Removing a 100 year old (at least) cast iron bath!

[NewcastleFalcon]

Its January! The more threads the merrier as far as I am concerned so I'll give this an airing rather than tag it onto Chris's Workshop Time, or POTD, or Toolbag Tales.

Heres a picture to start it off....

nf own work

Regards Neil

[Gibbo2286]

Don't smash it up Neil they're worth a few bob.

[Paul-R]

We thought that as well when we removed our cast iron bath twenty five years ago, The trouble is, how the hell do you get the damn thing down? I'm convinced that the bath was suspended in the air and then the house was built around it. In the end it was a sledgehammer job and take it out in pieces.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Youtube abounds with "How to remove a cast-iron bath" but the methods are only two.

1. Smash it up with a sledge hammer,

Have you heard the sound a cast iron bath makes when it is hit with a sledgehammer? Its deafening...literally. Ear protection a must. Eye protection also a must, and a strenuous workout, and not the greatest when it comes to the shock felt through the tool from the impact on hands wrists and arms.

2. Cut it up with an angle grinder
Others looking to make life easier get the angle grinder out. Shower the place with sparks and fine dust, and cast iron consumes the grinding discs atomising them along with the iron grindings in what must be a highly toxic mix to breathe in even if you have a couple of new paper face masks to call on!

But I came up with another method

3 "The Lever and Hungry Hippo"

Scaffold pole and the meaty adjustable wrench, which is a work of art in its patina itself (I literally found it when digging the garden many years ago). Bit of "O-Level" Physics on simple machines, well-remembered and used many times in real life. The lever. The wrench just nibbles away like a "hungry hippo" with the minimum of effort, dust, noise.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Don't smash it up Neil they're worth a few bob.

I think if you could get it down to London that may be true Gibbo, but Paul hits it right in his comments. I think if I had managed to get 4 others willing to slip a few discs in the cause, I may have got it out the door, but they are such an awkward beast to transport anywhere to sell. I mentioneed it to a local auctioneer who reckoned the green colour enamel was a plus point, but £70 at the most was what he expected at that time round here. Its more than served its purpose now

We thought that as well when we removed our cast iron bath twenty five years ago, The trouble is, how the hell do you get the damn thing down? I'm convinced that the bath was suspended in the air and then the house was built around it. In the end it was a sledgehammer job and take it out in pieces.

REgards Neil

[Michel]

Point of order - if you're using a sledgehammer (or pickaxe) properly you shouldn't feel much impact in your wrists or shoulders..

Related to the post - we took my grandma's cast iron bath out with a sledgehammer.

[CitroJim]

We thought that as well when we removed our cast iron bath twenty five years ago, The trouble is, how the hell do you get the damn thing down? I'm convinced that the bath was suspended in the air and then the house was built around it. In the end it was a sledgehammer job and take it out in pieces.

A bit like a Xantia heater matrix then

[NewcastleFalcon]

Point of order - if you're using a sledgehammer (or pickaxe) properly you shouldn't feel much impact in your wrists or shoulders..

Thers always a youtube video about these things!


Dont actually have a sledgehammer. First couple of bangs with a lump hammer left a ringing in the ears, and confirmed a sledgehammer would be needed and I wasnt going to do it without ear protection. Got creative though. Couple of cuts with the angle grinder to get started, and the nibbling and levering worked fine.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Job done, looks a prety small pile but literally blood sweat although no tears as yet , no point crying over a smashed up bath!

Still a major clean up of the bits, muck and dust to follow, but the job's 99% done. Won't be loading it up in the car and taking it to the tip though, we have Brian round here! Can still lift a washing machine onto his wagon single handed at over 70!

nf own work

Regards Neil

[Stickyfinger]

TIP ?...take it to a scrap yard and weigh it in.

[Paul-R]

Absolutely. Even in pieces it's worth a bit of money.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Thanks for the tip, but I am happy to let Brian get what he can for it. He does a great service round these rural parts, everyone knows him and uses him, and he's a real character. He's done a bit of car transporting for me too.

Regards Neil