Ted T

I know,

Mr. Stamp Man!!!!! Thank you again. Consider your suggestion taken as a new reality for me. I always appreciate your ideas. And, I know that my fingers and thumb will appreciate it also. Ted Throckmorton

Frosty, it is so refreshing to have you back. You have a way with words!!!!! Ted Throckmorton

Pkrankow and jimbob, The content of what you are sharing with us (about how to fabricate a cross) is extremely valuable. But, my appreciation of your willingness and unselfishness along with the many, many other good folks (to many mention) that teach us and share information about blacksmithing with the rest of us, is just over the top with me. You men are just two good examples of the spirit of teaching and sharing what is required to keep the cycle of information flowing here at I forge iron. In my opinion, the truly great men and women of Blacksmithing have no fear of sharing information or teaching the details of a process. And I mean they really want you to know exactly how it is done. Un-like with most of this greedy world, it is refreshing to come in, sit down and click a few buttons and find folks who share freely! Again, it is uplifting to be affiliated with like minded folks as you all! Thank you! Please keep teaching and informing us!! Ted Throckmorton

BIGGUNDOCTOR, I have enjoyed what you have to say and I can sure relate to what you have said. I have beaten my self up many times wondering if I should have or could have done more for my parents. But I believe in the long run that you (like my self) are only human and have had to learn a lot of life’s valuable lessons as most of us eventually do. But all is not lost because you are sharing some good thought provoking information that may hit home with someone else. Thanks for the good advice! --------------- Rio Bravo Very nice work!! Ted Throckmorton

Very well said BIGGUNDOCTOR, because it works!!! :cool: Ted Throckmorton

David, what your wife said cracks me up. Leave it to a wife to tell it like it is! You might advise your wife that some of us out here don

Dave, You are a blacksmith indeed! I would describe your creation as

I believe that you have been given some very good advice already. Employers are employers regardless of what industry. And some basic requirements will most always prevail. I just want to highlight one aspect of what has been previously said! And that is that I feel you should somehow inject information that will reflect your willingness to be a dependable employee. Over the last 50 years I have had the experience of being on a hiring board for a large corporation and also hiring people for my own business. I have also been required to participate in termination processes. At times it was very stressful for my self and all others who had to take part in the termination process. And at other times due to situations of theft and other acts of personal ill-responsibility, I could not get rid of the person fast enough. Here are just three (3) of the observations I made of what other people who served on the hiring and termination boards emphasized. Things That Are Not Tolerated: 1. TARDINESS. 2. NOT SHOWING UP FOR WORK AT ALL with out following the company regulations for absenteeism. 3. NOT BEING PREPARED TO WORK includes, but not limited to the following; a. Not showing up with all tools and everything you are required to provide to do your job. b. Showing up tired (un-rested), free from the effects of drugs or alcohol or any other self inflected distraction from the work at hand. Bottom Line: I suggest that you (some how) provide some type of a track record (such as letters of recommendation) that will show that you are willing to cooperate and communicate well with your employer and that you will show up on time, all of the time. And that when you do, you can be depended on to be prepared and will work when you get there! Even the highest skilled person in the world is of no value (-0) if they do not show up when they are expected and, or not prepared to work when they do get there. I have seen some very highly skilled people kicking a can down the road because they foolishly underestimated how strong the above values meant to my-self or a large corporation. Best of success to you! Ted Throckmorton

Happy Thanksgiving Frosty and Deb. Myself, plus a whole lot of other people who care about you and your welfare have even more to be thankful for this Thanksgiving Day as we ponder the miracle of your recovery to this point. I believe what happened to you brings awareness to all of us of how fragile life can be, and that in a split second everything can change. To see that you survived you

Thank you Glenn, Richard, and Thomas!! I am going to give his formula a try!! I live out in the middle of no-where out here in eastern Utah. I am looking for a used anvil that weighs between 150 lbs. up to 250 lbs. So now with this post I have officially started the

Curly, your wife Kathy and your self are now on my list for prayer. I will also keep her in my positive thoughts for choosing healing.

Now thats a good Woman!!!! STRONG LIKE OX!!!!!! It just goes to show ya that behind ever good man there may be a good woman with a sledge hammer!

Here is my most favorite solid fuel forge that I have ever built. The features I built into this forge are simple but meaningful to me from a half a century of forging with coal/coke forges. Here are some of the features that I included into this simple coal/coke forge that I felt was important to me. 1. If I need to step away from my forge for any reason, I can control the air flow rate by either turning up or down a rheostat that is connected by an extension cord, or I can just use the air gate that can be controlled from either side of the forge. 2. I also incorporated a leveler foot on the front right leg. 3. I can dump the ash gate by simply pulling on a chain. 4. I welded some

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha. You got that right nakedanvil! That is a good example of why I give a safety warning to a new blacksmith. Although nobody has ever listens to me, I still feel obligated to tell new blacksmiths about why I was trained to stand at the anvil so my striking arm was opposite the hardie hole. When I started back in the early 50

Very Tricky It's good to think out of the box!!!!

Thank You Mr. Stamp Man. I can always use a new trick or two! Ted Throckmorton

US Army Ranger 1st Airborne Battle Group 101st Airborne Division 327th Infantry Recon Platoon Fort Campbell Ky. 1958 to 1963

Elijah, Welcome to I Forge Iron! You said:

Divermike; I think you have a very good idea. I believe for Frosty to receive something in a tangible form such as a letter or a gift of some sort will truly exhibit that we are real people out here, and not just people typing on a computer from somewhere out in blacksmithing cyber space. By taking a little extra effort and time to go the extra mile of sending him something that may brighten his day will indeed show him that we care. I believe in what you have suggested because it indeed personalizes a persons care and interest in his recovery. I have already sent him something a couple of weeks ago. Ted Throckmorton

Cliff; you have my condolences for sure. It

Philip in china; You have experienced what I believe to be a communication dilemma that is more common than one may think. And I believe it could be stated as; “the assumption that the receiver of the information will use common sense, or has a pre-existing basic understanding of the topic concept”. Over the many years of being a supervisor, running my own business, teaching, or the life experience of raising children, the possibility of the concept of what you described seemed to be waiting in the background by only one different concept or interpretation away from what is really meant. It seems as though sometime perspective has a broad range of different concepts about the same thing that is as broad as there are people. It took me quite some time to learn how important it was for me to put instructions into “Measurable and Definable Terms”. I find it interesting that Napoleon had an idiot available for his general staff members to test out orders on, to see if he could understand what was being said before they would give the orders out to the troops. They would first see if the idiot could understand what was said in an order, and if he could, then they would put the order out to the rest of the troops. Back in the 50’s when I was in basic training for service in the army; something happened that I will never forget. Our company was doing some night training in the field. We had a large bonfire going that gave light to the instructor. At the end of the training session, one the cadre pointed to a new trainee and told him to grab a can of water and put the fire out. The cadre member failed to consider that a new trainee would not know the difference between a water can and a gas can. The tragic results were that the trainee poured gas on the fire. It led me to see the first of many men I seen severely burned or die by fire. So now when I teach, I follow Vince Lombardy’s concept of not assuming they know anything. When he took over the team of seasoned football players, he started from the bare basics when he said: “Men, this is a football”. I am glad things turned out OK Philip!! Ted Throckmorton

Flying Sparks; there is still a need to be able to trap bears, but it is now done in a very humane way. My brother is a bear trapper for the government, and has done so for many years, so I help him out every once in a while. We use live catch

therepairman1557 Here is a Bear Trap a friend of mine (Deloy Larson of Deloy Larson’s Ornamental Iron 225 E State Rd Pleasant Grove, UT 84062 Ph: 1-801-785-3660) made. It is most likely a little to big for your needs! Deloy_Trap_1 - Blacksmith Photo Gallery Good Luck! Ted Throckmorton

That would not be good news if it is true!!