Burnt Frames and Tools

[4RoBs]

Starting to think a bit better now. I need some advice and I know some of you have been through the same ordeal as my family.

Can I use my spanners, socket etc? I wonder if the heat has affected their strength? Some of them are blue - must have got very hot. Can they be saved. What do you reckon?

Same for the bike frames etc?. The boys modern trials bikes are just solidified puddles of various alloys with a gear set and crank in the middle. The old bike frames are still recognisable and perhaps not too bad except for the charing. What should I do to preserve what's left?

Thanks

[GMC]

I imagine the tools would have lost some strength, basically they have been annealed.
Same with the frames, if they are straight & worth it you could consider blasting them & getting them heat treated, after this they should be okay.
You could also consider getting the tools heat treated as well but they have also lost thier chrome so they would get rusty before long. Check the yellow pages for heat treaters in your area & run the problem by them. Depending on what the tools are, getting them done may be cheaper than replacing them & they will always be special to you.


I lost my first bike, an old Honda road bike, in a bushfire. It too was left as a set of gears & a crank in a molten pool of alloy under the frame.

[Tim754]

Welded some of my tools together as universal whatsits ..Most cleaned up fine and have yet to have one break or stretch. The frames had only blobs of molten slag left on them but fellas came and bought them for things like the correct engine plates or various tabs !!
 Check your household contents policy if available. If that shed was used normally for 'proper safe storage of dangerous garden tools and machines' ,yes like shovels rakes ride on and domestic mowers, chainsaws brushcutters etc you can claim those items. I found out I could and have some lovely Stihl replacements. Tim

[Tony T]

I only kept a few tools from my fire. (Not "my" fire, like I started it............) 
But I guess it depends on how hot they actually got. Which you have no way of knowing.
I kept a looooong 1/2 drive bar which is still taking towballs on and off without bending or breaking 8 years later. It had turned blue as well.
Also, I'm still using a 13mm T-bar without incident.
You may or may not be so lucky............. 
The stuff I lost which I really cared about were my Dad's old wooden handled hand tools..............  :'(

[Marc.com]

tools will be fine, unless the chrome has dropped off they should clean up no problem. Use them until they break they probably look worse than they are.

[4RoBs]

Thanks guys. Tony I lost some of my Grandads tools too - I hate wordworking, but they were fine tools. But I was using a plane as a door stop here so I have the memory in tact.  Yes Geoff the chromes gone. A mates dad is pretty good on hardening steel etc and he has a mate that's good on plating so that will probably work out. My folks gave me the tool kit for my 21st so I reckon it is worth a try. Tim if all else fails I'll make a sidchrome sculpture - oh wait, the welder is welded to the bench! Later then.

I haven't brought myself to look at the lathe and the mill yet. I'll get a straight edge and check them out tommorrow.

Rob

[maicomc490t]

Hey Rob,

Read your latest in the other section of the forum and hope I can be of some help re the fire damaged stuff.

Your biggest enemy right now is rust so spray the crap out of everything worth attempting to save with WD40 or similar. The by products of combustion can be very corrosive once moisture gets to them as various acids are created as a rule (I'm a firey not an industrial chemist but have seen the effects close up). Another option would be to get a drum of old sump oil and either dip or dump everything in it.

Heat from the fire could be in the region of 1000 to 1200 C with aluminium melting at around 650 to 700 C as an indication. The only way of knowing is by trying the tools out as you go and also it may depend on where they were in the fire - if they were high up they will have been a lot more affected than if the were on the floor in a toolbox for example.

Slightly off thread but to do with the fire loss just the same - don't be too proud to contact the Salvation Army or similar as they are fantastic in these situations. I can't see them springing for a Beta or two but they are always willing to lend a hand and can help with all sorts of stuff.

Take care for now mate - in my job I have seen people lose the lot, and in just about every case they have bounced back all the stronger for their ordeal.

Sounds like I see a sense of humour emerging from the ashes too - that's the Aussie way 

Dave Mac

[YZ250H]

Hey Rob,

You'd better go back onto your website and change that message from goodbye to "I'll be back" 

[4RoBs]

I'll chase up some spray oil and 44 tommorow, the local garage guy will help. Got a bunch of folks coming out to help sort the personal effects and then we'll get to the tools.

Like I said before we are down but not destitute. Because we shared our time between here and the block we had summer clothes, beds and a bit of furniture and the computer (phew). Winter's cold here but we'll be right by then. I am too proud to ask and right now, with everyones help, I still reckon I can help out at local the salvos and will do so. Kath still has her job, so we are not going to starve. And we've got options - the bank will help (themselves as well).

I can not see how I can get up and running again though. It is all about the moulds. They cost me on average $400 each to make (that's workshop time, materials and consumables). I passed the magic mark of 250 moulds (ie 250 different parts) about a fortnight ago. By our business plan that was enough to start making a real go of it. We were just about to build an office and parts display in the front of the shed. I had just listed the KTM parts list on the web as a test to see how much it increased turnover (heaps). I was working on all the other parts for the last month of evenings. 

I built the collection of moulds slowly over the last six years - it started as a hobby making bits for my '81 KTM390. I basically put back everything I earned from parts sales into new moulds and equipment. I worked as an environmental consultant part time (which is stressfull work but pays good) to finanace it, along with my wife supporting the family. Along the way we had to bail from our fish farm due to drought and a high level of debt. We ended up in Esk for a new start and a plan to make rubber bits.

I have to get a real job now so we can keep our block (I lost all my consulting equipement and library too), and I can't see how I can rebuild 4robs again. Unless someone out there wants to invest a couple of $100000 and even then I'd  have to work for a year just making moulds not parts (therefore no income). Perhaps I can advise someone else how to do it. Any takers?

[RMJJ]

I burnt down my dads garage 15 years ago. I'm still using some spanners and an impact driver.
They got pretty hot. I lost a just restored Honda CB900 which like other people have said, ended up a pile of molten alloy blobs with cams n stuff showing
We lost everything except my CR500, I stupidly ran in to save that.
You may as well try your tools, mine were mostly ok.