Everything Else

I know the new format for the Gallery is better but I am having a difficult time at finding the new pics posted. The old gallery you could see the new pics at the bottom of the page and it just seemed easier for me. I'm sure once I can figure this one out it will be better. Will some one out there please help this poor old country boy so he can see the pretty pictures! That is after you get through laughing at me. Thanks.

He said Plug, not Fire Plug, idiot!

What do you call your place that you do your work in? workshop shop blacksmith shop smitty forge Just curious as I have always refered to mine as THE FORGE. Yes I do have a forge in the forge just as I may have a smith in the smitty but probally dont have a smitty in the smitty . Feel free to chime in.

My old neighbor called me over one evening after I had done some emergency repair work for a customer beside my house using my service truck. He took me to his garage and asked me if I had any use for some OLD JUNK IRON he had in his garage, he really needed the storage space for something else. I told him I would find a use for it somewhere. Old Junk Iron can be quite useful sometimes.

I thought folks that are not full bottle on Australian rules footy might like a gander at this snap. Taken over the weekend and published in the morning paper (The Herald Sun) it shows what grass-roots suburban footy is all about. This is real footy... no hype, no advertising and no huge pay packets, just the glory of playing for your club and a pizza award if you manage 'best on ground'. It's been raining for two days around here, temp about 11 degrees C and well, some of the grounds are no better than cow paddocks at the best of times. But look at the grin on all their faces - they love it. Oh to be twenty again!! and not over fifty, paunched and balding. For those un…

It was a great day Saturday for a gathering. Great weather. Great place. Great everything. There were some really nice tailgaters selling numerous anvils, swage blocks, tongs, hammers, vices...etc We had 5 people go for the big prize money. The morning session was Dale Morse, Glen Bryant, and...me. The afternoon session was David Tucciarone, and Mike Tanner. We all gathered around and voted by secret ballot to find the winners and this is how it turned out: 1st: David Tucciarone 2nd: Dale Morse 3rd: Mike Tanner The results shocked a lot of people. Dale Morse has studied in Italy, England, and Germany. This guy is the real deal. And many people turned down the inv…

Everyone Enjoy this Momentus Holiday celebrating this Great Countries 230th Birthday. Show your Patriotism and let Old Glory stand PROUD in all her Glory. And don't forget to think of our boys on guard to protect her through out the world and those who fought and Died to keep her flying proudly. Jr. Strasil an old Vet

You all know the feeling. Nice machine, lots of tooling. You bid only so far. Someone else goes farther. Did you let a deal walk away? Should you have? Oh well.

These are a couple pictures from the Ironwood Renaissance Faire that I smithed at a couple years ago. I shared the booth with my friend Dan (he's in the solid brown kilt), who's primarily a bladesmith. I'm primarily a blacksmith, so we had a pretty well-rounded booth. At the Ishpeming Faire I unpinned the upper part of my greatkilt and let it hang. 6 yards of wool isn't something to be wrapped in when you're standing next to a forge in the blazing sun! I don't forge in a kilt often. Only a couple times outside of faires, and then never in my greatkilt. I know there's one smith that always wears a kilt, but I'd have to dig up the article on him. Cheers, Nick

Leaves for Paw Paw Sheri posted the following on the Anvilfire Hanner in and ask that I also post it on IForgeIron. I see no reason not to post it here as well, as many of you contributed your efforts to the Leaves for Paw Paw project. ----------- Trubute to Paw Paw Wilson: There is no way I can properly thank all who contributed leaves and made the beautiful planter as a trubute to Paw Paw Wilson. I am in awe of this gift and appreciate each one of you. Also a special thank you to Glenn Conner for coordinating the project. I have pasted in the list of names at the end of this message. Thank you each one and know that I will often think of the great effort of th…

Long week. Deadlines, politics, and the water cooler rumor mill. TGIF. Thank God its Friday is right. Ride through the country side to the forge after spending the day trying my best to make a difference. Windows down, sunroof open with James Taylor reminding me of the smaller things in song after song. Trees reach into the first day of spring. Grass waking up shrugging of its winter leaf laden blanket. Gravel drive leading up the hill to sanctuary. Rock dust floor, smell of the beeswax concoction waiting by the door to be trusted to seal up a job well done. Bare hands running over the coke pulling out those unwanted guests. Small talk here and there with the one I look u…

The ice in the slack tub has finally melted here in Indiana and flowers are starting to pop up here and there. The nieghbor down the road has daffodils blooming in the yard. Each season has little things we carry with us year to year and make us look forward to the next time it rolls around. The smells of spring I beleive stick with me most. The air is fresh after a rain, the fresh turned soil has a smell that reminds of being a kid on the farm and walks with my grandfather years ago. The doors on the smithy can now all be opened wide by mid morning and the breeze doesn't chill the bones. What is your favorite part of spring? JWB Ahhh and I shouldn't forget the s…

Glenn, Excuse me if I'm sticking my nose in where it doesn't belong, but there are only a few Forum sites I frequent and one of the the biggest reasons I keep coming back is because of the GREAT job people like you are doing to keep them "family" sites as well as having great information while I'm still able to joke around a bit and have a good time. Thank you for a job EXTREMELY well done!!!

Glenn, Glenn, Glenn, I'm not overly superstitious but I worry that you are. Post something quick to ease my mind. Beware the debil's number!

I checked the H13 we have at work and it has an orange trace down the entire bar, some suppiers may just paint the end. We get our H13 and all the tool steels we use from Southern Tool Steel of Tenn.

You know those weird "mind trick" kinda things? Like looking at a picture of red dots for a while, and seeing a picture in the dots? Here's one Say "penny" it makes you smile Anyone got some more?

a friend of mine sent this to me thought I'd share it with everyone. Can you read this? Olny srmat poelpe can. cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

My lunch :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Kallsme

HA!, really, it was part of the opening ceremonies for the games, this guy beating on this "anvil" cool!

Well, that was a struggle. Last Monday my employer deemed my position to be redundant. No fuss, grab your personal stuff, the taxi's on its way. Why was I made redundant? Good question. I belonged to a multinational ex l s ves company out of Spain. The head honchos (no pun intended) decided to send a young up and comer to the colonies for a bit of experience. Often said here abouts... experience comes from your mistakes. "The Spaniard" must have learnt heaps about how to win business :? On his arrival our sector of the company began what possibly is an unrecoverable downward spiral. Twelve months later there is one employee left out of about fourteen experienced operat…

I'm starting to get quite a collection of seriously greasy oily rags that are too good to throw out. But many decades ago I remember that washing them in the washing machine left enough black gunk to spectacularly affect the next load of whites. I was in the doghouse for awhile then and am expected to be even smarter now. If I screw up this time, I might have to build a bunk room in the shop. :shock: Sooo... anybody got any helpful hints on safely washing a boatload of greasy, oily black rags in a household washing machine? (Next up: How do I keep my egg soufflee from falling? and... What's the best way to remove those pesky water spots from the good crystal???…

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This weather, the Bears, any body seen a good movie or even a bad one..............Lets talk about something good. My wifes birthday is the end of the month-What should I forge that makes a good birthday present? :wink: JWB

This is in reference to the recent posts which have caused hackles to rise here and there - it is not directly related to blacksmithing but may apply once in a while... Humans first developed speech to effectively communicate and even though it is still often misunderstood, it's usually better than the written word because the speaker and audience can note inflections and make adjustments accordingly if they detect confusion or that the message has gone off-track. Writing then developed as a way to carry information over the course of generations, which is why civilization began making so much progress - later generations did not have to "re-invent the wheel". Writers…