I have made the mounting bracket and will start the spring. Evaparust coated the vice to the rust to loosen. We will still need to build a stand for it. If you want it like one left will need to get some steel to built it.
Just an update were as to were it is in the process.
Wow it looks beautiful! Thank you so much for doing that Bobby!
Holy crap, that looks amazing! I can’t believe that’s the post vise I brought in!
Thanks so much, what a huge difference!
The town hall meeting was a while ago, but I seem to remember axle steel was mentioned as a desirable material. Is it? Because I think I might have seen some.
It could be useful depending on the diameter of the axle. Could you estimate the diameter and length?
Good tool steels, auto coil and leaf springs, axles, old crowbars, and punches and chisels store bought or old.
Harden the working end leave the struck end soft. The struck end will need to be dressed as it used to prevent pieces of steel from becoming small pieces of metal flying about.
Specifically what I was hoping for with axle shafts was to use it as temporary anvils. That’s why I was asking about the diameter. We could use smaller diameter axles for other things potentially.
What is the state of things as discussed at the town hall meeting?
Well I will grab the main bullet points that Bille posted from the town hall and then provide updates to each point. (refer to this post Blacksmithing Town Hall Meeting - #36 by billehhg )
No personal stuff in blacksmithing is still the rule and will continue to be though currently we are making a exception for Jeremy’s anvil which will be with us until we can get our hands on some anvils of our own or Jeremy decides to remove it whichever comes first.
The plan to use A33 steel for our new impact tools has turned out to be an outstanding idea. I made a chisel with the bar that arrived during the town hall and it has held up UNBELIEVABLY well. The plan is to get more A33 and make more tools as soon as there is room in the budget to do so.
We still need tongs and anvils. There are a few paths to anvils I have explored since the town hall. A donation request letter was drafted and handed off for editing, I made a phone call to a person in ohio who was a hobbyist dealer of anvils (that turned out to be a lunatic and I had to block him), and more recently, I provided a wishlist of equipment, including anvils, for a grant that is being written.
I am still planning on a tong making party as soon as I have the tools and materials to do so. I will provide more info on this when it becomes possible.
I feel the next 3 points dont really need to be addressed directly but if anyone has questions I would be more than happy to answer them.
Another thing that has happened since the town hall is that Welding has been split off from Blacksmithing and the area manager is @Mike-L. Mike has been instrumental in keeping the welding area going ever since the town hall and deserves all the credit for welding being as nice as it currently is.
You also may have noticed that we are getting our propane tanks delivered now which I feel is a much more reasonable solution compared to the members grabbing the empty tanks and taking them to be filled then waiting to be reimbursed. There have been a couple times where the timing has been poor for us getting the deliveries in a timely fashion but I still feel its preferable.
Well thats about all I have for now. Feel free to ask about anything I may have missed!
