The Armour Archive

A toothed trammel hook, adjustable for hanging a pot above a fire to control cooking temperature. Adjusts from about 21" to 30". Asking $150.

I had to make one of these after playing around with one at an event a while back and becoming fascinated with the simple mechanical workings of it... but I don't have any other period cooking gear to go with it, so not much else to do than sell it.

http://mailmaker.tripod.com/forgework/trammel1f.jpg
http://mailmaker.tripod.com/forgework/trammel1a.jpg
http://mailmaker.tripod.com/forgework/trammel1b.jpg
http://mailmaker.tripod.com/forgework/trammel1c.jpg
http://mailmaker.tripod.com/forgework/trammel1d.jpg
http://mailmaker.tripod.com/forgework/trammel1e.jpg

Also, my computer is down so all my pictures are being resized through an app I found for my smartphone... do these pictures look okay on a big screen?

The pics look fine.

I'll take it. How do you want payment?

Replied by PM.

Sold

That's really cool. Can you tell us how you made the teeth? Cut out, chiseled out, hammered out?

Thanks,
- Scott

I started by making a template for the teeth and tracing them onto the metal. I then chose a drill bit that was the right size to make the rounded inner parts of the teeth, marked the centers with a center punch so the drill would not skip and drilled a series of hole with a drill press. I took out the rest of the negative space of the teeth with a 4.5" angle grinder. I heated it to a workable temperature in the forge and whacked each tooth a bit to thin/narrow them a bit. I then went over them with a file and sand paper to soften down sharp edges - I found that rounding the edges of the teeth just a bit really helps to make for a smoother working mechanism, otherwise the latch tended to get caught up on the top sides of the teeth.

I have two more on the works, experimenting with different ways of making the teeth, latch, and bracket near the top... both of these will be more saw-like than wave-like in the teeth. The first of those had its teeth cut entirely with the angle grinder (which I've decided was way too dusty, took too long, and plain ol' not fun), the other I've drilled small holes to mark the innermost angle of the teeth and plan on hot chiseling them out. I'd also like to try one using a hot cut off hardy to make the teeth. I also want to try cutting them out with a band saw but don't have one yet.