[TheForge] [OT] Cobbler tool for blacksmiths
peter fels
artgawk at thegrid.net
Wed Mar 23 18:34:18 EDT 2011
Ooooh, Yer a smart guy Jerry.
I wonder if one could do a very cold version
of Eliz Brim's expandable hollowbodys that way?
On Mar 23, 2011, at 3:19 PM, Jerry Frost wrote:
> forget the hydraulic toe expander and fill (Okay partly fill!) a balloon
> with water and put it in the freezer. It may take more than on application
> but it's really easy.
>
> Jer
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mike Spencer" <mspencer at tallships.ca>
> To: <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2011 2:28 AM
> Subject: [TheForge] [OT] Cobbler tool for blacksmiths
>
>
>>
>> Marrin Fleet <mtfleet at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Tell me Mike, how does one find out more about the Mark V Hydraulic
>>> toe cap expander? I haven't been able to buy steel toed boots that
>>> fit my feet (11 1/2 5E). If it works, maybe you are on to
>>> something.
>>
>> Problem arose when Goodhue dropped the model of boot I've been buying
>> in size 12 for over 20 years. My boot guy said, "I know, I know, I
>> sold them for years. But I can't get them. And the company's
>> changed. Their products are now for shit and the company's gone down
>> hill. I won't carry their products any more."
>>
>> But I importuned him to get me a pair of their boots anyhow, size
>> 12, somewhat similar to the discontinued ones and recommended to me
>> by the company rep. Boot Guy ordered them, grudgingly but with good grace.
>>
>> Tried on, they felt fine. So I drilled out most of the eyelets and
>> replaced them with hooks from old boots (never throw anything away.)
>> Andnnnnnnnnddddd...
>>
>> Worn for more than 20 minutes, they painfully pinched my little
>> toes. Utterly useless, 200 bucks worth of doggie chew toy.
>>
>> Now I happen to own a porta-power. You know, a manual hydraulic pump
>> with a piston on the end of a hose, for straightening truck frames,
>> nudging heavy stuff and the like. And it has an attachment, sort of
>> like a giant steel alligator clip, held closed with a spring.
>> Attached to the porta-power pump in place of the usual piston, it can
>> be forced open with hydraulic pressure. But by itself, it's too big
>> and awkward. Open a can of Stubborn, add a shot of Pigheaded and
>> commence:
>>
>> + Replace the hydraulic connector on the attachment with a very
>> short nipple and elbow. Screw the connector onto the elbow. Now
>> it will fit into a boot with the action of the "alligator jaws"
>> going sideways if you orient the elbow right.
>>
>> + Weld up a device: two short pieces of 1/4x1 flat bar welded to a
>> 1" piece sawn off a small, cheap butt hinge. Heat the free ends
>> of the 1/4x1 and bend inward -- toward each other -- about 1/2"
>> of the stock. You now have a pair of very crude, short tongs or
>> forceps, right?
>>
>> + Saw off about 3/4" of (nominal) 3/4" black pipe and saw it in
>> half the long way, making two hemicylinders. Weld the
>> hemicylinders to the 1/4x1 arms of the tongs. Just where you do
>> this matters. Has to be such that, when the device is inserted,
>> hinge forward, all the way into the toe of the boot, the bosses
>> created by the pieces of pipe are just forward of the aft edge
>> of the steel toe cap. Measure, eyeball, model, do whatever to
>> get that right.
>>
>> + Flap-wheel all sharp edges and corners to help avoid tearing the
>> boot lining. Everything all nice and roundy? Good.
>>
>> + Insert the device all the way forward into the toe of the boot.
>> and open it on the hinge as far as it will go. Insert the
>> porta-power spreader into the boot, tips of the spreader
>> attachment between the jaws of the device.
>>
>> + Jack the porta-power pump until the toe cap spreads and strains
>> the leather as much as you thing it will stand without
>> rupturing. Slack off and compare to the other boot with
>> calipers.
>>
>> + Repeat two or three times.
>>
>> If you don't succeed in gaining some width, consider reshaping the
>> device to get more travel in the right place. If jacking the pump
>> produces distortion in the wrong place -- say, the porta-power
>> attachment itself starts poking up aft of the toecap -- reshape the
>> device. Trial and error. Took me five tries.
>>
>> There may be some risk of cracking the toe cap. If there's a
>> significant probability that Large Objects will fall on your foot (or
>> if you, your work, your boots, insurance companies and their lawyers
>> are all intimately related) this may be a bad idea.
>>
>> Or maybe you can get your modified boots X-rayed to check for cracks.
>>
>> I dunno if this qualifies as OnTopic or not but it was all done in a
>> blacksmith shop so it's at least arguable.
>>
>>
>> - Mike
>>
>> --
>> Michael Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada .~.
>> /V\
>> mspencer at tallships.ca /( )\
>> http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/ ^^-^^
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>
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