Your stash.... what do you look for and hoard

[tinker001]

Some one out there send that poor gal an wheel like that on the drill so she will leave that antique alone. If I had one I would. You just do not come across those everyday in the good of shape.

[docwelder]

I've got one of those! It's more commonly called a "post drill". Mine is a Champion Blower and Forge #101. Similar to this one:
http://vintagemachinery.org/photoind...l.aspx?id=7004
Your drill is in much better shape than mine. I have to fix the thrust bearing (1-3/8" brass nut/reverse threaded) and the pawl for the feed crank was snapped on mine. I took it all apart and cleaned it. It was coated in decades of grease and dirt. I have to make the replacement parts, but for now it's in the queue of unfinished projects.

i've always wanted a post drill for my basement workshop. i stumbled onto a huge 6 floor salvage place upstate ny and saw a half dozen of them. watching them i thought to myself am i fu@king crazy or what? that's all i need is to drag more stuff home. my wife already thinks i'm a pack rat.

[Willie B]

I've had a post drill hanging on the wall taking up space for 15 years. I've tried to sell it, give it away. Nobody wants it. I also have an antique planer with a broken cast pulley I can't give away. A less antique commercial planer was in the great flood of 2011. It could be repaired. I use a Rigid 13" I bought at Home Depot.

[Denis G]

i've always wanted a post drill for my basement workshop. i stumbled onto a huge 6 floor salvage place upstate ny and saw a half dozen of them. watching them i thought to myself am i fu@king crazy or what? that's all i need is to drag more stuff home. my wife already thinks i'm a pack rat.

I just get the resigned "look" and eye rolls.

[VPT]

Last year I finally sold off my camel back drill press that was taking up room. Luckily the guy that bought it has a personal museum line shop kind of deal he was going to put it in.

[Willie B]

I'm ashamed to admit I have a four car garage, two stories, a second four car garage, The "sugar house" 24x40, and the "little garage" built for three Jeeps, a 1472 square foot basement full. Plus two woodsheds, and a carport. Still much of my treasures are outdoors. I have indoor space for all the vehicles except the dump truck. Too often, a bay gets filled up with non vehicles.

There are few things I can pass up. Today it was a two bottom plow, a big sandblaster, A scraper blade for backfilling with the back bucket of a backhoe, and a driveway sander. At the moment it's particularly tough for me. A friend I've known since birth is near the end of life. His son does not share his love for treasures. He's liquidating. It's now or never with so many treasures. The biggest dilemma at the moment is the 1974 International utility truck. A fire department truck with 29000 miles. A pickup with very nice utility body, dual wheels, four wheel drive,& 12000 LB winch. I could own it for less than the winch would cost. We all know I'm a sucker for anything with a winch.

[VPT]

Time to build another garage! ^

[Equilibrium]

BD1> The cast iron melting pot looks nice and is just the right size for the amount of pewter I’d be melting. This is the kind of mold I’m looking for only for metal not soap or candles, http://www.penguinlovestore.com/sili...p-candle-mold/
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Rog02> Redneck Realty, eh? I actually like Missouri. We had our pick narrowed down to the Hill Country of TX, the far Northwestern area of Alabama near the Natchez Trace Pkwy, or the Knoxville area. Our kids picked TN and that happens to be where quite a few of our family and friends are ending up so…. it’s TN or bust although…. the built in stash was tempting…. real tempting. Pssst…. I already have an interesting “start” on a rock collection of my own. … must be a “mom” thing.
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TommyL> Sounds like you have a real good start there…. you’re not a candidate for WW’s 12 step Steelaholics Anonymous program though…. yet.
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DSW> It will still be here the end of this summer. I’ll get you the cast name and model numbers and will send you some photos after I get back from TX the end of this month. No need to list it anywhere though. We really aren’t into anything but buying on eBay or anywhere else and won’t do a garage sale.
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“Sadly I missed out on a lot of good stuff for you last week.” No worries. I miss out on a lot of good “stuff” for me too…. it’s the thought that counts anyway. No great rush on my box…. I swear my welding to-do list is longer than my arm this season and first up will be two outdoor mink & raccoon-proof rabbit hutches soon as the weather starts cooperating. After those; a window well grate for out front since a guy repairing a piece of aluminum flashing ended up at the bottom of it, a wood burning stove from a 55 gallon barrel and a barrel kit, an owl for 7A749, and filling out that large floral arrangement I made that you and others said looked “stiff” with two more sprigs of smaller metal fan flowers. I’ve got plenty to keep me busy.
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Oh oh oh… if you see any nuts…. I could use a bucket full of all different sizes. Not new though.
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Denis G> Milwaukee, WI>>>? You’re only 45 minutes from me straight down the I. I looked up images of a pawl (didn’t know what a pawl was) and it’s not one of the parts I wanted for anything. Hmmmmm…. I honestly wouldn’t feel guilt re-purposing the pieces to your post drill being as how there’s no way I could make replacement parts for it. It’s the plate, the wheels, the gears, arbor and chuck that I wanted. Please let me know if you ever decide you’ll never have to time to make replacement parts or if you want to eliminate the eye rolls from your wife!!! Your post drill may not be as nice as mine but…. it’s not functional in its current condition and is already disassembled and if you're like most of us....odds are you’ll never get to making parts for it in your lifetime!!!
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Pipeliner> you forgot to add sunshiny, kitten whiskers, and fuzzy little bunny tails. I’m not parting out the drill. It’ll have it hauled up into the tree house soon as I bring it back home. I’ll have 1 kid home this summer to take care of that. At summer's end…. we will be total empty nesters and accidental “treasures” will have to be disposed of or…. parted out.
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Tinker001> the wheel is about 13-14” in diameter if memory serves me and sometimes it doesn’t. Sooner or later I’ll find one for the table I want to fabricate!!!
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docwelder> I’m thinking I’m crazy too for hanging onto a tool that I now have zio nadda no use for and…. my husband isn’t too thrilled about my stash because it’s breeding at night while we sleep and is multiplying.
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VPT> Didn’t know what a camel back drill press was. Looked for images of them to get an idea. Some of those are huge.
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Willie B> You have more stash and more places to store it than Carter has pills!!! I wouldn’t be ashamed at all if I had that kind of storage and all those treasures!!! You might as well hang onto your post drill…. it’s a nice conversation piece and you’ve definitely got enough wall space to display it. Mine really is taking up precious space… over at my neighbor’s barn where I brought it with the intent of disassembling it so I could bring it home in pieces. I’ll be hauling it back home next time I’m over there. I do have a drill press . It’s in excellent working condition. It’s a used Craftsman 12” stationary w/ a phase 3 pulley system I bought from Craigslist. It’s not in the league of your 14” Rigid but it does everything I ask of it so I really don’t see myself ever using the manual post drill…. mine really does need to go since space is a commodity over here.

[Willie B]

My lead ladle is the top cut off an oxygen tank cap. I welded a 1/4 x 3/4" 16" long to it. Be very careful with this stuff. Spilling liquid pewter will give severe burns.

Willie

[DSW]

Hey EQ, isn't your friend who offered you that anvil in Texas?

[acx780]

I have no clue why I hoard these but they seem to miss the trash can all the time

[Equilibrium]

Willie B> have you poured melted metal into forms before? I'd love to see anything you've made if you have.
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There's a member here among us with the user name of meltedmetal. I've been saving all his links because I would like to try making little 3D birds some day. I want to wait until I learn how to stick weld though.... mustn't bite off more than I can chew!!!
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I do have leather chaps and a leather apron I wear when grinding. I'm sure there's more I can wear to protect myself when pouring. I'll get help before I start and who knows... there might even be some place local I could go to get one-on-one help.
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DSW> Close very close. That girlfriend lives in Louisiana. It was her dad who offered me the anvil though. It's still in his barn. None of his daughters wanted it so he offered it to me. I'm sure the offer is still good. I still can't accept it especially now that I know what it's worth. That's a piece that needs to stay in their family even if it goes to one of his son-in-laws and ends up collecting dust.

[mla2ofus]

I have to confess to being a steel hoarder. The two shelves under my welding table are full of little pieces of this and that. My steel rack is full of anything free. Will I ever use all of this? Who knows what I'll want to build in the future??
Mike

[BD1]

I have to confess to being a steel hoarder. The two shelves under my welding table are full of little pieces of this and that. My steel rack is full of anything free. Will I ever use all of this? Who knows what I'll want to build in the future??
Mike

I'm the same way, I hate to toss small pieces and then cut a short piece from a 10' . NOW, I finally built a narrow spaced shelving unit with coke plastic cases that slide in between . The coke tray works great , just pull it out and slide back in.

[Willie B]

Just fishing sinkers. Lots of people cast their own bullets. My molds were machined in two halves of aluminum. Wood is OK for one time molds. Others use wax, and plaster of Paris. You can shape an object in wax, pour plaster around it. You need two holes, one for the pewter to pour in, one for hot wax to spew out. Lead ladles were once used all day by plumbers sealing hub type cast iron soil pipe. Electricians As recent as a few years ago in one case go around a whole building twisting the wires together, but leaving them sticking out. Then go around, and dip each connection in liquid solder. This makes a forever connection as the solder protects the copper from air contact, and serves as an anode. It'll never oxidize. I don't cause it makes for a very bulky connection, and takes a lot of time to do.

Willie

[Denis G]

Denis G> Milwaukee, WI>>>? You’re only 45 minutes from me straight down the I. I looked up images of a pawl (didn’t know what a pawl was) and it’s not one of the parts I wanted for anything. Hmmmmm…. I honestly wouldn’t feel guilt re-purposing the pieces to your post drill being as how there’s no way I could make replacement parts for it. It’s the plate, the wheels, the gears, arbor and chuck that I wanted. Please let me know if you ever decide you’ll never have to time to make replacement parts or if you want to eliminate the eye rolls from your wife!!! Your post drill may not be as nice as mine but…. it’s not functional in its current condition and is already disassembled and if you're like most of us....odds are you’ll never get to making parts for it in your lifetime!!!
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Equilibrium, here's a picture of my post drill:
Attachment 1418691
You can see the pawl lever that I need and where it snapped off. At the base of it there is a roller that rides on a cam and it ratchets the teeth on the feed wheel. If your's is intact, and you want to part with it, maybe I can buy it from you. I like when I can bring things back from the dead like in Young Frankenstein.

It's certainly possible that my drill could end up as scrap, but I think that I have a relatively good self-control regarding what projects I take on. I've seen shops so cluttered that the owners can't use the tools that they have acquired. Mine's not like that.

[DSW]

Willie B> have you poured melted metal into forms before? I'd love to see anything you've made if you have.
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Lead soldier molds I was given around my 7th birthday from grandparents who lived in Germany. Just the thing to give a small child, a gift using hot molten toxic metal you melt on the kitchen stove! ( parental supervision required) I used those for plenty of history class diaramas thru grade school. Some lead sinker molds and large steel molds for casting dive weights.

[BD1]

Hey doug, 7 TH birthday ? WOW! Is that the Civil War Era ??

You have some interesting molds there. I never looked into molds but those are really impressive. Thanks for the HISTORY TOUR !

[DSW]

I remember seeing various molds offered in the German toy catalogs. All sorts of different soldiers from different time periods. I dearly wanted one of the field cannon molds and the crew that served it. I'd love to see one of those catalogs again. All sorts of cool stuff including miniature working steam engines and so on.

[vieuxfort]

I remember seeing various molds offered in the German toy catalogs. All sorts of different soldiers from different time periods. I dearly wanted one of the field cannon molds and the crew that served it. I'd love to see one of those catalogs again. All sorts of cool stuff including miniature working steam engines and so on.

The soldier mold look really cool!

check out http://dunken.com/

[DSW]

Several of those figures in that link look almost exactly like the ones I have, so they may be from the same company. I may have to buy one or two from them.

[Equilibrium]

I scored a 3' piece of RR track for my stash that weighed more than me!!! Mine mine mine mine mine!!!! I got lucky and there were men working by the pile of steel alongside the tracks so I stopped in and asked. Was pointed to a manager who happened to be on site and he said he knew exactly what I wanted because he had a chunk he'd used to make an anvil himself at home and for me to come back. I came back several times looking for him and ultimately went home with it... after it was loaded into my Corolla truck for me then unloaded for me at home. I can't believe how heavy that 3' length of RR track is. I'm splitting it with my neighbor. I'm going to take about 1/3 and he can have the rest!!! He gets to figure out a way to cut it.... lucky him!!!
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mla2ofus> "I have to confess to being a steel hoarder." Me too. I filled up my bay in the garage and expanded into a treehouse the kids used when they were little. I know... my bad.
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Denis G> Looks as if there's not much to repair on your post drill other than the pawl which I wouldn't have a clue how to make. Here's a photo of the other side of my post drill which.... is actually now DSW's post drill because he lusted for it and it was hard knowing there was a grown man out in cyberland drooling over it-
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I have relatively decent control taking on projects too... it's the scrap metal and quilting fabric that's my downfall.
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DSW> I've seen little molds like that at house sales. Neat. If you ever run across a little mold like that for a 3" or so bird.... please pick it up if it's a good deal in your opinion and I will pay you what ever you paid for it plus!!! I can't find any bird molds for metal larger than the size of a pendant.

[DSW]

Eq if you find a "demo" bird you like about the right size and not too expensive, grab it. I still have some silicon mold material some where. I bought it to try and cast repo lead dive weights like on the old hard hat diver belts, but never got a chance to test and see if the material will hold up to the heat of lead. On paper it's borderline if the working temp of the silicon rubber is high enough to deal with molten lead.

Unfortunately when I left working at the dive shop, my rubber test sample mold mysteriously disappeared along with my steel V weight molds and few few other things. The boss said he didn't know where they went, but I do know he has the V weight molds because he's been selling the V weights made from my molds.

The silicon rubber will probably just go bad if it hasn't already if it isn't used. Might as well try it on something useful.

I'm also trying to take a class in iron casting at the college in July. I'm hoping they get enough people to sign up so the class runs, but I haven't heard anything yet. I'll need at least 2 or 3 items to use as sand casting patterns for the class. My original idea was to do a swage block ( actually saw the perfect one last week but the guy with the original is in Quebec unfortunately or I'd do a rubber mold of it to do a lost wax pattern). After that I'm not sure what I will cast just yet.

[bigcreek]

If you don't have a big enough stash, you wind up building stuff like this guy's headache rack!

Attachment 747231

That is hilarious!

[Equilibrium]

DSW> around Christmas time, there are lots of little clip-on ceramic birds sold as ornaments for trees that would work. I found this little bird on eBay that looks like it would work for what I'd like to do with it, http://www.ebay.com/itm/Midwest-CBK-...torefresh=true
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I've gathered some pewter to melt down and will keep picking it up and stashing it when I run across it. Have no clue what kind of pewter it is so couldn't begin to figure out what the melting temperature would be and if I've been interpreting what I've been reading online properly.... the pouring temperature is about 100° higher. Would pewter be able to be poured into a silicone mold?
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Here's a silicone bird mold for candles and soap that I love, http://www.penguinlovestore.com/sili...p-candle-mold/
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"Unfortunately when I left working at the dive shop, my rubber test sample mold mysteriously disappeared along with my steel V weight molds and few few other things. The boss said he didn't know where they went, but I do know he has the V weight molds because he's been selling the V weights made from my molds." I don't know what steel V weight molds are or what they would be used for but.... they sound expensive. Really sorry someone you obviously trusted stole from you. That's pretty scummy.