December 31, 20178 yr If folks truly want help to identify unknown items "shore" would be nice IF they would provide... (1) Full picture sets of the entire tool (handle, in this case) (2) Dimensions or item displayed along side tape measure for LxWxH details (3) How, where, etc. they acquired item (4) Any other information or detail they see since they have item in hand & we don't Beats snipe hunting...Just sayin'...
December 31, 20178 yr Author 24 minutes ago, Grandpadave52 said: If folks truly want help to identify unknown items "shore" would be nice IF they would provide... (1) Full picture sets of the entire tool (handle, in this case) (2) Dimensions or item displayed along side tape measure for LxWxH details (3) How, where, etc. they acquired item (4) Any other information or detail they see since they have item in hand & we don't Beats snipe hunting...Just sayin'... I agree Dave, but this is what we got, I don't expect the lack of information to change anytime in the future, MWTCA receives these images from their membership and have been doing so since 1978, and the MWTCA has made the same suggestions as you to their own membership, but it's like pulling teeth from a tiger, it's hard to get folks to do what you suggest, believe me, I know!!! So, probably for as long as we are involved with this project, the information you see, is all we are going to have, sometimes we get lucky and a tape measure is set aside the item for the picture, in most cases we don't even get that. Happy sleuthing!!!!! P.S. Gramps, I am going to link this topic (your suggestion) and send it to MWTCA, it won't hurt! Perhaps if they revised their submission standards, such as, "What's It" images will not be accepted by the MWTCA without the following information etc etc. Hey, it couldn't hurt!
December 31, 20178 yr 5 minutes ago, John Morris said: Hey, it couldn't hurt! so long as they can't reach or find me
December 31, 20178 yr 15 minutes ago, John Morris said: I don't expect the lack of information to change anytime in the future, MWTCA receives these images from their membership and have been doing so since 1978 so tell them to kick back the question for the want of more details...
December 31, 20178 yr Author 14 minutes ago, Stick486 said: so tell them to kick back the question for the want of more details... It can't work that way Stick. We choose the images from a selection of "What's It's". They don't supply us with the images, we go to their website, peruse their images that were supplied to them by their own members, and we choose. You all have to understand, we are not doing them a favor, we are coming from the perspective that they are doing us a favor, by allowing us to be connected to their organization, we are on the receiving end of this project, not the giving end. So we can't really make demands. So we do the best we can by selecting images of interest, and we supply them here. Keep in mind guys, the images you see here, have not been identified for a good reason, because nobody can figure it out yet. You all are not getting the easy ones. The folks at MWTCA are masters at research, they know their stuff, and if their membership has not been able to figure these out, well, I am not saying it's impossible, as a matter of fact I have seen some great answers in our What's It's. But we just need to go that extra step in verifying the item. What we are hoping is someone has seen one before, or someone has one sitting in their garage, or someone stumbles upon the same thing at Ebay, or online, or another forum or research site. I hope this is not becoming stressing for folks, this is supposed to be a fun project.
December 31, 20178 yr What we are hoping is someone has seen one before, or someone has one sitting in their garage, or someone stumbles upon the same thing at Ebay, or online, or another forum or research site. An Ebay reference? From someone calling a wood chisel a screwdriver? Cal
December 31, 20178 yr It does look like a blacksmith's hammer of some variety. Saw a picture recently in a publication of someone's workshop and it had a hammer of vaguely similar shape (no closeup available). Be nice to know what this was used for; especially with those "blocks" around the side.
January 1, 20188 yr Blacksmithing tools just seem to be much beefier and hammered into not used as a hammer as in these swage blocks. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Blacksmith-Rivet-Heading-Odd-Forging-Hammer/282784403572?hash=item41d7439074:g:DVgAAOSwQcJaQA7Y https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Blacksmith-Swage-Hardy-Anvil-Forming-Tool/162800761420?hash=item25e7ae7a4c:g:6U4AAOSwHNxaMGxr https://www.ebay.com/itm/Blacksmith-Swage-Block-7-7-8-X-8-1-4-X-3-1-4-37-LBS/132450410315?hash=item1ed6a8df4b:g:EvYAAOSwFyhaRneO https://www.ebay.com/itm/BLACKSMITH-HARDY-Swage-Stake-Cutoff-Hammer-Iron-Forge-Tool-Wedge-Anvil/263404369240?hash=item3d541fb558:g:jCoAAOSwlptaQYFU Edited January 1, 20188 yr by HandyDan
January 1, 20188 yr For all I know,( or care..) this was a Plumb No. 25 Top Swage , For forming the heads on railroad track bolts. Those bolts were like a Carriage bolt......a square shank under a dome head. Square shank goes into the square openings on the track plates, then a big old nut gets tightened onto the bolt's threaded shank. But, since I can't FIND the dang catalog, I can't prove it......
January 1, 20188 yr Author 42 minutes ago, steven newman said: For all I know,( or care..) this was a Plumb No. 25 Top Swage , For forming the heads on railroad track bolts. Those bolts were like a Carriage bolt......a square shank under a dome head. Square shank goes into the square openings on the track plates, then a big old nut gets tightened onto the bolt's threaded shank. But, since I can't FIND the dang catalog, I can't prove it...... Devils advocate Steve, according to the blacksmith sites I visited a swage has a top and bottom, see this diagram: So if you are calling this a top swage, then there should be a bottom? But then I have visited other sites and it appears you can have a top swage, with an anvil used at the bottom shape. If you can at least come up with a diagram of what your talking about, draw it out, take a picture, and post it here, we may be able to submit it.
January 3, 20188 yr Author Raffle draw will occur tonight, we will have a MWTCA Membership winner soon. Thank you for your patience!
January 4, 20188 yr Popular Post One more note: Was reading a report from the Railroad Roadmasters meetings in 1917.. Track bolts, by the keg, had increased in price 3 fold ( there WAS a war going on at the time...) so they decided to set up a Blacksmith with all his tools and a helper. One of theirs tasks was to remake scrap parts from the railroad tracks. Like the rods that moved the "points" on a "turnout" ( Switch), these could be recycled into track bolts by that Blacksmith. They were also talking about a "New Tech" item....called Oxweld......They felt they could train a fella to use the Oxy-Ac torch to repair broken track parts @ $2.50 a day. Then when he was fully trained, he would get a $0.30 raise. They would hire a two man crew, one to do the welding repair to the tracks, while his helper would keep and eyeball peeled for any trains going by. Helper was also supposed to watch and learn the welding trade, as well. They talked about how they would set up a special railcar, for the Blacksmith to travel from site to site along a "division" of a railroad. A forge, all his tools, and all supplies he would need. they could set the car out on a siding near the work area, as needed. Then move on to the next site. Now, to turn a round rod into a track bolt, part of the rod needed to be "upset" into a square sction ( like on a carriage bolt) and a dome like head was then swaged out of a part of the square section. Threads were then cut, to match up with the square nut. Then stored in a keg until needed. The hex nuts were a later development. ( in a stall in the Bellefontaine Antique Mall, There is a track bolt wrench....about 5' long!) usually, the domed head went to the inside, the nuts were to the outside. Some roads alternated the bolts, in and out, not sure why. Wheel flanges had a way of hitting the nuts IF they were on the inside, and either breaking the nut, the bolt, or just knocking things loose. My Grandpa Lew worked 54 years as a section hand/foreman...... The bag laying by his feet was filled with track bolts, washers, and spikes. IF they saw a missing bolt as they rolled along, they would stop and repair. All tools needed for their job, was carried on the platform of that handcar. There were also sheds along the section's tracks, where more tools and supplies could be kept. And, IF Penn Central hadn't gone Bankrupt in the 70s...I would have been the third generation of railroaders. Edited January 4, 20188 yr by steven newman
January 4, 20188 yr Interesting Steven, I wonder how many miles of track that crew on the handcar were charged with covering? And since we are somewhat off track here, let me add in a short: The blues tune "She caught the Katy (and left me a mule to ride)" refers to the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, called the KT. The Katy did have some passenger trains. And a mule was referring to slower moving freight trains. The song was featured in the opening to the first Blues Brothers movie. Cal
January 4, 20188 yr Author On 1/3/2018 at 1:28 PM, Gene Howe said: Speaking of memberships, none has come my way as a drawn recipient. I'll contact them Gene, I think what may be happening, since we were so close the end of the year, they are shooting memberships out now with the magazines. But I'll see what's up, sorry for the delay sir.
January 4, 20188 yr Author We have a 1 year MWTCA Membership winner! An acceptable answer with references was not provided this month. So to a random draw we went as we awarded the 1 year MWTCA Membership. Winner We'd like to announce @p_toad as our random winner for the month of November "What's It". Peter's name was drawn from our official TPW ball cap of the contributors who participated in MWTCA's What's It for the month of December! Congrats Peter!! Contact Peter, please PM me with your shipping address, phone number, and spouses name (if applicable) and we'll get an MWTCA membership out to you asap, along with all the benefits of being a member of this great organization. Thank you all for your participation!
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