Interesting find at the scrap yard today...

[StevenBiars]

So I went to the local scrap yard to browse the yard for potential donor parts for my saw mill. After about half an hour of searching the piles, I came across this heap:

If you look closely, you can see the mighty bandsaw blade stuffed in the pile. Of course, I had the magnet-crane operator fish it out (they were going to cut it up) and I had a 4' piece of it cut for my personal collection:

So, after I had got back home, the wife-to-be sees the blade and says "Can you get any more of that?". She wants to take a cutting torch to pieces of it and make rustic signs like "Welcome" and "Workshop" etc. Being that I know this was likely cut into 3 foot (or so) sections at the yard after I left today, with a little luck, I'll be able to seize the remainder tomorrow. As for the mill, I stumbled across a twin-tank portable air compressor (the compressor was busted to pieces) with a total capacity of around 8 or 10 gallons. The tanks get cleaned up, modified slightly, and will serve as the fuel tank and blade lubricant reservoir.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Personally, i'd MUCH rather use the cheep plastic fuel and water jugs for those purposes. They are light, won't rust, and are easy to drill and tap. With no maintance, they will last longer than the steel ones.

Rob

 

[thechknhwk]

Steven - I like your wife's idea... those should look pretty sweet!

 

[StevenBiars]

Coating the inside of the tanks to prevent rust and such) won't be too much of a problem, because I've already got plenty of extra tank coating, courtesy of a motorcycle restoration that my grandpa is working on. As for the weight, in this case it's negligible. The entire unit weighs of the tanks is perhaps 35 lbs sans compressor (probably a bit lighter), with plenty of metal removal left to be done. The decision to use these came down to these factors:

1.) I got the tanks for $5 (and don't have any plastic cans that aren't in use for other things).
2.) I don't have to fool with bands and tie-downs to mount these. Thus, I can weld it solid or create a bolt-on solution.
3.) Admittedly, I just like the aesthetics that it adds to the carriage.

So, it's a combination of things I suppose.