Friday, November 4, 2011

Playing The Tower of Hanoi




Before winter, while I can still have the studio doors open on some days, I plan to do some rearranging. The space is too crowded. The forge room is okay but the north porch and assembly room and east walk area are packed.


I have some salvaged hydraulic equipment on the porch which needs to be cobbled into a pipe bender. There is a Champion 1880 lever action forge blower which I haven’t used since 2004, a wood stove unused since I installed electric heat in the studio, a large post vise on a heavy concrete base which has never been used, a small railroad rail anvil on a stand which has also never been used, and an antique treadle grinder. Those things just need to go away.


Most of the rest is good stuff used occasionally but poorly arranged. In my mind I have started planning the shuffling process and I was reminded of playing a game called the Tower of Hanoi when our boys were toddlers. Here is a link which shows a nice animation of the solution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Hanoi


I have a break on the porch which I built to make a 22.5º bend in a 24” wide piece of 7 gauge sheet. To get to it and have space to work I have to move two gas forges and a rolling base. Then they have to be moved again to get out. The break is a crude, but effective, contraption built from some sturdy scrap. The grader blade section is the pushing edge and a 30 ton bottle jack provides the force. A piece of round stock in the crotch of the piece of angle serves as a stop. With it removed the bend will go on to about 90º


I wish it were easier to get rid of those things I don’t need. The demonstration trailer is parked in the woods north of the studio and I should empty it and use that space for storing things I might actually use again.


http://www.persimmonforge.com/

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