Woodwork and metalwork

[Oztalgian 3,293]

7 hours ago, Compo said:

I once tried to make a copper ashtray using planishing hammers.  I got the shape ok but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get a smooth finish. Hats off to anyone who can use these tools!

One of the first things I made in metalwork at school was a copper ash tray using copper and planishing hammers, the teacher got us to leave the finish dimpled (I guess as Compo said it is very hard to get it smooth) and we then brazed three ball bearings on the bottom as feet.

I used to like finishing metal by engine turning as I found the geometric patterns pleasing to the eye.

[DJ360 6,730]

You never told me you were a Coppersmith Dave..  'Respect!!!'

 

One hammer, the solution to many problems.., has not been mentioned yet..

 

I know it as the 'FBH'...

 

When I worked in the Lead refinery, we had two hammers., used for knocking the 'flag' out of the tapping hole on a furnace.   The usual was 14lb.  This was known as a 'hammer'.  The 28lb one occasionally employed was known as an FBH..

 

[DJ360 6,730]

1 hour ago, Oztalgian said:

One of the first things I made in metalwork at school was a copper ash tray using copper and planishing hammers, the teacher got us to leave the finish dimpled (I guess as Compo said it is very hard to get it smooth) and we then brazed three ball bearings on the bottom as feet.

I used to like finishing metal by engine turning as I found the geometric patterns pleasing to the eye.

 

I loved the metalwork shop at HP.  A complete forge, with all sorts of anvils, 'swaging' tools etc, plus milling machines, power saws and several lathes.  IIRC, 'Colston' and 'Colchester'  Also post drills and any number of hand tools, gauges etc.

When I was in 1st year, there was an older lad, probably 6th form, who was always in the shop quietly working away and occasionally consulting the teacher. ( Mr Blackburn?)  The lad was building a working model stationary steam engine.  He'd made a boiler, flywheel etc., and was working on the cylinder block, piston and so on.  I once saw him using a piece of wooden dowel in a post drill, with a bit of polishing compound, to put a beautiful 'overlapping circles' finish on the cyinder block..

They don't make 'em like they used to..

 

Seems like the finish I recall is called 'Spotting'

 

 

 

Fab Eh?

 

 

[Oztalgian 3,293]

DJ360

Yes, spotting or engine turning.

Many schools at that time were equipped with Raglan lathes. A company founded on Raglan Street St Ann's Nottingham and then in the 1950's moved to Raleigh Street Radford.

I first learned how to turn metal on a Raglan 5" lathe with screwcutting capability(Photo from lathes.co.uk Raglan Home page) 

Other lathes used by older pupils at the time were Colchester Student lathes.

I really enjoyed metalwork and woodwork at school, we had two great teachers and they probably influenced me to do a toolmaking apprenticeship.

 

[Chulla 4,946]

14 hours ago, plantfit said:

I remember you telling me you were a coppersmith Dave, proper tradesman, has the trade been took over by machines/robots or other or is there still the need for real tradesmen? Or,heaven forbid, been farmed out to China

 

Rog

 

I doubt there are any coppersmiths as we were at Hucknall. Mainly, we made pipes by hand - forming the shape from a template wire we had shaped that followed the run, very accurately, I might say because there had to be clearance in pipe runs in aircraft. We also bent pipes in a machine, but the machine was hand-operated. Today pipes are formed in a machine that has the co-ordinates pre-set. It does the job but from what I saw of the results the finished job was not all that accurate, certainly nowhere near as accurate as our hand/machine bent pipes.

 

Most of the hammers in my photo were made by/for the owner - I inherited most when  copperknockers retired. One of them is one I had made. I drew the shape and size and a turner in the machine shop turned it out a bar of tool steel. A miller milled the flats and a driller did the hole where the shaft went in. That's how it was at Hucknall - the trades helped each other when it came to jobs for oneself, or Jarvo, as we called it. 

 

If only some of those hammers could talk. They had been used in the production of pipes for Spitfires, Hurricanes, Lancasters and countless flying testbeds.

 

A wonderful era that will never ever return.

[plantfit 7,597]

Lovely post Chulla, sadly I can't see those trades or times ever returning which is a shame really because I think some of our young people would enjoy that sort of work (having pride in what you do) and that attitude was not only confined to the workplace but also out in the real world,

This is a brake adjusting tool I made as a young apprentice some fifty years ago,piece of flat steele,filed to shape,bent in a vice and cranked back,hole drilled in the head part and filed square using a needle file (which I still have),heated to cherry red,dipped in some magic compound and case hardened

I put a twenty pence piece there for scale, not very useful as a brake adjuster because the was no leaverage with it being that short, but the excersise was to follow a drawing and method

 

Rog

[PeverilPeril 3,281]

Talk of the 'old trades' by Chulla and others is one of the reasons for one of my hobbies. Restoring ancient cidre presses and scratters. I enjoy using old skills and having to improvise with limited equipment. Currently looking for a barn or large garage  because some of the  cidre making kit is too large for my workshop. Planning on bringing stuff from France to rebuild and sell just to cover costs. I also need a machine with good coverage - an old Bridgeport would be ideal but they get snapped up quickly for high prices.  Maybe a radial drill with drawbar would do. A machine that I was very fond of as an apprentice was a Kearns horizontal borer - about the most versatile machine in the shop. Could even do rough turning on it.

Anyway - back to hows your day. Took a ten pound trout out of the freezer. It will be soused/cured over the next two days. Then boiler suit on and back in the workshop. I am so happy 

ps - yesterday we had a lot of family visit. Son, daughter and spouses. Two grandsons and a great granddaughter and great grandson. I was even happier yesterday 

[Chulla 4,946]

Here's a picture of me in the coppersmith's shop in 1966 - I am third from left on the front row. Only six of those seen here, on the front row, were coppersmiths. The chap in the suit was Bill Forman, who was retiring that day. Bill was a true coppersmith. A Burton on Trent man he used to work at the breweries when he was younger making huge copper vats and other such containers, working inside with only a tallow candle for illumination. He had a photo of himself from those times, showing a big strapping chap leaning on a huge mallet, like the ones you see people swinging at Goose Fair trying to ring a bell. He told me that when he was young he courted a girl whose father had been awarded two VCs in WW1.  

 

The chap second from the right on the front row was Harold Bowker, who ran the Mapperley Meths football club (young lads) for years

 

[plantfit 7,597]

Thats a great picture Dave, reminds me of my old workshop down the clay quarry,similar lights too and white painted walls

 

Rog

 

 

Surely you're the fifth from the left (looking at heads though)

[Jill Sparrow 10,306]

You weren't wearing your robes that day! 

[Chulla 4,946]

1 hour ago, Jill Sparrow said:

You weren't wearing your robes that day! 

 

I'm wearing my cow gown. And the handsomest smile that you ever saw.

[Oztalgian 3,293]

11 hours ago, PeverilPeril said:

an old Bridgeport would be ideal but they get snapped up quickly for high prices.

Yes I'd like one of those too, one with all the attachments, slotting and right angle head, rotary table, power feed and digital readouts on x and y axis etc.

With our automotive industry now kaput you can pick them up relatively cheaply here especially if they are Korean or Taiwanese copies.

You would have to have 3 Phase power or get a converter.

[MargieH 7,600]

Seeing as there isn't a separate thread for 'hammers' and other people's photos are all in here, here is a selection of some of Paul's.  He is obviously not as organised as the rest of you as there are a couple more he knows are somewhere but he can't find at the moment.

[plantfit 7,597]

Oooooo, a wooden mallet and a fibre glass shaft sledge hammer,  Tell Paul I'm well impressed 

 

 

Rog

[Compo 10,328]

On 19/11/2017 at 9:07 AM, plantfit said:

Talking of hammers NBL

 

 

Rog

 

Nice collection of Birmingham screwdrivers there Rog! 

[NewBasfordlad 3,599]

^^^^^^^^^^^Now you've done it fancy mentioning ................screwdrivers that it peeps selection of turn screws next please

[plantfit 7,597]

I have still got one of those "ratchet" screwdrivers with a wooden handle

 

Rog

[philmayfield 6,134]

Weren’t they called Yankee screwdrivers Rog? I do have one but I nearly always use an electric one these days.

[plantfit 7,597]

Was just thinking was it a yankee,but was they the ones with a spiral shaft that you slid a boss up and down to operate, Mine just has a little switch type thing on the metal part of the body to change from left or right,I'll get it out of the shed tomorrow and get a picture

 

Rog

[philmayfield 6,134]

Yes, spiral shaft Rog.

[loppylugs 8,429]

They were called Yankee screwdrivers.  Very popular on the assembly lines at Ericssons in the early 60s.

[Cliff Ton 10,466]

3 hours ago, plantfit said:

 Mine just has a little switch type thing on the metal part of the body to change from left or right,

 

I have something similar, although the adjustment goes up and down. It was my dad's and is well over 50 years old. The engraving on the centre part says "Alfrid. Sheffield Made".

[NewBasfordlad 3,599]

^^^^^^^That's a ratchet driver so you don't have to let go of the handle to use.

 

The 'Yankee' it's a trade name had a long spiral cut shaft entering into a tube when the tube was pushed it spun the bit in the direction of choice along with interchangeable bits it made it the screw driver of choice in the building trade before electric one's came along. I had the largest size and could drive a 21/2" number 12 screw in two good pushes, ideal when hanging rads on a price. Then Mr Makita made the 12 volt driver with the long handle and battery and out went the 'Yankee'.

[Gem 1,430]

When we were cleaning out our basement we found  two large boxes of tools, hubby has no interest in any form of DIY. I asked my neighbours if they knew anyone who would like them,  they went to a young man who was in a wheelchair he made wooden toys and doll houses.  When I told him the tools were pre war he was delighted said he would use them as they were intended, one happy man and one very happy person who will have a craftsman made dolls house.

[DJ360 6,730]

Whilst trying to clear a path through the devastation so that the kitchen fitters can get 'round the back'.. I found a rather rusty head from a Mason's hammer. Mrs Col using it to keep some pots from blowing about.  Sacrilege!!  I put it in the Garage as I'm sure it will come in handy...

 

Woodwork?  I'm useless.  I only have to look at  piece of wood and it splits.  Unless of course I want it to split....

 

Metalwork?.  Not too bad.  I have a better relationship with metal.  I think I can still recall the process for hardening and tempering steel.  Not too sure on the 'colour run'. but I reckon blue for a hard edge like a cold chisel.. 'straw coloured' for something a bit less brittle.. like a screwdriver.

 

Mate of mine used to describe a hammer as a 'Manchester Screwdriver'.  I've heard others say that screws should be hammered in most of the way because it's only the last turn that counts...

 

Col