SLAG

Frosty, Beware. The Japanese firmly believe in reincarnation. Could that be a reason why they appear unconcerned? Should I be upset? Methinks that Fukushima might have been a government make work project? SLAG. Mildly hysterical, but improving. SLAG. By the way a person can small amount of plutonium (U239), salts and he/she will not absorb it from the alimentary canal. be passed out and the swallower will be unscathed

How about copper pipe end-caps for the of the feet. It would a lovely color contrast. Happy thanksgiving day to all the smiths in the North. (Thanksgiving day comes early there because the harvest must be done before winter arrives. There are three million ex-Canadians in California alone. SLAG.

The video mentions that the fellows that rent space are former members of the forge courses he offers. The outfit is Forge de Montreal..The chaps have an excellent video showing the forging of a Biscayne trade axe It was posted, here, in early September. That video is very impressive and informative it is worth a view. Hammerdom, a member on this site has worked with them. SLAG.

Anachronist, Try this reference I stumbled on last night during acute bout of insomnia. http://phys.org/news/2016-10-dont-panic-avocado-radioactivestudy-eyes.html It seems that the human body has evolved to cope with small concentrations of toxins and radioactivity. In the 1950's prospectors learned to search out the yellow bands in rock. Sometimes located high up in canyon walls. They indicated yellow carnotite deposits. Enjoy, SLAG.

Frosty I did not remember the radioactivity reason. Thanks for that heads up. Strangely, the main uranium ores carnotite, and, I think also uraninite are often found in fossil bone beds. in the American southwest. For some reason, uranium containing salts were differentially picked upand concentrated by these fossil dinosaur bones. The containment building caught almost all, or all the radioactive emissions from the meltdown. Chernobyl reactors did not have containment buildings. (Marxist reactors were thought to never fail). Generally, the level of radionuclides is fairly low in coal and also granite. Another source of radioactivity is much more serious. That substance is radon gas. It is found in many parts of the U.S. people should inquire about it. Especially young people and also people with children.. Radon comes from the off gassing of radioactive minerals. It can seep into houses and collect to high levels in the basement. There are tests that detect radon gas, and people that live in radon occurring areas should consider using them. (a basement can be sealed off against radon, should such a test prove positive). Ask the seller about radon when buying a house. I am glad that a few i.f.i. denizens enjoyed the article. SLAG.

You are right, the first two arrow heads I have not seen before. Could the furrows be blood grooves? The last two, on the left of the photo, are traditional bodkins. That type of warhead was used at the 3 battles I mentioned, in the 14'th. and early 15'th. century in France The English army soundly defeated the French army in all three battles, (Hundred Years War) Those style bodkins were used by longbow men. They first saw action against the English armies in the numerous battles and skirmishes on the Welsh borders.at least 100 years earlier. (the battles of the Welsh Marches). The English used thousands of Welsh longbow men against the French. (they learned from past mistakes). I am sorry about not having information on welding, but I have not heard that the arrow heads were welded. It is not necessary and it would have added great extra cost per arrow. The historical warheads were press fitted onto arrow shafts. Those arrows were made by the millions. They were fired en mass in the general direction of the enemy. Clouds of arrows blocked the sun. Fire was rapid, ongoing and devastating. Two generations of French nobility were decimated. The arrows were designed to penetrate chain mail. Only the development of hardened plate armor stopped them.That armor made its appearance in the third battle. Agincourt The bodkin would be make for a more devastating wound if that bodkin remained while the arrow was pulled out. .Some of the first factory machines were devoted to automating arrow making. There are master armorers at the British Tower of London armory and museum. Check their website. And if necessary, contact them. SLAG Also, check out the British War Museum. Also the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. P.S. the barbed arrow heads are for hunting arrows. The big ones were designed for killing deer.

Methinks, the two warheads on the left of the picture are traditional bodkins. The first two on the left are probably Phillips screwdriver heads? If, indeed that is so, their profiles are a little too acute. Nice job overall. But the battles of Crecy, Agincourt, and Poitier have already been fought a few years back. Is a marketing survey in order in the next little while? Just trying to help. SLAG.

Suggest that you forge a deep cut on the end of the spine. And you could sharpen it. It would then be useful for back cuts as well as slicing. SLAG.

The recent decade long decline of the coal mining industry is not the primary fault of The Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) & President Obama. The recent explosion of shale derived natural gas stocks and its drastic drop in price are to blame. That gas is greatly cheaper than coal. So cheap that electrical generation plants are switching from burning coal to gas. 93% of coal is used in power production. Natural gas combustion has several advantages over burning coal. It produces no mercury emissions, and half the amount of carbon dioxide than coal, and 80% less sulfur. Try this reference and have an enjoyable read. http://phys.org/news/2016-10-shale-gasnot-epa-ruleshas-decline.html Regards to all the technical subject enthusiasts on I. F. I. SLAG. Also try this article, as another factor in fossil fuel's eventual demise ttps://techxplore.com/news/2016-10-price-solar-panels.html

A bird bath heater could do the job. Or a large aquarium heater may do it also. SLAG..

Mengtian, Welcome to the forum. thank you for your service, it is appreciated. Where are you, in Texas? There may be some smiths near you that you can chat with and check their smithy's. regards, SLAG.

Jock Dempsey. has a multi-language glossary on his site (Anvilfire). Check the F A Q section and then scan the index for international glossary. Blacksmith terms are listed in a number of languages including Italian. I did the French terms and Alessandro Konoscenza did the Italian words. Many other languages are also included. So other people can use the glossary. (e.g. German, Afrikaans, Swedish, etc.) Enjoy them. Also, if you find that some names are missing, consider sending them in to him. The project was a voluntary one and it involved many people. SLAG. There is a chart one (with other languages), and also a chart two.

Ernie Kovacs was one of the funniest men that I have ever seen. He died in 1962, due to a car accident. Way too young. He, Stan Freiberg, and Sid Caeser . shone in the early days of T. V. SLAG.

Television is a medium so called because it is neither rare nor well done. Ernie Kovacs. SLAG.

HAAA! Tell that to my General Practitioner! That'll give him indigestion. Senior, Charles.

Thanks Charles, I was not aware that high fructose was commonly sold. That will do the trick. Live and learn. SLAG.

Enter the party pooper. The sugar that complexes with and converts poisonous hexavalent chromium to the "natural" and non-poisonous form is not common table sugar. That sugar is sucrose. The sugars that do the trick are fructose and also glucose. Fructose is known as fruit sugar. It and glucose are mono-saccharides. Table sugar also, known as sucrose, is a double sugar (called a disaccharide). It is a molecule made up of one glucose and one fructose. (stuck together.) In other words, adding table sugar to a chrome-water solution will not work. Fructose sugar can be bought but it may be expensive. But I believe, if my memory serves me, it can be obtained where canning supplies are sold. Apples have a lot of fructose and apple juice would work. But it is not that cheap. Starch is broken down into sucrose then into it a mixture of glucose and fructose. That mixture is called invert sugar which is the preferred sugar used by bakers. That would do the job High fructose corn syrup would also work but I do not know where to get that. It is used in the food and drink industries. Corn syrup is a glucose syrup, and that can be used as well. Soooo. to make a long story table sugar will NOT do the job. It is best used for coffee and corn flakes SLAG.

Frosty, I take my coffee black. And the forge hot. Wish you were closer bye, too. regards, SLAG.

Frosty, Could it be a "virtual knife"? SLAG.

Just reported. Spent coffee grounds infused foam removes lead and mercury contaminated water. Millions of tons of spent coffee grounds are disposed of each, around the world. Some are used as soil fertilizer and conditioner. But the a major portion are discarded or end up in land fills. Scientists just reported a new method to make practical membranes in order to make high through-put membranes for water decontamination.These foams can extract toxic metal ions from contaminated water., as the water flows through the filters. Check out https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/presspacs/2016/acs-presspac-september-21-2016/coffee-infused-foam-removes-lead-from-contaminated-water.html for more details. Exciting stuff! SLAG.

Ethan, Check the Blacksmith Gazette page you refer to. There is a note, at the top, that informs the reader that some of the references are up to 15 years old. I know, I put several of them in there 12 years ago.Use the references but check to see if the sources are still in business, (& selling coal/coke, etc.). The Gazette ceased publication several years ago too. Hope you make out o.k. SLAG.

Navasky, Thank you for supplying the reference. SLAG.

Blackdragon, A great chart with very useful information. Thanks for posting it. Where did you get that chart? Perhaps there is more valuable information from that source. Thanks. SLAG. B. T. W. the "new" wood is preferable to heart wood for handles. It is more flexible, bends much more easily and is more resilient.

SLAG Says, I suggest that you avoid orthodoxy and grind the cold shut out. It may avoid particles reaching escape velocity and entering Fido's eyes. Just sayin, SLAG.

Senior Stevens, a. k. a. "The Management", Thank you so very much for passing on my suggestion to Herr Powers. He seems to be taking it under advisement. If standard anti-"lost time" measures prove to be unsuccessful with T. P. there is always anesthesia, restraints, and bed rest. Hopefully such extreme measures shall not prove necessary. Again, thanks Charles. SLAG.