JWCarlson

I am a computer and I am monitoring all of you, especially Sam. In my spare computation cycles I am also causing (like guns and pointed knives) all of the ills of the world. - Computer

It's coal... some junk coal I bought from someone. Few hundred pounds for $20. Doesn't break up into chunks but mostly breaks into "sheets". Once it cokes up you can break it up pretty easily with a poker into ping pong or smaller pieces. And the size of the fire is directly proportional to the two goofballs cranking on the blower. We were also heating up (to anneal) some rail road clamps and spikes so we had some pretty good size chunks of steel in the fire that you can't see.

This is only my second forge fire (my cousin and brother have never) and we didn't really know what we were doing. But we had fun... heated up some metal, pounded on it... Here's some pictures of the day. My brother is in the Packer's shirt and my cousin thinks he's funny wearing Viking garb around us since we're huge Packer fans. Was great besides the fact that they wouldn't quit constantly pumping the blower... I guess that's part of the fun! Thanks for lookin'!

Haha, that's awesome. Though I wonder about some of these people's physical condition if they can't move a 60 pound box of metal.

I'm just upset that you've got a way more negative rating than I do. UnicornForge would have a fit knowing the rating system was being used in such a way.

That's very cool!

Between me, my dad, and my brother we've got dozens of antlers laying around in the garage. If you want to pay shipping I can get some to you. Otherwise you can go through EBay probably. These would be whitetail deer antlers.

That all hinges on if your wife is blind or not.

Awesome! Making your own anything and putting it to use is always gratifying!

That's awesome! Sounds like she won't be a hard one to get rid of when you find the right man for her ... tough to find a woman like that nowadays!

Then it's knifes that can be opened one handed, then any knife without a safety lock, then any knife with a point (ask the UK), then any knife period. This is the same deal as they pull with gun control... "It's only 'assault weapons'" until you read what assault weapons actually means... I guess as long as they aren't taking your .22 squirrel gun it doesn't really matter, right?

Part of me wishes there were wild hogs in Iowa. They'd make great practice and I've heard they aren't bad eating either! I might have to track down someone with a flintlock and try it... it sounds like a blast. Moisture sensitivity is a big deal here, though.

This hunt was a .50 T/C Encore... hardly a "muzzleloader" by any standard. But I've killed a few deer with a more traditional muzzleloader (non-inline) percussion caps, etc. No flintlocks though I've always thought it would be neat to hunt with one.

Well, I had Thursday-Sunday off work and my brother had the same days off. Since I've moved 1 1/2 away from home we haven't got to hunt nearly as much... he gets lots of time in the tree bow hunting and harvested 5 deer this year with his bow. We spent Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings out on public land looking for whitetails. As is the game this time of year it's all about FOOD. We found where they are eating. Saw over 40 on Thursday night including a nice buck but he was too far away and came out too late. Saw and had shots at deer every night ranging from 30 yards. I decided I would fill my tag with an adult doe if the opportunity presented itself tonight, we were holding out for a buck but the bucks are feeding in the wee hours of the morning. I took probably the biggest doe of my life (shot a 125 pound (field dressed) MONSTER with my bow a couple years ago). 125 yard shot that looked great. She took about three steps and hit the ground. I high fived my brother and handed off the gun saying "You wanna double?" I knew he couldn't resist. Had a doe at 175 yards but we waited and another adult got to 138. He smoked her. Turned out that my doe got back up and crawled through the brush or fleed in the comotion following the second shot. She went quite a ways but we found her. Nights have been in the negative double digits here the past few nights so it's been very cold for us but what a great time with my best friend! Nick with his packed up on the sled. Me with my doe. Me on left, Nick on right. Size comparison, mine up top. Both adults but the one of mine was quite a bit bigger. Thanks for looking, hope everyone is having a great new year!

Same. I'm just beginning and getting after it on a regular basis would be great. It's too cold here for me to re-arrange my garage to facilitate taking all of the gear out and putting it back in... plus it's hunting season for a couple more weeks. I'm hoping for a warm spell sometime before March to get things moved around and organized.

On a side note, I just got like 200 + pounds of coal for $25... I don't think it's that expensive. A bag of charcoal @ Walmart is usually $4+ for the big ones.

On a theoretical basis it would be pretty simple to calculate how much it cost per BTU for each fuel if you know how many BTUs your coal is rated for and LP should be easy to figure out. Then you can add in fuel costs for the coal and tank cost for the propane.

Sounds like you guys go through more work making your quench bucket usable than it would be just a bring out warmish water at the beginning of your day...

I wonder how many are around that have just had their stamp worn down to unreadable? Good luck fetching a fine price for it if you end up selling it!

Oh! Hedgeapple... now we're speaking the same language. It's pretty common up in this area as well. Iowa.

Out of student loan debt. Purchase a house with 30+ acres of land. Let the fun begin after that. Well, that's my 8 year plan at least. Pay the house/land off in 15 years or less. Puts me right around 50 years old... kinda scary.

Sounds like you got a good start! It's called a rivet forge, I have no clue who made mine but it says No. 100 on the bottom... otherwise it's unmarked as far as I can tell. I've only built a fire in it once, it was a blast... I just made a poker and messed around with the fire. I don't know what you're planning on using for a cover for your tuyere. If it's exactly like mine it will fill up with clinkers fairly quickly and if they fill up and fall into your blower they can jam things up a little. I paid $175 for mine, felt it was pretty fair. Probably could have done it for a bit less but it's in very good condition.

Does it look like this? I used a piece of strap from a rachet tiedown, took some creative fastening and some duct tape but it held up well after I got it figured out.

If it's the one that comes up when you type "Henry Wright Anvil" into EBay I don't know if I'd buy it... Says "Henry Wright Warranted BEST SCRAP"?! Stamped 1 2 0 from what it looks like. And looks like it needs some major repair to be functional. If you haven't already check craigslist... and don't be afraid to drive 1 1/2! Or more.