Mainely,Bob

A follow on question would be how many washings did it take to finally get the driver`s pants clean?

Somebody`s gonna get a spankin`.

Are meat hods anything like clam hods? :)

The only type of brush I take to taps and dies is a hand type brass brush to scrub them with. If you find a tap or die that isn`t as sharp as it could be then go to the nearest hardware store and look for a tapered or cylindrical diamond hone. The fishing tackle shops up here also carry them sometimes. Use that hone only in the flutes of the taps and the round hollows of the dies to sharpen up the faces of the cutting edges. I`ve used this trick many times to keep a tap or die going in order to finish a job. BTW David,you never did email me your address so I could send you some of my extras. If you find some of your set are completely shelled out let me know which ones they are and I`ll paw thru what I have. I find that if I soak rusty taps and dies in acid to sharpen them the rust becomes pits and then the the pitted faces usually break more easily and tear out the threads. I found honing to be more successful,YMMV.

You most definitely need to have this sword shot by a pro! The work is absolutely superb and this should be one of the hi-lites of your portfolio and something you show all your clients. The work is absolutely stunning and really shows your command of the craft. Thanks for posting these and I for one most assuredly want to see those professional pics when they`re done. Sword of the Sun is an excellent name and truly fitting for this piece.

On a job like this For me there are really just two approaches. Either I do all the "smart work" and hand off the other stuff to the 2 tag-a-longs or I pick the smarter of the pair and teach him how to do simple fitting. If you feel that you`re the only one who can fit then the other two monkeys can do all your beveling and grinding back the rust. Concentrate on showing one of them how to do the things that slow you down or keep you from fitting(teach him to tack weld too). Once the other laborer see`s his buddy getting more of the "smart work" he`ll want to learn how to grind less and think more. The next thing to think about after you pull this rabbit out of the hat is with any follow on work you need to renegotiate with the boss/owner. Working by yourself pays one wage,motivating and educating your co-workers comes under the heading for management. If you`re doing a foreman`s job you should be drawing a foreman`s pay. I have been known to do just what you are doing now but I do it only once in order to demonstrate the true level of my skills and abilities. The next job that comes in means a trip to the office and a sit down meeting where I explain that the first job was a freebie to illustrate that I can not only do what I said I could do but also cause others to work at a higher level while doing it. Now the question to the boss/owner becomes "Do you want me to continue at the demonstrated level (foreman) with an increase in pay or do you want continue at the present rate as a fitter/certified welder and let you tend to the rest of the hands and oversee the job yourself".

Great looking tool there. Nice to be able to make exactly what you need instead of settling for what`s offered ain`t it. Be sure to wear a big diamond earring and your best pimp hat when you get that hoe working out in the yard. B)

Actually,you`re paying for it. I use my GI bill for schooling. I served for 20+ years to get it so I may as well use it right? Wouldn`t want your(and my) tax dollars going to waste. :)

Congrats Matt. Start him off right,buy him a hammer shaped rattle. :)

Don`t beat yourself up about it Phil. Unless you want to live out in the toolies where the big box stores can`t make a profit you aren`t going to be able to compete with imported goods so what good does knowing a trade do for ya? I think I see the pendulum beginning to swing back as people realize that quick money and cheap goods doesn`t maintain our economy here at home. There is far more that needs to be considered than just the bottom line. A classmate(that`s right I still go to school and will till they plant me) recently told me it was going to cost her $600 to replace the oil pan on her new car and she was going to have to pay to rent a car till they shipped the part in. I told her to bring it by and drained the oil,drilled out the drain plug (it was leaking around it,that`s why it had to be replaced and then cleaned around the hole with solvent and then brazed a replacement into place. Half hour`s work,$35. She was elated. She asked me why it would cost $600 to replace it at the dealer. I told her they never fix anything at a dealership,they only know how to replace parts till the problem goes away. She gave me an extra $20 for changing her oil.Said that`s what Jiffy-lube used to charge her so it only seemed fair. :)

This is an excellent opportunity for the mad scientist crew to meet the brute force crew and get a ton of stuff done. Guys with lab coats in charge of heating, guys with leather aprons in charge of beating. Seems like the best of both worlds to me. :)

My brother`s submission for the Utah state motto was "Utah-Gateway to Nevada". It runs in the family. Votes sent.

Glad to hear nobody got hurt Mike. It`s those short adrenaline charged moments that make us think a little more deeply about future endeavors and how we want to go about them. If they slow us or anyone else down for a minute longer to think about safety then they are worth whatever it takes in time and money rather than flesh and blood. Nice crane BTW. Always glad to see someone going to the next level in tooling. It can only mean the projects are also going to jump up at least one level too. When that happens with someone of your level of expertise it means we all are looking forward to spectacular results in the near (we hope) future. :)

U can haz ART! I knows a guy in Johnstown Co who can make it! Good to see someone else having fun and getting paid for it. Thanks for posting the pics and process.

Those same people who tell you not to get dirty are the ones shipping all those dirty jobs overseas. People are still getting dirty doing them it`s just a different set of people doing it,which apparently is OK as long as they don`t have to see those folks getting dirty. Many of those same people who don`t want themselves (or apparently anyone else here in this country) to get dirty will also tell you getting dirty is dangerous and can get you hurt while doing it. Big surprise! Now getting hurt is painful and pain is to be avoided at all costs. Injuries lead to doctor visits and prescription drugs and scars as well as other bad and unsightly things. Can`t have scars or a limp and still play with the rest of the "beautiful people". Then the day comes that they`re away from the city out in the "wilds" and their toy( their yacht,SUV, or other high dollar purchase) breaks down and they have to come see one of us because there is no dealer to do warranty work this far off the beaten path,and this is where the "real,unspoiled America" is. In about an hour they get more of an education in resourcefulness and adaptablity than they ever thought possible in a year."That old guy fixed my(fill in the blank) with just a piece of scrap metal and a coal fire,right there and then with no special tools or waiting for parts to be shipped in. He sharpened my and my son`s pocket knives while we waited for things to cool too". The irony is that even though their sons and daughters are far more interested in texting their friends back home to absorb what just happened their white collar moms and dads have an eye opening and life changing experience and suddenly "Want to be more engaged with the world". Now they are seeking ways to learn what those heavily scarred rough old guys know. Just last Wednesday I did a 2 hour TALK in front of 20 of these people in their 40s-60s and pocketed $175 per hour for my time(would have been $250 per hour but the promoter took his cut). I now have 2 other "promoters" who have contacted me and want me to give the same talk at their venue as well as a couple of "Art co-operatives" that want me to throw together some outlines for workshops where I can walk people thru how to make their own stuff while they get sweaty and dirty and pay in excess of $1000 each per week( ten+ "students" per class) for the chance to "Learn the nuances of working with your hands in scenic coastal Maine". All this from an old broke down blacksmith who thought he couldn`t make a living swingin a hammer anymore. Well,I may not be able to swing the hammer all day long but I can still show others how to do it. The wheel turns and guess what it brings to the top,DIRT! Who would have thought.

If your son is like my oldest he`ll be looking at all those bits and thinking "So,this is my life for the next 10 years". I know that look and usually just tell him "If you don`t want to think of it by the hour I can always pay you by the piece". Just a little incentive to get that shiny new truck of his paid off quicker. B)

Dream on brother!

You can make anything you want out of pretty much any material you want(People made axes out of stone for centuries). Whether making a chisel out of a relatively new material would be an improvement only experimentation and evaluation can say. What is a huge improvement to you may not be at all significant to the way I work. The factors I`ve seen that factor most in regard to titanium are weight,heat and resistance to corrosion. Are these really important factors when using chisels? Only you can answer that. You may be a diver who plans to work on wooden boats while they`re still on moorings for all I know.You didn`t even say if you`re talking about hot work,cold work,stone or wood chisels. Hard tellin` not knowin`.

Here`s the way I`ve always viewed it. You listen to a promoter and you can pretty easily tell who wants to make a huge profit off your sweat (the drive away would have been the clincher for me). I don`t mind people being compensated for their time but not at the expense of me doing the same on my end.The shows I have taken part in either charge a fee OR charge a percentage,not BOTH. Many of the promoters who have seen what I do and the gear I have to haul and set up to do it know that having the public see me work will be a big draw and an asset to the event.I have never had any problem negotiating my demo in exchange for waiving the booth space fee or percentage of sales. Each party has it`s own perspective if you can`t reach a compromise then it is totally appropriate to part ways AFTER the discussion is done. Driving off while one side is still talking is pretty much saying "Screw you buddy". You need to find another venue to showcase your skills and not give this promoter a second thought IMO.

If you pull him out who`s gonna check the alignment? After everything`s done and the hammer`s in place you can make him "The head of the forging department". :D

Will light a candle for her and you both.

I find it ironic that when blacksmithing was in it`s heyday most smiths went to great lengths to make their work smooth and as free of hammer tracks as possible. Now folks want items that look like the apprentice drank a pot of coffee and then went at it like it was a timed event. Excellent approach to creating the "texture" look there MB. Did you have the bolts hanging around in house or was it something you had used in the past and knew it would work then went and bought more? This and the use of files to make feather texture are two of my favorite PH texture dies so far.

Two things that nobody has gotten into in depth so far is 1-experience level of the welder and type of machine (as well as experience with the rod being used) and 2-the level of prep on the base material. these two things are huge factors in any weld job. Geography is also a factor.What works for Thom powers out in NM may not be the best for me working a ship in drydock in Portland Harbor. Many small factors at work add up quickly. I used to win bets with some of the new hires that I could run a better weld (60 series rod) with no hands than they could using any technique they wanted.(flat position welding) I`d take a 6010 5p+ and bend it into an arc then strike the arc,let it stabilize and then lay the stinger down on the bench and place my helmet on it to keep it pressed down. then I`d walk around behind them and tap them on the shoulder and ask them how I was doing. I never lost one of those bets because I knew which rod to grab out of the oven (rather than out of the rack hung from the machine),knew which machine to use (motor/generator for consistent smooth arc) and had practiced the trick and knew the settings needed to make the process automatic. Asking if there is a difference between rods is like asking a group of hunters if there`s a difference between knives. They`re all made out of steel but the subtle differences in alloy,size,and most of all end user make each outstanding for it`s particular owner and purpose. When asked what I want for rods I usually ask for Hobart or Esab as they are usually readily available and extremely consistent and forgiving in operation. On tough oddball jobs where cost was not a factor Cronatron had some of the best rods I ever ran. They price them like they`re all made out of gold though.

What the heck are you up to NOW Larry? Gonna forge an 8 foot tall face? That would really be a wild departure from the path. Man,I wish I lived closer.

I am SO stealing that line. That`s just too good to leave behind. :)