Everything Else

I live in a two story old farm house. It is 8pm and 92 degrees upstairs with windows open and all ceiling fans swirling. I've been hibernating in the bedroom with an A/C window unit at full blast. Now its cooler outside than indoors during these late evening hours. But over all these years I have learned to adjust to these conditions with the trade off being able to enjoy the wildlife and surroundings.

I "inherited" an old rock solid pair of vise grip pliers.* It does not work. It needs a new spring. I have done a net search and found nothing. I checked out the vise grip site and several on-line vendors gleaned from a google search. I am not going to trash the tool. Does anyone know where I can get that spring? Thanks, SLAG. * It still has the U.S. patent number stamped on it. Those original vise grips sure were built solid.

I just got a message from a friend with a warning about messages going around claiming to have photos of President Trump having a stroke. Do NOT open them supposedly they'll wipe your computer, phone, etc. just delete it all I hope it's a hoax but I'd rather reinforce the rule of thumb to NEVER open attachments of any kind from someone you don't know. Frosty The Lucky.

I am still kicking, and greatfull for the support that Glenn and I Forge Iron has provided to me over the years. So I just wanted to take a minute say Thank You!

Object found at a garage sale by work colleague. No one (including the seller) has any idea what it is. Cast iron, about 300mm across, pen knife for scale. Thought of a rope bollard, but why the texturing? A footrest of some kind? Any ideas?

So I went over to the shop yesterday to continue working on the shirasaya I was making for a sword I am polishing; as I grabbed a clamp on the work bench, there was a sudden scrambling near my elbow. As I quickly looked and stepped back, I saw a rather large rat climbing out of the parts bin on the bench! In the hasty search for a weapon, some moments were lost and the rat disappeared It is probably a good thing I did not even think about the sword close at hand. Later I realized that the previous night I had covered the work with 2 microfiber towels, which had disappeared...I found one under the work bench. I think the rat hauled them off to make a nest. If I see …

Of course everyone knows that dividing "stuff" by 1/4, 1/2, 1/8, 1/12, 1/32 and so on, is much easier than dividing stuff by 10, right?... or not so much?! Link removed due to advertising.

Hello everyone, I have a situation that I don’t know where to ask so I am turning to every group that I am a part of. My mother has serious rectal cancer that has spread to her kidneys, liver, and lungs. She has recently had surgery for a colostomy and has been re admitted to the hospital for dehydration and now a bladder infection and has been there for about 10 days. I am a realist an know what what is eventually going to happen so I have been in constant communication and will be taking FMLA starting next week for as long as it takes. My brother and I have been visiting as often as we can. He lives in Oregon and I live in Nevada. Our folks live in Washington…

WHAT CAN I USE TO SEASON A BBQ

My wife drove the lawnmower past this about four times before she saw it. She texted me this photo. When I saw it I texted back “Well, I guess they must not be Africanized, because I doubt you would have been texting if they were.” I told her they were likely just a swarm passing through and I would check again in a couple of days to see if they had moved on. If not, we would find a bee keeper who wanted them. I forgot about it for a week. When I finally remembered to go check on them, I saw this. Obviously these bees had decided they liked our home as much as we do. My wife called a friend of hers who is a bee keeper. She came out the next day a…

This may not be the best place for this, although I'm sure someone can give me a little info. So there is a 12x18 Starrett Pink Granite Surface Plate on Craigslist for $50, I looked it up and the cheapest I'm seeing one is $668 for that size. Is a granite plate suitable for work in the metal/machine shop? I'm pretty new to all this stuff and I honestly doubt I'd get any real use out of a surface plate right now since I'm not machining anything that has to be super precise. Although for $50 I don't think I can pass up the offer. Also if it's gone a little bit off of true, how hard or expensive would it be to true up again?

went live 1 July 2019; it will be a work in progress as i learn to use the Squarespace features I used to make the website. I have put some biographical info and photos with a couple of short videos on the site; comments welcome. Advertisement removed

I bumped into this article online and found myself studying the Viking shackles that had been found at dig sites. While the article is mostly an examination of the Viking association with the slave trade, the blacksmithing that serves as the only tangible evidence is intriguing. Plus, now Thomas can make some period “adornments” for his thralls at Pennsic! https://www.history.com/.amp/news/viking-slavery-raids-evidence Lou

A few years ago I read a short article that explained the craftsman’s opportunity to be a bladesmith / blacksmith in today’s world. I was reading several different forums at the time so it may have originated here or elsewhere. I’d love to find it again. Im going butcher it but I think I can get the heart of it across. “” “”It begins stating that since the beginning of man’s time man has strived for an easier more efficient way of doing things/making things. Now for the first time in history life is so easy craftsmen can seek out and revive the old ways of doing. “” “” If this rings a bell with anyone and you know where it originated from please l…

Anybody know what this is and is it useful??

Here are a couple of old photos from a blacksmith shop in Cunnamulla, Qld. A visitor to my forge sent them. Not sure of the resolution but here they are. I like the size of the hammer (maul?) that striker is using!

Great stuff for things like tooling and tongs, generally medium carbon steel and rather inexpensive used; for example I just saw this ad: Sucker Rods (LENGTH 25') 5/8 $4 EACH 3/4 $5.25 EACH 7/8 $6.50 EACH 1" $7.50 EACH Me I usually pick them up in smaller lengths at my local scrapyard, I like to get the male end of the rod and forge it so the wrench section fits down the hardy and then weld armour making tooling on the tops.

need help establishing value of wagon parts from an old homestead wagon Great Grandparents used to travel to SD when they homesteaded. What I have found so far is $200 for hubs, $200 for iron wheel casings- please advise if in the ballpark. The tongue and rest of the wagon has been elusive to find and would like to have a package price to list. My brother wants to sell so if you could help us out that would be great! Thank you so much. Marcia Williams

metal fence tips should I build a metal fence like a construction site with corrugated sheets, I should make the poles and crossbars to screw them in, which material should I use? eleven meters long, 2 meters high, which materials I use which sections and how far away I put them, how deep I place the poles? the poles in t-section or in tubular hollow? thank you

Yesterday we had a party for our twin granddaughters first birthday. I made each of them an "A" for their first initial.

As an old infantryman who "saw the elephant" in Viet Nam 49 years ago it is my duty and honor to remind everyone that this is not just the first long weekend of summer. It is the day to remember the young men and women of all the wars who never had the chance to grow old as we fortunate ones have. "They shall not grow old, as we who are left grow old Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun, and in the morning We shall remember them. -Laurence Binyon

How about a thread on mistakes popular culture makes when talking about blacksmithing? Tuesday 2019-05-21 in a NPR Morning Edition report on Jobs; Steve Horsley said: "forging molten metal into fixtures". You don't forge molten metal, you cast it and the person he was referring to even mentions working in the foundry. (I sent in a correction.)

This spring we set some sort of a record with the amount of rain that fell. Something like 12 inches over the period of several weeks. Every time I thought about mowing our cleared 5 or so acres around the house and shop, it was too wet to mow. Finally on Monday it dried enough to mow and the grass was so high the little dog would disappear when he went out and I couldn’t see the resource pile out at the shop. Now we have two riding mowers. A rear engine Snapper 24 inch cut that’s 18 years old but still runs like a champ with just normal maintenance oil changes and blade & belt replacements when needed. The other mower a 42 inch cut Cub Cadet 0-turn that I use th…

Bye all y'all; shutting down and heading out to Van Buren, Cedarville, West Fork and Fayetteville AR; back on May 20, TGLW&TCDR! Play nice whilst I am away!

Does anyone know of any (ideally) collaborative workshop space I can rent somewhere near Bracknell, Slough or High Wycombe? I left college in 2018 having made furniture from recycling lawnmowers and am keen to rent a space that I can learn to develop my skills. I can help labour for others at their peak periods too if needed. I am keen and hardworking and thought that there was no harm in asking! Thank you in advance. James