Mainely,Bob

Just about anyone can make something that just sets there,people do it every day. Now something that has movement and especially something that can dance,now that`s the next best thing to creating life as far as I`m concerned. Everything contains energy(it`s all made from whirling atoms)but to create something that sets that energy free even in some small way is to take at least one step closer to a meeting with the Gods.

No thanks to me,thank the folks who took the time to show me the stuff I know so I could pass it on. Knowledge is like water,we soak up as much of it as we can and are all worthy vessels for it.Like water,if we try to store it up and keep it all to ourselves it just evaporates.If we share it we all come away refreshed and ready to go back to work.

Things are obviously different here in Maine. Here CCRs are spelled out in your deed and you agree to those things when you buy the property.Ours said;no commercial activity or mobile homes and everyone who lives on the right-of-way has access to the cove over a prescribed area of land known as common area which has been surveyed and noted on the tax maps. Any other restrictions come under town and county ordinances. Some of the gated communities up here and especially along the waterfront spell out things like you posted above but they are restrictions set up and decided upon by HOAs.Basically,setting up a level of localized government below that of the town. In our experience here outside the cities and into the areas where tourists/summer residents almost quadruple the population during the summer months HOAs have been a nightmare dreamed up by people from away who only live here for 60 days or less a year wanting to bring their city ways with them and tell those of us who live here year round what we can and cannot do while they are here enjoying their little bit of paradise for the summer.HOAs have brought with them a lot of hate,discontent and enriched no one except local lawyers with the law suits generated.If you folks on the left coast have found a way to make them work for you then more power to you. I have carefully laid dry stack stone walls on either side of my drive which I built myself and are considered a New England tradition.I plow my own drive and help maintain the right-of-way along with my friends and neighbors.We all get together every year for an annual pig roast and party.None of us locks our doors and most of us leave the keys in our cars while they set in the driveway in case someone needs to move them.HOAs don`t make good neighbors,reasonable people willing to get along and help each other make good neighbors. BTW-The name of our dead end dirt road is Neighba (pronounced NAY-bah) lane.

You know how to sharpen and use a drawknife,2 man saw and a scythe,and still own one or more of them. You remember what the 3 rings on Rhinegold beer stood for. You remember when a gallon of gas cost a quarter cause you were pumping it after school back then. You remember sitting around the radio instead of the TV. You can pull a tire from a rim and replace it using just hand tools(not on a split rim). You`ve ever used a wheelbarrow with a wood deck and a steel wheel. You`ve ever had to work a full day with a mule(the 4 legged kind). You sit on the ground and whittle during a long discussion(usually with a piece of grass in your mouth). You remember when welding rods were color coded and welders were paid "milk money" for welding lead coated and galvanized pipe.

Here`s my guess;it refers not to knives or weapons,man has found stones in every type of country to sharpen those.What it may refer to is tools such as stone working chisels(sometimes refered to as "fire sharps") and other tools that when dull were brought back to the anvil and a new sharper edge was forged up. Iron(the hammer and anvil) sharpens iron(the tool).

A froe is basically a wedge with a lever attached.The ones I have worked with and like the most have a blade that has a shape as Frank said.The edge only needs to be sharp enough to not bounce on the wood when you hit it.Some woods require a more keen edge than others but none require anything near as sharp as a felling axe.No honing required,these are splitting tools remember and don`t cut anything. Up here the best froe clubs are made from dogwood saplings,a fine grained wood.The trunk becomes the handle and the root ball becomes the head.The interlocking grain of the root ball keeps the head from breaking up.If cut during the winter the bark stays on and provides a pretty good grip on the handle,even for a gloved hand.The roots are usually just trimmed back with a hatchet and the root ball formed to roughly round.

I don`t want to upset anybody here but from the looks of those anvils they saw some heavy rust and hadn`t been treated to well in the past so why worry about putting some abrasives to them and bringing them to whatever state of smooth/shine you prefer.The last owner blasted them and the guys before him let them rust pretty well.these are not museum pieces anymore even if they once were. Sand the sides,horn and face and put them back to work or lay some heavy solids paint on them if you want to preserve them then set them on a board in the corner. Either way they`ll probably be around for a long while now that they have come to someone who appreciates them and knows how to care for them.

A word of advice from Captain Caution;"You need a bigger base".

I think you may have things backwards,Avadon. Here in Maine CCRs are an agreement as to what can and cannot be done with the property once you buy it such as no commercial activity or mobile homes on the property or common access to water are covered by CCRs. The HOAs are a group you HAVE to belong to and pay into if you live there which decides how long your grass can get,how many pets you can have(if any) and where you can park your car among other things. HOAs mean your neighbors decide how you can run your life rather than you deciding and are a PITA and a trainwreck/lawsuit in the making for all but retired folks and condo owners who are too old or too busy to maintain things themselves so outside contractors are brought in for these services. Avoid HOAs like the plague if you want to practice this trade even as a hobby.I have an urban friend who`s HOA does not allow him to BBQ on poor air quality days. <_<

You may want to hand your friend a copy of Jake`s "Word to the wise" thread while you`re talking to him about guards. Many folks have the idea that they personally are very careful about where all parts of their anatomy are at all times and that means guards are not needed(at times I am included here but I`m trying to be better about it).What we fail to recognize is that a belt,blade or other reciprocating or spinning part will pick up and throw out(usually with great force)anything that is dropped or that breaks off and comes in contact with it.It usually throws whatever it is with destructive results,sometimes with catastrophic results. It`s a whole lot easier to minimize or eliminate the "line of fire" with a guard than it is to constantly be aware of and keep everything that can be damaged or do damage (such as high pressure or quench tanks,etc)out of it.Especially in a small or crowded shop.

I think you`re right,it does seem the iron accepts it better.The overlapping hits just seem to tear the copper up.The single hits on both copper and iron do look rather useful for both reptile and marine use.Many crustaceans have a pebbled shell and it is close enough to fishscales to pass for it in more abstract work. This looks like something that would lend itself well to the slower speed and increased control of a flypress,especially with non-ferrous metals. It might also be easier to match up edges in order to cover a wide area and void overlap if the impact area of the dies were square rather than round. Just some thoughts on the process. I look forward to seeing where you take this,it`s very interesting.

I think you`re right,it does seem the iron accepts it better.The overlapping hits just seem to tear the copper up.The single hits on both copper and iron do look rather useful for both reptile and marine use.Many crustaceans have a pebbled shell and it is close enough to fishscales to pass for it in more abstract work. This looks like something that would lend itself well to the slower speed and increased control of a flypress,especially with non-ferrous metals. It might also be easier to match up edges in order to cover a wide area and void overlap if the impact area of the dies were square rather than round. Just some thoughts on the process. I look forward to seeing where you take this,it`s very interesting.

Actually,What used to be called triple chrome plating or "show chrome" is copper,nickel and then chrome. Many old tools(especially woodworking) were just nickel plated and you will see the nickel peeling off them.The copper worked like a primer and provided a better bond than the nickel alone. The chrome you see peeling off aluminum is chrome alone or "flash chrome".A special type of nickel was used under the chrome to help it bond to the aluminum.Some car and bike builders used to eliminate the copper on chrome plated steel exhaust pipes in order to minimize heat bluing but they found the same problems with peeling showed up. All this from my years spent as a gear head and a short stay in a chrome plating shop. I favor stainless steel now for my bouts with the bling monster. :unsure:

Save the nest,it may come in handy for the little visitors when the warm weather comes back again. Nice find,looks like your shop may end up as a museum if you keep this up.Know anybody that can write a grant(and not the kind of Grant that lives on the left coast although he pounds iron too)? ;)

Wouldn`t have to worry about anybody wantin` to borrow `em to go to the dance though.

Glad to hear you`re OK Jake. You`d be MUCH harder to replace than any spring. :)

I really like this idea of spacing the rack from the wall and how you managed to do it. Here in Maine wood interiors have never gone out of style and many of the mudrooms even have at least 3/4 pine for panelling finished in everything from stain to varnish or shellac.Many of the old houses have an area rubbed free of finish behind the coat rack and in summer(when coats are scarce) it`s rather obvious. While I have friends who are making good money cutting and removing the paneling and replacing that area with tile yours is a much more elegant approach to eliminating the problem.

For evaluation info I`d do a search on "flypress" on the forums as there was an excellent post a while back that included a video where you were walked thru the parts and function of a flypress and told step by step what to look for when buying one. If your anything like me pics are worth more than 1000 words and a video is the next best thing to being there.

Hey now,fast cheap and easy fits my favorite vice perfectly. Are we still talking about blacksmithing?

Closed cell foam is a bear to fish anything like wire or cable through I can tell you that.

From what I have read the biggest difference between and fly and screw press is a screw press will"squeeze" the work like a hydraulic press does.A fly press will deliver a single "hit" to the work,more like a power hammer does but with not as much force. This is coming from what I have read and not from personal experience. If I were looking at this press one of the first things I would consider is how easy would it be to resell.In other words if it didn`t do what I had hoped could I easily sell it and get my money back to put toward something that fit the bill better.If the answer is yes,and only you know what the economy and market for your area is,then I would not hesitate to buy it as it would be like money in the bank and at least give me something to experiment with. BTW-Hard to make an assessment of condition using such a small pic.

Jake,you need to fire the layout artist as he doesn`t know how to spell. When working magic it`s spelled abracadabra.From the first pics I`d say the boys in the shop still got the magic part right even if layout failed them. Nice work,got a pic of it installed? There seems to be a depth element to it that needs an installed photo with a side or oblique view to be fully appreciated.I get the feeling this is not you average coat rack and has more than one level in more than one direction that isn`t being shown to it`s best effect in the 2 quick pics you put in the first post. I for one would like to see more. Thanks for posting,your work is always a joy to look at.

Their boss/father is going to be some XXXXXXX off when he sees these videos. Out of the 14 videos they have posted are they doing anything constructive in any of them? You know those ball end tongs they use to get a bull to be compliant?I think a few of those could be used as training aids to help with these fellow`s education.They seem to have both too much time on their hands and far too much unsupervised access to expensive equipment.

I guess what you`re saying is that you are a blacksmith,period! :D

What herbalists do in the fields and forests a blacksmith does in the towns(and sometimes outside of town on the farms too).I go to places like the town dump,local boatyards,scrap yards,and any other place where old metal can be found.I come home with wrought iron,steel,stainless steel,bronze,lead,copper and zinc most times it only costs me the gas money to get there and back. I can`t remember when the last time was that I bought new metal for a personal project or even for a gift for one of my buddies.If I need something I don`t have on hand I usually load something like my bronze,copper,zinc or lead scrap up and bring it to either another metalworker or the scrap yard and trade for what I need. Just like those folks who pick food from the forest for free,if you know where to look and what to look for you can feed your forge for free and that includes free wood scraps to make the charcoal to fire the forge. This is one craft where the rural and the urban smith both stand on equal ground when it comes to foraging(not forging) opportunity. It really is as simple as going out there and picking it up.