Pitbull Tip of the Day #8 Adjustable Hardie Holes

[Pitbull Armory]

Howdy Louis, Yes I went to the doc right after you said to the first time and got the metal removed. My vision is still blurry in my left eye but should get better. Id like to explain better why I didnt go instantly. Its because it didnt happen when I was grinding and a hot piece went in my eye and stuck there, I would have went instantly. Thursday night after work hours I took a shower and noticed my eye bugging me after. Im guessing I rinsed metal out of my hair into my eye now that I look back on it. I had no idea what was wrong at the time so I just waited to see if it got better. It got better to a point and then stayed the same until I got the steel removed. Thanks for your concern guys I apreciate it.

Arty Dave. wow thats gross and sounds painfull! Vacuuming your eye!

RalphS, Damn they used an ice cream scoop???

Hal, Excelent battle wound pic and booz advice thank you for posting, glad your ok.

Mattmaus, rofl

Aron Carter, Huh?

Suzerain, I like your idea about thin leather gloves, what kind do you use and where can you get them?

Tasha , walk carefully on your path to enlightenment, (or at least in the armory:o)

Direwo, good tip on the soapy water.


Thanks for your input guys

Take care

Pitbull

[Louis de Leon]

Howdy Louis, Yes I went to the doc right after you said to the first time and got the metal removed.

Ok cool, missed your other post about it. I'm glad you went.

[Pitbull Armory]

Hi there, Heres a cool trick, The problem with haveing a bunch of stakes is that usually they all have different sized shanks mounting shafts. I made a few shims out of Angle iron and thin walled square tubing, 2 of them are about 1/8 inch thick and the other 2 are about 1/16 thick, I use 2 at a time or all 4 like in the second pic. (The Mirror reflection off the face of my anvil makes it look like the shims are fully square but they are L shaped:o) The bending fork/rivet set hardie has a 3.4 shank thats held tight in the 1.5 inch hole with the shims. Different combinations of these shims alow me to use almost any hardie size shank, in my 1.5 inch Hardie Hole. Just take 3 inch lengths, cut a slit an inch down at the points, bend the ears over and get to work.

Take care

Pitbull

PS also shown on the anvil is my set of Cat Head Hammers, 2.5 and 4 lb beauties. These are amazingly handy for all kinds of blacksmithing and sheetmetal work and also the most expensive hammers in my collection.

[Darringer]

Those cat heads look like modified sledges...hmmm I got a decent one layin around too...

Wouldn't you want to reinforce the tabs? Just curious.

[Pitbull Armory]

The Cat Head Hammers are made like that for smithing by Heller, and a few other brands I think. The tabs on the shims are there so the shim dont fall through the hardie hole when you remove the stake, and so you can just put the shims in place then go pick the stake you want, they dont have any structural duties and would not need reinforced.

Take care

Pitbull

[lorenzo2]

Pitbull, can you tell us what the stake shaped like a cobra's head is for? I have not seen one like it before.

[Pitbull Armory]

Howdy Lorenzo, The snake shaped thing in the pic is just the first one I ever made in the forge. The ones I make now acutally look alot like snakes. I just use him for an anvil ornament to keep me company in the shop these days.

Take care

Pitbull

[mattmaus]

That snake is pretty bad ass dude.

If your stakes are just a fuzz loose, I've found that a leather shim tightens them up nice, and cuts sound down some too. Depending on which stake I use, cuts it down a LOT.