- Joined
- Apr 8, 2003
- Messages
- 2,092
This month marks four years of bladesmithing for me. About three years ago an old blacksmith I know told me about a guy who had a 25# little Giant power hammer. I tracked this guy down then... and asked him if he was interested in selling it. Of course the answer was no, and I was probably better off at the time(would have screwed up a lot more steel).
Jump ahead to late November this past year. Stoped in to see the owner of the hammer and inquired once again about him parting with it. He said a friend of his asked him about it the year before but he still didnt want to get rid of it. He then said he would call his friend and if he didnt want it it was mine. I go back a week later and he says his friend didnt want it and he would sell it to me.
Now I'm gonna try and paint a picture here...
This gentleman rebuilds old train and trolly cars and is quite the "collector" of stuff....like most of us, but he does it on a BIG scale. He's got a building that houses a very, very well equiped machine shop at one end(another up stairs)...the other end has tracks comming in for a train car and is filled on both sides with some of the biggest lathes and drills and....well I couldnt tell ya what half the stuff is,but if you wanted to make a train wheel you could do it there! Then there is "The Yard".....even bigger lathes and humungus planers.....rollers, riviters, punches..train and truck parts....he's even got these wicked old half track looking things that used to be plow trucks up north someplace. He also has about 20 box trailers PACKED full of stuff.
The 25# hammer was said to be in one of these containers. He said he was going to empty some of them and would have the hammer out and I could pick it up saturday(still Nov.04)...which I did only to find out he couldnt find it in all his stuff. At this point I asked him what he wanted for it...he told me the price and said come back in a week he will have found it by then. Oh yeah I should mention that he said its been in the trailers for about 25 years!
A week goes by....no hammer...."come back in two weeks"......2 weeks-no hammer.
Weeks turned into several months.
He finaly finds it! But now there is a catch....It's in Colorado!
I'm in Connecticut! I thought I would never see this hammer after hearing that. He said his brother was comming out this way "in a month" and would bring it wth him.
Month goes by...no hammer..."two weeks"....2 weeks-no hammer
Jump ahead to July 2005 he says end of July first week in August.
I still feel as if its just not going to happen so I look him in the eye and ask him if it really is going to hapen...he assures me it will.
I stoped by middle of last week...no one was around and I didnt see any hammer.
Last night I stoped in while on a ride on my bike, knocked on the door...no answer. I turn around to go back to my bike and what do I see!
A 50# Little Giant! Just sittin as pretty as can be.
Couldn't sleep a wink last night. Got ahold of him today and went down to finalize the deal this afternoon. He told me he wanted a bit more for it(shipping/gas) and I said no problem....
So instead of a 25# LG I got a 50#LG .......looks to be in OK shape...we will see.
It was set up for a line shaft w/ the big wide belts. He said he would give me a motor and lace me up a belt on top of it all.
We go in his office and I pay him the cash....as he's writing up the bill of sale he says "I bought that hammer from a machine shop auction on the West coast"
So it was on the West coast...went to the East coast.....Then it went and spent 26 years in Colorado with almost no use and now its back on the East coast. This hammer has done more traveling than a lot of people I know!
And you know what the best part of all of this was.......
My beautiful wife got it for me for my birthday.
She dont like to fish or camp but boy I sure do love that woman!
Stay back boys...shes mine and you cant have her!
So tell me....was it worth the wait?
Mace
Jump ahead to late November this past year. Stoped in to see the owner of the hammer and inquired once again about him parting with it. He said a friend of his asked him about it the year before but he still didnt want to get rid of it. He then said he would call his friend and if he didnt want it it was mine. I go back a week later and he says his friend didnt want it and he would sell it to me.
Now I'm gonna try and paint a picture here...
This gentleman rebuilds old train and trolly cars and is quite the "collector" of stuff....like most of us, but he does it on a BIG scale. He's got a building that houses a very, very well equiped machine shop at one end(another up stairs)...the other end has tracks comming in for a train car and is filled on both sides with some of the biggest lathes and drills and....well I couldnt tell ya what half the stuff is,but if you wanted to make a train wheel you could do it there! Then there is "The Yard".....even bigger lathes and humungus planers.....rollers, riviters, punches..train and truck parts....he's even got these wicked old half track looking things that used to be plow trucks up north someplace. He also has about 20 box trailers PACKED full of stuff.
The 25# hammer was said to be in one of these containers. He said he was going to empty some of them and would have the hammer out and I could pick it up saturday(still Nov.04)...which I did only to find out he couldnt find it in all his stuff. At this point I asked him what he wanted for it...he told me the price and said come back in a week he will have found it by then. Oh yeah I should mention that he said its been in the trailers for about 25 years!
A week goes by....no hammer...."come back in two weeks"......2 weeks-no hammer.
Weeks turned into several months.
He finaly finds it! But now there is a catch....It's in Colorado!
I'm in Connecticut! I thought I would never see this hammer after hearing that. He said his brother was comming out this way "in a month" and would bring it wth him.Month goes by...no hammer..."two weeks"....2 weeks-no hammer
Jump ahead to July 2005 he says end of July first week in August.
I still feel as if its just not going to happen so I look him in the eye and ask him if it really is going to hapen...he assures me it will.
I stoped by middle of last week...no one was around and I didnt see any hammer.
Last night I stoped in while on a ride on my bike, knocked on the door...no answer. I turn around to go back to my bike and what do I see!
A 50# Little Giant! Just sittin as pretty as can be.
Couldn't sleep a wink last night. Got ahold of him today and went down to finalize the deal this afternoon. He told me he wanted a bit more for it(shipping/gas) and I said no problem....
So instead of a 25# LG I got a 50#LG .......looks to be in OK shape...we will see.
It was set up for a line shaft w/ the big wide belts. He said he would give me a motor and lace me up a belt on top of it all.
We go in his office and I pay him the cash....as he's writing up the bill of sale he says "I bought that hammer from a machine shop auction on the West coast"
So it was on the West coast...went to the East coast.....Then it went and spent 26 years in Colorado with almost no use and now its back on the East coast. This hammer has done more traveling than a lot of people I know!
And you know what the best part of all of this was.......
My beautiful wife got it for me for my birthday.
She dont like to fish or camp but boy I sure do love that woman!
Stay back boys...shes mine and you cant have her!
So tell me....was it worth the wait?
Mace
