, MeltedSocks said: On 6/22/2025 at 9:07 AM, Gazz said: There is a company that does refurbish or sharpen files - Boggs File and Tool sharpening - you can find them doing a search. I have not used them but have heard they do good with their process. Thanks. Prices aren't bad, but shipping from Florida might be prohibitively expensive, unless they do flat rate boxes. I've tried acid, but I haven't tried sand blasting. Wonder how they do it? From their website: Quote We sharpen files, rasps and key cutters using (liquid honing) abrasives driven by steam pressure. The abrasive blast removes metal from the backsides of the teeth until the edge is reformed. We make these edges very sharp. All files are sharpened first, then block-tested and inspected. If they fail, they are marked red. This means they cannot be sharpened again so please do not send them back to us. These (rejected) files are vastly improved and will still give you plenty of use. Rust is not a problem. We can remove most, if not all, of the rust depending on where it is at. Some brand-new files are not as sharp as they can be when first purchased. We sharpen new files as well. Acid sharpening is going to remove metal from both the top and the face of the file teeth, while this procedure only takes it from the front, thus: Weygers recommends sharpening with sulfuric acid, which is pretty hard core.
June 23, 20251 yr It didn't follow me home - rather, it just *poof!* ... APPEARED! I had talked with a buddy about making a new digging shovel for my dad since I wasn't able to repair the one he gave me. Buddy mentioned he had a bunch of leaf spring that came from an old school bus that I was welcome to use. I told him I'd swing by in July to buy a chunk. I came home Saturday evening to find this sitting on my anvil!
June 23, 20251 yr If you'd ever taken a spring pack from a large vehicle apart you'd be looking to give some away too. I still have a couple hundred lbs. out of a 20 yard end dump. Scrap yards will only pay steel price, it's not worth loading up and taking it in. I'll probably just leave it here when we move on. None of the guys in the club want any, drawing it down to a usable thickness is a PITA by hand and a job for a power hammer. Frosty The Lucky.
June 23, 20251 yr Yeah, I'm planning to hit up a few of the closer club members who have power hammers to see if I can play in their shop, lol It's just too danged hot to be out there wailing away at this by hand. Would be a fun winter project though, just to say I did it
June 25, 20251 yr A business trip to southern New Hampshire brought me with spitting distance of two favorite used tool stores: the Vintage Tool Shoppe in Fremont and the Tool Liquidation in Derry. Got four good pairs of tongs and a punch at the former: And a nice bar cutter at the latter: Total expenditure: $80.
June 25, 20251 yr Conservatively, 3/16” and 3/8”. I’m particularly happy about the tongs. Apart from the rust, they are all in very good shape, and I like that the three flat-jaw pairs are from a set.
June 25, 20251 yr I think I'd pop the rivets out and give them the electrolytic derust, oil and reassemble them. They're a fine matched set. I'm a fan of cup tongs but those are a little short handled for a propane forge. Frosty The Lucky.
June 26, 20251 yr 4 hours ago, Frosty said: electrolytic derust, oil and reassemble I’m planning a soak in the homemade Evaporust followed by ATF. 4 hours ago, Frosty said: those are a little short handled for a propane forge Unless you have an air curtain!
June 26, 20251 yr Odd that I have never been to the vintage tool place since it is so close. I just drove through Fremont yesterday! Air curtain? I think I have one of those in the storage shed that I've been saving for who knows what.
June 26, 20251 yr Worth a visit, and he’s still got a number of decent tongs. Some good hammers and anvil tools, too. 3 hours ago, Gazz said: since it is so close. We really should get together one of these days. 3 hours ago, Gazz said: Air curtain? Yup:
June 26, 20251 yr As usual, I'm late to the conversation. I've done the resharpening in muriatic - works well for one or two re-sharpenings if the file is very clean. Seems to work better with rasps, probably because they've got more meat to the teeth. The bigger problem I had was flash rust. I briefly dip in a water/baking soda solution after, then found I had to use a light oiling or it rusts, then remove the oil or it doesn't bite well and builds up debris. Also, some files are milder steel hardened using nitriding, etc, so just like they don't make good knives, they don't resharpen once you eat off that thin hard layer. Had a farrier I'd do it for in GA once in awhile and he'd give me rasps and all the shoes I could eat.
June 28, 20251 yr On 6/25/2025 at 8:33 PM, JHCC said: On 6/25/2025 at 4:22 PM, Frosty said: electrolytic derust, oil and reassemble I’m planning a soak in the homemade Evaporust followed by ATF. Soak underway: And early results: There’s some kind of gunk lurking around some of the inner parts of the jaws (perhaps paint or old grease), but that appears to be loosening up fairly well too. (I can’t remember what was in that yellow bin when I first got it, but it’s very conveniently sized for soaking tongs and other long tools!)
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