Yet another great skip find.

[thehomeengineer]

Hi All
Several years back I went to an auction of an engineering company that was closing down and bought a few pieces. When collecting the items I ask if I could do a bit of skip diving. Well it was one of the best skip dives I have ever had. In amongst the many items I repatriated was a old toggle press which has sat on the shelf for ages. It was even offered up on eBay for a tenner with no interest. So on the shelf it stayed until today when I thought how am I going to press two hundred dummy rivets in the horn plates for my traction engine. Gave the toggle clamp press a dust off made some dies to press 1/16” copper rivets and could not believe how easy the task became. Completed the job in an hour. So glad I didn’t sell the little press which has done me such a good turn.

The little toggle press

rivet snaps

Rivet snaps in place

pressing dummy rivets

mine horn plate fully populated with dummy rivets

Dummy rivets completed in both plates.

so glad the little toggle press didn’t sell

The Home Engineer

[DIYer]

Thanks thehomeengineer! We've added your Dummy Rivet Dies to our Model Making category,
as well as to your builder page: thehomeengineer's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Dummy Rivet Dies by thehomeengineer

tags: rivet, press, die

[stantheman55]

To the home engineer,
It's nice when things work out like this, I too have had a couple of odds and ends in my tool box or on the bench that spent years sitting there till I found a use for them that they ether were not intended for or for a once or twice in a life time use for. Currently I am looking at videos on scrping lathe beds I find in interesting and satisfing for some odd reason (maybe I understand it now at age 65) anyway when I was a young man in my early 20's I aquired a hand scrapper with a carbide cutter brazed to the tip, it sat in my tool box for 40+ years till I dusted it off recently to have a go at scraping my self. Will be interested in what else you come across and find a use for. in the mean time best regards.
Stan.

[thehomeengineer]

Hi Stan
Thank you for sharing. Scrapping is bit of a dying art when I was an apprentice we were on filing and scraping for the first month. They called it character building. To be honest I really enjoyed it. It is amazing to see someone’s work who is really good at scrapping but nowadays modern machines are so advanced and accurate this becoming a thing of the past. A bit like shaping machines when I first started there was a bank of shaping machines but these three machines were scraped and replaced with one CNC machine. How things change.
looking forward to seeing your scrapping
Andy

[carl blum]

Hi Gang: It is a real shame the amount of material that is sent to the landfill. In France it is the law that farmers must allow gleaning in their fields after the harvest. There is a wonderful film, The Gleaners & I ( Les glaneurs et la glaneuse ) that follows gleaners in France. I'm a very lucky Dumpster Diver and suggest a book by John Jay Hoffman: The Art and Science of Dumpster Diving. One Sunday I found a dumpster behind a Nut and Bolt shop where they had just cleaned out loose ends. I came home with 200 pounds of fasteners, mostly threaded rod. I think if you order a 8' rod they would take a 10' stock length, cut it and throw the 2' in the dumpster, rather than give it to you. I've also found several vises, two lathes, wood and plenty of metal. So keep your eyes open. Good Luck! Carl.

PS: The scenery in my photo is built from carpet foam, a mattress and a Christmas Tree. All dumpster goods.