lotus_esprit_s1
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Not tried it yet, probably won’t for a week or two to be honest. Has not been used for many years but dry stored. hopefully a new battery and some TLC will see it going again
- Thread starter monkeymark
- Start date
Not tried it yet, probably won’t for a week or two to be honest. Has not been used for many years but dry stored. hopefully a new battery and some TLC will see it going again
Undo straps, unlock castors, engage first gear, 4000rpm, sidestep clutch . . .
James1979
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Useful chap that Newton
ronan
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That'll be the ethanol doing its thing. Its destroying tanks left right and centre.
MattH
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I had suggested the much more controlled and refined:
Undo straps, unlock castors, start reversing, gently stand on brakes.
For safety's sake, maybe spread a couple of inches of sand first...
Blue Chips
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I made my usual biannual trip to the Liberty Tool Company in Liberty, Maine to see what old tools might decide to come home with me. I didn't get much this time, but I found a couple of items that appealed to me.
This is an antique "ice hook" for harvesting/directing blocks of ice from frozen rivers and ponds into ice houses for storage until shipped. It was probably made by the Wm. T. Wood & Co. I don't have a specific date, but they started making ice tools ca. 1834 and continued under that name until they joined with Gifford Brothers in 1905, and after which I believe they stamped "Gifford-Wood Co." on their product. I think that this ice hook probably pre-dates 1905, as it lacks the "Gifford-Wood" logo. It's about 42 inches long. The wood handle appears to have lost a few inches at the end, but the metal parts are in very good shape. I paid 8 dollars for it.
Here are a couple of pages from a Wm. T. Wood & Co. catalogue, shortly before their merger with Gifford Brothers. I think that "Norway iron" is a kind of wrought iron that came from Sweden or Norway.
The ice industry was once a significant part of Maine's economy, peaking in the late 1800s. They shipped ice from the Kennebec and other rivers as far as Australia. Here's an old poster showing ice hooks in use. The poster probably dates to ca. 1917-20, which was during the fading days of ice harvesting when refrigeration was taking away much of their business, and ice houses were being abandoned.
Here's another item I picked up at Liberty Tool. Paid 18 bucks for it. These old hanging beam scales (sometimes called "steelyard scales" or "steelyard balances") are easy to find, but this one was in very good shape and complete, so it followed me home. It reads 0-10 pounds on one side of the beam, and you can flip the entire scale over to change the fulcrum point and use the markings on the other side of the beam that go from 10 to 50 pounds. It's surprisingly accurate (at least on the 0-10 pound scale), judging from comparing a couple of weights weighed with this scale and our kitchen digital scale. I don't yet have a real good idea of its age, but without doing any research I'm guessing maybe late 19th century. The basic idea of a lever-based scale goes back thousands of years. The ancient Romans used scales that looked very similar to this one, and I've even heard this type of scale called a Roman beam scale or Roman balance. I like its appearance, as well as the totally visible, honest technology. I should have taken the photo from the other side, so that you could see the numbers for the 1-10 pound scale.
It's fun to visit the Liberty Tool Company. They have a massive inventory of mostly-old tools, which they re-stock often, as well as other antiques, art, used books, etc., and the prices are generally quite reasonable. If you click on the image search link below, you can see a lot of photos of the place. They even have some items that you can order online. If you're ever in my neighbourhood, give me a shout and we'll make a run up to Liberty and see what we can find.
Liberty Tool Company, Maine, Google image search.
This is an antique "ice hook" for harvesting/directing blocks of ice from frozen rivers and ponds into ice houses for storage until shipped. It was probably made by the Wm. T. Wood & Co. I don't have a specific date, but they started making ice tools ca. 1834 and continued under that name until they joined with Gifford Brothers in 1905, and after which I believe they stamped "Gifford-Wood Co." on their product. I think that this ice hook probably pre-dates 1905, as it lacks the "Gifford-Wood" logo. It's about 42 inches long. The wood handle appears to have lost a few inches at the end, but the metal parts are in very good shape. I paid 8 dollars for it.
Here are a couple of pages from a Wm. T. Wood & Co. catalogue, shortly before their merger with Gifford Brothers. I think that "Norway iron" is a kind of wrought iron that came from Sweden or Norway.
The ice industry was once a significant part of Maine's economy, peaking in the late 1800s. They shipped ice from the Kennebec and other rivers as far as Australia. Here's an old poster showing ice hooks in use. The poster probably dates to ca. 1917-20, which was during the fading days of ice harvesting when refrigeration was taking away much of their business, and ice houses were being abandoned.
Here's another item I picked up at Liberty Tool. Paid 18 bucks for it. These old hanging beam scales (sometimes called "steelyard scales" or "steelyard balances") are easy to find, but this one was in very good shape and complete, so it followed me home. It reads 0-10 pounds on one side of the beam, and you can flip the entire scale over to change the fulcrum point and use the markings on the other side of the beam that go from 10 to 50 pounds. It's surprisingly accurate (at least on the 0-10 pound scale), judging from comparing a couple of weights weighed with this scale and our kitchen digital scale. I don't yet have a real good idea of its age, but without doing any research I'm guessing maybe late 19th century. The basic idea of a lever-based scale goes back thousands of years. The ancient Romans used scales that looked very similar to this one, and I've even heard this type of scale called a Roman beam scale or Roman balance. I like its appearance, as well as the totally visible, honest technology. I should have taken the photo from the other side, so that you could see the numbers for the 1-10 pound scale.
It's fun to visit the Liberty Tool Company. They have a massive inventory of mostly-old tools, which they re-stock often, as well as other antiques, art, used books, etc., and the prices are generally quite reasonable. If you click on the image search link below, you can see a lot of photos of the place. They even have some items that you can order online. If you're ever in my neighbourhood, give me a shout and we'll make a run up to Liberty and see what we can find.
Liberty Tool Company, Maine, Google image search.
James1979
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I want to go there. Saw it on Adam booths channel.
You guys seem to have a much bigger retail sector in secondhand and old tools than here.
Blue Chips
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Northern New England (and Maine in particular) is a great area of the country for finding old tools and equipment, partly because Maine has the oldest population (oldest median age) in the US, along with a slow growth rate, so there are lots of estate sales and auctions, and that stuff makes its way to the market. Also, it's a largely rural state with an old and well-established do-it-yourself tradition, and most rural dwellers have barns that are loaded with tools. If you're ever in my neck of the woods, we'll go tool hunting.
ronan
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I often look in envy at the excellent tools for sale over there for not much money. The postage and the import charges kills it though. Makes everything very expensive.
James1979
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It is on the list once I get a roundtuit spare!
Blue Chips
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Those charges can add up! I suppose that the shipping portion of the cost could sometimes be mitigated if you were to order multiple items that could be shipped in one box while remaining within some given weight/size postage price range.
Arc Tourist
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Glad I shipped most all of my tools to the UK when I retired. It's almost impossible to find anything but the far eastern junk here any more. 
Edit: And that includes hardware.
Edit: And that includes hardware.
James1979
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The sad thing is we used to make all that stuff here. I bet that place @Blue Chips mentions has at least a few english anvils and plenty of Sheffield steelGlad I shipped most all of my tools to the UK when I retired. It's almost impossible to find anything but the far eastern junk here any more.
Edit: And that includes hardware.
slim_boy_fat
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What a fascinating place!
No point in alerting @The_Yellow_Ardvark though, as most of the stock looks like it's been refurnished already.
Blue Chips
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Blacksmithing equipment is in great demand here in the states, and the fad doesn't seem to be fading. Old English anvils (e.g., Peter Wright) are much sought after, as are the high-end American anvils (Trenton, Hay-Budden, etc.), and they don't go cheap, although I'm not sure what comparative prices are like for those items in the UK. "Real" wrought iron is also very much in demand as a blacksmithing material. Antique fences/gates from demolished buildings, as well as old industrial wrought-iron items are quickly snapped up and often cut into pieces to be sold to blacksmiths as raw material for a pretty steep price. This is unfortunate at times, as much of the old ironwork is really beautiful, but real wrought iron is wonderful to work with. It can be worked at high temperatures, is very malleable, forge welds really well, and also has good weathering characteristics. I don't know about the comparative availability or prices for high-end steel like Sheffield steeel here vs. the UK.
The_Yellow_Ardvark
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I looked in the past.What a fascinating place!
No point in alerting @The_Yellow_Ardvark though, as most of the stock looks like it's been refurnished already.
Blue Chips
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Much of the stuff in the store looks to me like it has been left untouched, although I can see that some of the items have received a light cleaning or wire brushing, etc. I get the impression that they may also do some refurbishing/restoring (perhaps mostly for some of their museum collection items or for some of the fancier objects for sale online?). Anyway, there are plenty of non-restored items for restoration-minded folks like @The_Yellow_Ardvark, and often at bargain prices.No point in alerting @The_Yellow_Ardvark though, as most of the stock looks like it's been refurnished already.
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