Tim McCoy

Alec,

You are an amazing young man! What you learned with Brian will help you for the rest of your life in most everything that you do.

Tim

Another job well done!

Will look great on someone's wall - great job!

This should be required viewing for anoyone starting out! Seeing a 14 year old "man-child" do these things removes all excuses anyone can have ... theory in action. Hit it hot, hit it HARD! Alec makes all of us proud.

It's all good here - welcome!! :D

:D

Thanks Cretedog!! Great photos and very easy to understand all that you did. Well thought out and very adaptable. A photo truly is worth a thousand words. Man I love this place!

Nice looking units! I'm guessing poured cement with steel tops and recessed nuts for the tie down bolts ... any steel inside the stand? What do the stands weigh? Regular cement or hi-tensile stuff, etc, etc. How about a BP on how you did them?

Stumbled on this interesting site ... don't think I have seen a link to it on the IFI Forum:

http://www.mountvern...dex.cfm/sss/98/

... for those of you who haven't seen it, enjoy!

The Blacksmith Shop, located along Mount Vernon’s North Lane, was essential to the operation of the plantation and an important part of George Washington’s business on the plantation and off. Documentary records indicate that as early as 1755 a blacksmith shop was located approximately 200 feet north of the Mount Vernon Mansion. Today, the Shop itself does not survive but letters, account ledgers and other writings provide historical background about the identities of the blacksmiths, the work they performed and tools purchased for the Shop. Very little written evidence talks about the appearance of the Shop, its layout or size. Therefore, archaeological excavations have proven valuable in providing these details.

A great start and something that others will want ... can't buy'm in a store canya?? Do more!

Cretedog
Great design for your stand/set up. Nice of you to show the innards of your stand!!
Tim

Prayers up from Vegas ...
Tim

"Do not try to teach a pig to sing. You will waste your time and aggravate the pig" :P

All the dogs and cats I have had as an adult were cremated when they died. The last two dogs died within a month of each other (one was 17 and the other 13 years old)about two years ago. All of them (the cats too) are in beautiful oak boxes that set amoungst my favorite books. Never thought about puttin' them into urns. Cool. Pets, dogs especially, never ask for much, but will take all you can give'm. Never worry about how some one else responds to the way you memorialize the love/loyalty they shared with you.

The first things are the carbide tipped teeth for the machines that eat roads and spit out tailings.

You can convert a block of wood or a stainless steel fork into a hardy tool. Without telling us WHAT KIND of hardy tool we can't tell you anything but yes, no, maybe. In general as long as what you want to make does not require changing the shape of the carbide knobby you are probably OK.

Been a while since I did any metal hunting - found several items in a field today; what looks like trencher teeth, t-shaped bolts, bucket tooth and some other goodies. Does anyone have any info about the composition of trencher tooth??? Are the points carbide? Any chance they can be converted to hardy tools?? Not a bad days work. As you can see in one of the photos what looks like trencher teeth shows that two are worn at the collar so that they are oval while one looks mostly unused although rusty.

IMHO it resembles a military bayonet - you can go to this link to see most country's styles of bayonets. Great find at any rate - http://www.arms2armor.com/Bayonets/bayonets.htm

Prayers up from Vegas . . .

No, no, go here!!

Hi All,
My wife Harriet is home now. Doc says that there is no procedure or electric equipment that will solve the problem - 70% of heart is dead. Instructions to her were to go home and live like a princess. She could last one day or five years, just depends. So she is at home and taking her meds and resting. It is a miracle that she made it through this - we know that your prayers and good thoughts helped - more than many of you may know.

Many of us fight health issues or live with those who do. I am proud to know all of you and thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support!!

God Bless you all
Tim McCoy

Thanks for the prayers and good wishes from all of you and a special thanks to BIGGUNDOCTOR for his posting - my wife Harriet has had diabetes 35 years now and has all the challenges that go with that, previous heart attacks, stroke, seizures and so on. Too many complications for most procedures - even died at the doctors office several years ago and he and I had to do CPR until ambulance arrived - she made it through that one. She has never complained about her lot in life. Last Thursday nite she had a really tough time and asked to have an ambulance take her in Friday morning ... EKG says she had a heart attack on Thursday. She's been in hospital since then while they got her stabilized. She is scheduled for angiogram and maybe a stint installation if there is enough to work with this next Monday.

My wife has been my "striker" for a lot of years , not in the steel forge, but in the more important stuff called life. She couldn't swing a real hammer if she had to, but she is always on the other side of the anvil in spirit if not in fact. For those of you that have long term relationships you know what I mean. We remain hopeful that God will grant us just a little more time ... and a few more swings!

Again, thanks for your good thoughts and prayers - we know that they help!

Tim McCoy

. . . spearpoint .. . :rolleyes:

Thank you!

The body of information you have collected through your own work and the supporting work of your filmographers is wonderful. Certainly makes one appreciate what it means to be able to buy ready made steel and how precious remaining pieces of steel from the past are. Also it was great to get little more info about the "truth" of Damascus. How many of us would heat and forge a single piece 50+ times to get a usable billet?? And how hard was it to wait for the next caravan for billets to work? I wonder. I enjoyed your videos a great deal ... now, out to the fire and the anvil!

Tim

For Christmas I get 220 service installed in garage this week! Sparks at last :lol:

IMHO anvils, like women need, a certain amount of finesse when being dealt with. How I treat mine is my business (short of violence) and if it works for me whose to say, "that's wrong"? Bolt it, drill it, weld it and most of us will consider that violence. It's yours, but keep in mind that, unlike women, you can still sell your anvil someday and unless you want to have a junker - don't lay a welding rod to it or drill holes in it. Treat her with consideration and act like you care about her and someday, if you haven't marked her up, she'll still be valuable and you will be happier.

Tim

Bentiron,
Came back late to see how things were going for you. Glad to see that you're moving forward and getting a handle on the weight thing. All natural food is good for us, but in moderation as you have learned. Many of us have learned late in life that it's about the journy. So, discovering more about how we can handle our faults and frailties is a God Send for sure. Your willingness to share and to express your faith is a support for many of us here too.

I have to lose 100#. Like you said it doesn't represent having too many apples

I hope that you continue to improve and somehow the pain you are in becomes more and more managable. God loves you!

Tim McCoy