Right Place, Right Time

After the Ames Plantation show we took our time returning home as we don't get out much.  Just so happens that we stop at the Crump, TN flea market.  We saw a neighbor of ours and as I was asking him about needing roof tin, he asked a friend if he had any.

As it turns out the fellow, Mr. Gene, says he has some.  He asks me what I need it for and I tell him it is to build an overhang off my workshop so that I can bring my coal forge outside.  Then he asks if I had a hammer.  My reply is "Oh yeah, I got a dozen hammers from 2 oz to 8 pounds."

He sez...No Do You Have A HAMMER?

I immediately say "Power Hammer?"

He sez "Yeah!"

I say "Not yet but I'll have yours real soon"

One thing led to another and in two weeks I was standing over a Mayer Bros. 25# Little Giant Power Hammer.  It was in the woods next to a house 45 miles from home.  I asked the man what he wanted for it and paid him as soon as the number came out of his mouth.  Mr. Gene is such a nice man.  We talked of many things that afternoon.  Mostly about how things have changed and how we try to live by our own hands.
*The hammer in this photo appears smaller & lighter than it actually is.

Without knowing the full specs on this machine, the inspector of my new sewer plant said he'd help me get it home.  That poor guy.  We had to tromp through briars and brambles just to get a look at this thing and it darn near tore us both up.

There was a bunch of cussing as we found out we couldn't budge the thing with bare hands...which I was counting on.  So many things fell into place even though the project seemed doomed.  I built a sled to put the hammer on so we could more easily slide it out of the woods.  Mr. Gene brought an old farm jack which we used to hold it up along with a &#@% come-along so we could get the sled under. 

It sounds so much easier as I'm writing this.  We were huffing and puffing and spitting and cussing the whole time.  Mr. Gene asked the neighbor if we could drag the hammer into his field where we could get it easier.  Well that would have been the ONLY way we could get it.  There was NO way of pulling it out through all of his piles of stuff.

All spoken, it took two hours to get it on the sled and dragged out into the field with a truck and chain.

OK, I'm thinkin' the hard part is over.  Will I never learn?  We had this 800 pound machine on a wooden sled.  Now we have to get this whole contraption up and onto the trailer. 

This is where more fun starts.

I hook up my come-along to the truck and to the hammer.  Next I start cranking on it and see it moving about 3/4 of an inch with each crank.  NICE!

Come-along is too close to the trailer rails.  Can't get it to release tension to bite up on it.  More cussing and fussing.  Got it.  Move stuff around, no problem.  Crank it some more.  Can't get it to release tension to bite up on it.  Dang come-along.  Got it.  Can't get it to release tension to bite up on it.  #@^^&^ come-along.  Finally got it.  Cranking very slowly by now.  This goes on for an hour. 

We moved the whole thing almost 13 feet with that come-along and finally got it strapped to the trailer and ready to head out with it.

Here is Tim thanking his lucky stars he doesn't have to deal with this monster any more.  Back to town with the hammer still on the trailer. I must say that I was totally impressed with how the three of us figured out all of the challenges of this project.  Again I have to make this disclaimer:
*The hammer in this photo appears smaller & lighter than it actually is.
  
I was really beat from all this work.  Couldn't stop when I got home.  

 The base had to be cleaned off so I grabbed an angle grinder to take off years of dirt, rust and moss.  Here you can see that the base is an inch thick and is almost 3 feet wide.  

You may not think much of this but just a couple hours prior to this picture, there was only enough room for one person to squeeze through to the garage door.  This was a major undertaking!  Now I have to back the trailer in and hook it up to the 2 ton overhead chain hoist.

Looking it over as well as I could there weren't any noticeable welds anywhere.  When the foot lever moved, the clutch pulley moved.  That was a good sign.

This will be a WIP (Work In Progress) for Arcadia Knives blog as a way for me to document the project from start to finish.  I want to get this hammer working and pounding out some steel as soon as I can.

Thanks for everyone's support.
 

Alllllrighty Then!

So I actually started this update a couple weeks ago.  Look where that has gotten me. 

The 14th Annual Ames Plantation Heritage Festival was a success.  This show runs on the second Saturday of October each year.  There were 39 new vendors this year, the weather started off beautifully and the crowd was huge.  Everyone must have a fun time because of all the smiles and goodwill throughout the day.

Before we were even set up, a returning customer came by and bought the first knife.  I love it when the day starts like that.  He happens to be a Boy Scout Leader and was carrying the knife he purchased last year.  Guess I'll have to up my game to keep him happy.  Maybe a few special knives next year.

It is wonderful to have returning customers stop by and wish us well...and buy some stuff.  One of my favorite things on the grounds is the firing of a civil war cannon.  I take great pleasure in watching folks jump right out of their skin when the cannon goes off.  We had to deal with a fast moving storm that blew through around 3:00 that afternoon.  As luck would have it, the storm only lasted half an hour.  The sun came back out within the hour and the end of the show was great.

During the shows I don't get away from the table much.  This is from behind the lines.  Way in the back there are thousands of folks.  There were a few more lines of vendors throughout the grounds.

This is our friend Joan Appelt of BeechCreekGourds.com with a few of her gourds on display.  They truly are works of art.  This is the only show she attends.

This is Debbie & Dennis.  They stopped by the table a few times.  He kept looking at the knives and finally picked out a blued file knife with elk antler handles and a brown leather sheath.  That wasn't the only thing the bought but he sure had a big ol' smile on his face when they made the purchase.  Hope to see ya'll again next year.