snipped-for-privacy@XX.com wrote in news:cjhvfn$j0e$ snipped-for-privacy@reader1.panix.com:
Speaking of free stuff, I've been prying some interesting things out of the back yard while trimming back a few cedar bushes (trying to make them be trees instead of shrubs) so the landlord can mow it a little easier. (I'd mow, but since he has a brush hog, I just weedeat the edges and let him handle the hard part)
Why there was a tie rod ~100ft from anywhere that I could imagine someone working on a car, ~200ft from the coil spring, and in a strange place to carry somthing that heavy to, I can't imagine, but I'm not going to complain, since it's several pounds of potentially useful free metal. The dozer blade edge I posted about earlier on a.c.b was cut to a point on one end, and apparently used as a temporary sign post.
I've been looking at iforgeiron.com's junkyard steel page, (
That second list may end up being rearraged into what type of steel is suitable for a given project type, since that seems an easier way to ask.
So, to get down to brass tacks, what are the following usually made of: Tie rod Good screwdriver Crappy screwdriver Logging chain Garden tools (hoe, mattock, pick, shovel, etc) Anything else one might find laying around abandoned
And, assuming forging, of course, what are the best choices for making (include quirks, especially regarding HT, if known): Hammers Slit chisels Punches Drifts Hardies Small knives Large, potential axe/prybar/hammer type knives Pointy twisted rods with no discernible purpose (every forge seems to have lots of these) Anything else one might pound hot metal into
For those wondering about the slit chisel comparison from last week, the other guy didn't get around to making one, and mine held its edge quite well until I went through the workpiece, missed the hole in the plate protecting the anvil face, and got it stuck in the still-red-hot workpiece for several miuntes while we tried to get it free. Regrinding and retempering went well, though, so now we know how, and have several more turns of the coil spring to make more from until we figure out how to avoid getting them stuck/overheated.