CBacres ex horse barn shop

[cbacres]

Here’s my progress on the press.

Cut 4”x4” x1/4” wall sq tube for the base. I drooled and tapped 3/8” hole for the casters to bolt to.


First time using a TapMatic, it really zings through tapping these holes once I got the tapping head set up correctly.


Tapped and a caster test fit.


Clamped up using my new Fireball fab clamps, these things are great!
The flat bar on the side is so I can offset the legs in a little to get on the flat of the tube. These tubes have a pretty good radius.


It stands!!!!



Support for the power unit.


Perfect use of the Fireball angle.





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[cbacres]

Ok, on to the main part.

Beveling the 1” flat bar for welding to the base plate.

Using the Fireball angle to hold the 1” in place.


Cutting out the base plate for the cylinder to pass through.


Cylinder mount in place on press. Put my bridge clamps to work to take care of a little gap!

Added a lifting eye to cylinder.

In place!!

A couple braces con base legs and we’re pretty much done.

Power unit in place.
I need to size up hoses and fittings .


Still have a handful of thing to do, like cut the eye off end of ram, make a adapter for end of ram to hold various pushing tools, etc.

Got the hard pard done.

Coat of paint soon.





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[LutzTD]

press looks nice, that long-stroke cylinder will be handy

 

[shortykorte]

press looks nice, that long-stroke cylinder will be handy

Bet his wife wishes the same. Lol.

Looks good Craig. Another project off the list. A useful tool especially since you have the Swag brake.


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[Strouty]

I have been eyeballing those fireball squares, nice to see some in action. Do you need to remove the lifting eye? Might come in handy later.

 

[cbacres]

I have been eyeballing those fireball squares, nice to see some in action. Do you need to remove the lifting eye? Might come in handy later.

Hey Strouty, happy new year!

I’m leaving the lifting I as I have two positions for height as a cylinder and it will make it a breeze to move up and down. I’m trying my best to quit manhandling stuff. I really push the limits working on this with my back, I better quit while I’m ahead.

The fireballs are are great, I was a little concerned using these 8 inch to keep the 1 inch plate for move-in but they did the job with no issue whatsoever.

I want to order a couple and 12 inch and probably a couple of the smaller ones as my budget recovers.

 

[Strouty]

They don’t give them away, but it appears this is one of those situations where you get what you pay for. Thanks for the input.

 

[cbacres]

They don’t give them away, but it appears this is one of those situations where you get what you pay for. Thanks for the input.

I think if you’re going to do really heavy work the cast iron might be the way to go, but like I said aluminum did just fine. I’ll definitely be ordering some more they’re just too handy not to have.

 

[cbacres]

Even though I haven’t been here, I’m still here.

Not, much has gone on, had a visit from Shorty and he didn’t relieve me of anything that I’ve noticed.

Picked up a new and improved circle for my future weld table.

Say hi to 70” x 1.5” future table top.


This is only a few sq.ft. Less than my current 4’x8’ table, but the rounded shape should improve working and moving around my overstuffed shop.

I was planning on taking advantage of Shorty being here and was going to unload, but when I started measuring a few spots, it hit me how tall this would be on edge. Even though I rolled two other steel circles on edge to the back of the shop, I just decided not to chance this thing on edge and as tall as is it is, too risky. Besides , Shorty would of been here and ............

So, it’ll sit on the trailer for a little, or a while until it gets unloaded to start the build.

Went to a random sale and picked up some miscellaneous aluminum. There was a piece of 3x3 angle and I decided it’d make a nice air accessory holder.

Put the mill to work some.


Painted up!


Then a friend sad I should of polished it.[emoji15]
Damn. Good point, been nice if he said that earlier.

Depainting


A little DA sanding


And buffed to not so near perfection.


But works just fine for holding my air guns and inflators.


I’ve been wanting to build a decent holder for a while, this angle prompted me to get it done. One small step to order in the shop.



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[rmack898]

Nice try Craig but I'm not sure order in the shop is ever an achievable end.

If you drive that trailer up north to the Grove I can safely unload it for you.

 

[shortykorte]

That air tool holder turned out great. Must be nice to have a friend with a great idea.

Craig, please take the top to the Grove. I need to do a safety inspection so we could kill two birds with one visit.


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[shopnut]

I'm painting yellow and you're depainting yellow. LOL. I do like aluminum bare however.

The table top disk is a monster!

 

[cbacres]

I'm painting yellow and you're depainting yellow. LOL. I do like aluminum bare however.

I have thinner to use up, works great on uncurled paint

The table top disk is a monster!

And Shorty wants me to take up to Macs so he can kill two feet at the same time.

It’ll make a nice weld table for sure. Just add to the list of projects.

It took me a year to unload a haul from the trailer, I’ll see if I can get this off a little quicker.

 

[cbacres]

Finally found a long sought after addition for the shop.


A Reed 4C vise, all 185 lbs of it!

I follow a couple of vise pages on FB, guy posted he had seen one at the Zephyrhills Auto Events car show and swap meet. Which is 2-1/2 hrs from me. So, I was in the truck at 4:30 the next morning heading north. I missed one a few years ago and wasn’t going to chance it.

I was wondering how many of the FB followers were going to be there?

Arrived at the swap meet early, but they don’t open the gates until posted time. I had a little info on the rows this seller was on, so hit those right off........ except no vise anywhere.

I was starting to think I’d made a mad dash for nothing when I went to a outside row and there it was.


Made the deal, went back to truck for hand truck ( well, would you set out to buy a 185 lb vise without one?)


It was interesting wheeling this through the meet.

On the way in, I’d ask a couple of sellers if they happened to know about a large vise for sale, one went to his table and picked up a clamp on, “yeah I got a vise”.

On the way out, I stopped and showed him the 4C,the look on his face was priceless.

Loaded up .




It’s a beast of a vise!

I found the date code , 10/66, same year I was born. Great vintage year!


So when I told my wife I was leaving early to get a vise, she’s asked if this was it? I just stood there not understanding!

This will probably be mounted to a yet to be built bolted down stand under the porch roof of the shop.




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[Strouty]

I love vise adventures! What is that worth in your neck of the woods? We don’t see them that big too often and when they come up they are either sold instantly or priced like they don’t really want to sell it.

 

[cbacres]

I love vise adventures! What is that worth in your neck of the woods? We don’t see them that big too often and when they come up they are either sold instantly or priced like they don’t really want to sell it.

Strouty, I paid $425, and from watching these for a couple years, is a decent price. It’s the most I’ve paid for one, but I’m thrilled to have it.

 

[Strouty]

I would have snapped it up at that price too. I paid $350 for a decent sized Columbian, it had a heavy stand and I use it all the time. Last couple I have bought are no where near 185 pounds, they were 70 pounds or so.

 

[shortykorte]

Nice but it isn’t a Wilton. Speaking of, I just picked up fine Wilton yesterday. It would be perfect instead of that back breaker.


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[3baygarage]

Congrats again. Sadly I won't be able to tease you with fake pics of $20 Reed 4C's at a yard sale anymore.

I like the story of hunting it down. You didn't have to travel too crazy far for it either. That one I saw, the guy searched out in another state and paid a bunch more, so sounds like you made out pretty good.

So I assume now you're retiring from picking and there might be some better deals on my side of town.

 

[cbacres]

Nice but it isn’t a Wilton. Speaking of, I just picked up fine Wilton yesterday. It would be perfect instead of that back breaker.


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Yep your right, I’ll put it up next to your Wilton any day!

Can’t find parts for these reeds, but that’s because you don’t really need to.

Wilton however, parts readily available.

 

[cbacres]

Congrats again. Sadly I won't be able to tease you with fake pics of $20 Reed 4C's at a yard sale anymore.

I like the story of hunting it down. You didn't have to travel too crazy far for it either. That one I saw, the guy searched out in another state and paid a bunch more, so sounds like you made out pretty good.

So I assume now you're retiring from picking and there might be some better deals on my side of town.

Man, my wife asked me the same thing, “ you’re done now right?”
I think I froze, didn’t know what to say, such a thought has never crossed my mind..

Three bay went to a swap meet and I couldn’t go, so I told my standard statement to him “pick up that 4C for me” as a cover all.

He sends me this picture:
this was $20.

Thanks, but I’m going to slow done a little so I can find concrete in my shop again.

But always be looking for me in the wild.[emoji106][emoji106]


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[harley jim]

Now that's what I call a vise.

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[3baygarage]

Man, my wife asked me the same thing, “ you’re done now right?”
I think I froze, didn’t know what to say, such a thought has never crossed my mind.������.

Three bay went to a swap meet and I couldn’t go, so I told my standard statement to him “pick up that 4C for me” as a cover all.

He sends me this picture:
this was $20.

Thanks, but I’m going to slow done a little so I can find concrete in my shop again.

But always be looking for me in the wild.����[emoji106][emoji106]


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somehow I even found a pic with palm trees in the background but you still weren’t buying it.

 

[rmack898]

I think it was the Bud Light can in the background that blew your story.


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[shortykorte]

Retired from picking.
How will he enable me if he stops?


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[ncgun99]

Finally found a long sought after addition for the shop.


A Reed 4C vise, all 185 lbs of it!

I follow a couple of vise pages on FB, guy posted he had seen one at the Zephyrhills Auto Events car show and swap meet. Which is 2-1/2 hrs from me. So, I was in the truck at 4:30 the next morning heading north. I missed one a few years ago and wasn’t going to chance it.

I was wondering how many of the FB followers were going to be there?

Arrived at the swap meet early, but they don’t open the gates until posted time. I had a little info on the rows this seller was on, so hit those right off........ except no vise anywhere.

I was starting to think I’d made a mad dash for nothing when I went to a outside row and there it was.


Made the deal, went back to truck for hand truck ( well, would you set out to buy a 185 lb vise without one?)


It was interesting wheeling this through the meet.

On the way in, I’d ask a couple of sellers if they happened to know about a large vise for sale, one went to his table and picked up a clamp on, “yeah I got a vise”.

On the way out, I stopped and showed him the 4C,the look on his face was priceless.

Loaded up .




It’s a beast of a vise!

I found the date code , 10/66, same year I was born. Great vintage year!


So when I told my wife I was leaving early to get a vise, she’s asked if this was it? I just stood there not understanding!

This will probably be mounted to a yet to be built bolted down stand under the porch roof of the shop.




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I believe I saw this on a Vise board also! Great score! I love those big vises.
My biggest one is a Prentiss No 22. I’d like to pick up another one like your 4c. Price was good too.
Originally I started following your post because of your Vidmar refurbishing. I can’t wait to finally settle down in one place so I can get a shop situated.


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[cbacres]

Robert, following my thread, you must be bored

That’s a nice Prentiss! It weighs in at a 165lbs also. Looks like you have a great start on your Vidmar collection.

My rehab project on mine has been on the wayside, I’ll get to them eventually.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

[shopnut]

Congrats on finally finding the vise you wanted. She's a beaut!

 

[cbacres]

Another load going the shop.

 

[cbacres]

Picked up some beam from a scrap yard for the new hoist trolley that’ll be hung under the porch roof.
The trolley beam is a S8x23, twice what is needed for my 1,000 lb chain hoist.
The cross beam will support one end of the trolley, it’s a 10” beam.

Shorty helped calculate the size of the beams for the weight I was planning on lifting. That would of been a S6x12.5 (6”)beam, so I went with a 8” and a 10” to be safe.

Actually, it’s what they had in the yard. I made out pretty good at $.30 per lb. I was just about to pull the trigger on the 6” from a steel supplier for $270 for a 25’ beam, I picked up these two for $140.

I’ll insert this project ahead of my long standing ones cause it’ll make sense to have this in place to build the others.

Having travel on my hoist will be pretty nice.

 

[Strouty]

You need to make a bridge crane setup with two bridges and two hoists. That would be awesome.

 

[cbacres]

You need to make a bridge crane setup with two bridges and two hoists. That would be awesome.

Shorty and I was just talking about that.

In my 8’ ceiling shop, I’d have to raise the roof about 4’.

I’m way past that now.

If we move, next shop will be a lot higher. And I’ll likely build a decent jib crane. I’ve been around those where I work and there pretty decent.

But a full gantry inside the building is hard to beat.

 

[shortykorte]

You need to make a bridge crane setup with two bridges and two hoists. That would be awesome.

Exactly.


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[cbacres]

In the process of moving stuff around, I had to move the Baldor buffer one too many times. The plan for my shop,is for everything to eventually be on casters, so I figured this was as good of time to give the buffer a set of wheels.

The cast base is hollow on the underside and the stud mounted casters I had needed a extension to provide room to swivel.



My solution is to use 3/8” threaded couplers welded to a washer. The washer will bear on the bottom of the base, I’ll use a bolt from the top to complete the attachment.

View from the top.

I used a unibit to enlarge the washer hole to allow the coupler to pass through. The unibit left a little bit of the hole slightly smaller, which let me press the coupler through, creating a friction fit.
This held in place so I could weld coupler to washer.


Installed .


Standing!


It seem stable, the two caster that have a brake seems to hold buffer in place. We’ll see when I use it. If it’s not stable to my liking, it’ll get a wider base built for it.

I even have caster bases for the big vises until I get stands built for them.





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[Strouty]

Could you fill the bottom with concrete? That seems almost as scary as being under an Astro van with no jack stands.

 

[shopnut]

"I even have caster bases for the big vises until I get stands built for them."

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Its great to be able to easily move those heavy things around. Before I got the lathe up on its dedicated bench, I bet I moved it 20 times while on the floor. it was worth a few minutes to get it on wheels temporarily. Of course when i say "temporarily", that spanned about 10 years! LOL

 

[cbacres]

You guys like stories of how we got stuff for our shops, here’s me of mine.

Picked up this set of 5” casters at a scrap yard , paid the going rate of $.30 per lb., a grand total of $5.40 for,the set. I had to take them off the cart they were on.


Take off this cart.


Simple, usually.
The casters were bolted to cart frame, into tapped holes. The exposed part of the bolts had rusted a little, making it tight coming out most of the way.

What? I’m whining you say? Not until I get to the bolt in the corner of cart that I couldn’t get my wrench/socket on. Wait, those wrench’s and sockets are sitting in my tool bag........ at fukking home.

I’m whining because I managed to get three bolts out with my needle nose vise grips and a China pair of pliers, but could not get the last fukking bolt loose on all 4 of the casters. So I’m about ready to throw the whole dame cart in the truck, it can’t weigh that much.

Then the yard guy comes up on his forklift with my I beam that I’m buying.
I asked if he had a wrench or other tools, no he said and started cussing the guys for loosing his tools. But..... he comes up with this rusting HF 1/2” shorty combo wrench. It might as well been a gold bar cause it worked. He got a tip for that.

I rectified this issue, I finally outfitted my truck with a tool box, it will have my tool bag along with a assortment of stuff for days like this.


Anyway, I’m always in my happy place when I’m getting to get stuff in a salvage yard!!!


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[harley jim]

The scrap yard is always fun, I'm going to Keislers tomorrow and see what they have.

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[Sifan]

I had a conversion van back in the day that did not have power locks. Went to salvage yard and talked about getting locks off a late model Lincoln. Guy said $5 but you take off, we're not doing it. Took me a while but I pulled off all the switches, motors and wiring. Took it up to the office, guy looked at the pile and said "can't believe I sold you all that for $5" Yeah, I can't either ... I thought he meant $5/door and thought that was a deal LOL

 

[harley jim]

I scored at the scrap yard today

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