[TheForge] [OT] Cobbler tool for blacksmiths

peter fels artgawk at thegrid.net
Wed Mar 23 18:36:27 EDT 2011 

Now Phlip;
There are spouses and there are spouses!
I married Phoebe for a reason.
Well, more than 1 reason.


On Mar 23, 2011, at 3:22 PM, Saint Phlip wrote:

> Wouldn't work I don't think, because the freezing water would need
> something to push against to expand in a useful direction.
> 
> Besides, I suspect most of you would have no need for boots, properly
> sized, steel-toed, or otherwise, if your spouses caught you putting
> boots in the freezer ;-)
> 
> On Wed, Mar 23, 2011 at 6:19 PM, Jerry Frost <akfrosty at mtaonline.net> 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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> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Saint Phlip
> 
> So, you think your data is safe?
> http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/01/23/schneier.google.hacking/index.html?hpt=T2
> 
> Heat it up
> Hit it hard
> Repent as necessary.
> 
> Priorities:
> 
> It's the smith who makes the tools, not the tools which make the smith.
> 
> .I never wanted to see anybody die, but there are a few obituary
> notices I have read with pleasure. -Clarence Darrow
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