[TheForge] Fire place crane update

[Paul N]

Bob,
Thanks for posting this. I'll keep it for reference. The museum shop 
where I volunteer has asked us to make a crane and this will come in 
handy.  I have picked up an old used copy of "Iron and Brass Implements 
of the English and American House" by J. Seymour Lindsay which has a lot 
of sketches of cranes. Some are quite ornate, so a little decoration is 
not really inaccurate for the period.

If you could post some pics, I'm sure we'd all appreciate it.

Thanks again,
**pn

On 12/4/10 2:24 PM, Bob Ehrenberger wrote:
> I just delivered the fireplace crane and the customer was delighted.
>
> For mounting hardware, I decided to go with the flat strap with the bend on
> the back side to hook on the back side of the brick.  I used a piece of 3/8"
> x 1 1/2". I tapered it down to about 1/8" thick where the hook was.
>
> Other information on the crane. For the top bar, I used 3/4" x 1 1/2" which
> I drew to a long taper and ended up 1/2" x 3/8" at the very end where I had
> a short section turned up. I made a 1/2" tennon on the end that attached to
> the upright bar. The top bar started out 19" long and ended up 31" long
> after the taper.  I could have used lighter stock for this and had enough
> strength, but the other cranes in the village had very heavy top bars.
>
> The upright was made from 3/4" sq. with 1/2" tennons top and bottom. I slit
> and drifted the hole where the top bar connected to it. The original cranes
> used 1" rd for the uprights, but I figured that a round bar would make the
> connections more difficult and the only 1" rd that I have in stock is sucker
> rod which would further complicate things..
>
> I had a diagonal brace made from 1/2" sq. which was riveted to the top bar
> and the upright. I did a reverse twist on this bar for a little decoration.
> There was no decoration at all on the othere cranes, the customer had
> indicated that she wanted a little artistic touch. I figured that a simple
> twist would not be too fancy for the village.
>
> I also made a gauge bar out of 1/2" rd. to help the mason line up the hinge
> bars (mounting hardware).  The gauge had tape marking the locations of the
> tennons on the upright, to make sure the hinge bars were the right distance
> apart.
>
> All and all I am pretty happy with the way it came out, it looks a lot like
> the old cranes in the other historic buildings.
>
> Robert Ehrenberger
> Shelbyville, Mo.
> eforge at centurytel.net
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> TheForge mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:TheForge at mailman.qth.net
>
> TheForge mail list group photo site is
> http://www.photoworks.com
> Login: blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
> Password: anvil
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>