SLAG

Charles, Marg. & I have added you both to our list of prayers and intentions, daily and at Sunday mass. Hang in there, things will get better. You're not the only ones on meds. Best wishes and best regards, Dan. ( a. k. a. SLAG.)

Have you tried tapping (or chiseling), some tiny barbs along the long axis of the metal wedge. The barbs should be pointing down toward the base of the hammer handle? Yes it's a pain, but it might just be useful where a particular hammer head refuses to stay set. SLAG.

Beautiful work, design, and craftsmanship. The suggested blade extension, would made it look like several cooking and food preparation utensils. Check the net for metza lunas, ulus, and "rocking two-handled knives". The metza luna is prominently used by British celebrity chef, Nigela Lawson. (you may be able to find some of her shows on Food Network or. B.B.C. America, or P.B.S. (she is worth checking out.). The ulu has been used by the Inuit (a.k.a. Eskimos) for thousands of years. (& the Dorset culture natives for at least a thousand years before them.) So the ulu design and its function are in the public domain. Similarly, the metza luna has been in use in Italy for hundreds of years. In other words, you can copy the design whenever you desire. The propriety interest, in these two, has long run out and their design and function may be used by all. I will bet my paycheck that no one, originally, took out a patent, nor industrial design, for them in the first place. The utensil bears a certain resemblance to the bearded Viking axe. A lovely Scandinavian redecorating device. Cheers, SLAG.

Another cheap item for file handle ferrules are small copper caps that are used to cap pipes. Any big box store sells them in the pipe supplies section. The cap piece's center has to be drilled out to accommodate the tang of the file. Or use the shotgun shell. SLAG.

Surely you don't need a tsunami to freight flotsam, jetsam, & gubbets to the shore line. It just shows up naturally due to the tides, wind, air, and force majeure. The detritus shows up whether we want it or not. It just keeps showing up regardless. Every day, every evening without fail. Oh sometimes a storm blows offshore and the day's usual deposit shows up later. Regards to all. SLAG.

Search the beach for floating trash. Plastic or rubber containers. There may even be some bottles. plastic film shoes (several container loads fell off a container ship several years ago and shoes have turned up along the coast of the U.S. and Canada. on the beach stranded on the beach. Fishing gear are plentiful. They fall off of fishing trawlers, from fisher fleets form all manner of pacific countries. Intact fishing nets can also frequently found and used to catch fish or used for drop net traps, or animal traps or snares. Damaged nets can still be a source of fiber, or string for fishing. or sewing things together Grass fiber can be woven to make a container for storing water. Line the "vessel" with clay to make it water tight. Use sticks to spell out messages on the beach. Like "HELP". Search the beach for the remains of ship wrecks or small boats int& use all the contents they may contain or parts or materials from them. Other material may be on or in the beech sand or cobblestones. You never know you might run into an Inuit, Aleut, or Alaskan citizen or friendly beachcomber. Said individual(s) may be induced to contact the authorities to effect a rescue or they may even be helpful enough to pass on survival tips. The ground may be drenched but you can still start a fire. Use a large rock (bolder) to crush wood. The inside fibers or wood will still be dry. (using a knife would be easier if one has been fashioned by someone in the party.) There are numerous ways to start a fire. Bow drill. rubbing sticks (which doesn't work all that well), or the concave bottom of a soda can which makes a good light gathering lens, or "magnifier". Do not forget smoke signals. forest fires. (the latter may attract serious attention, if there are people or fire rangers close by. The weather may even co-operate for such observation. Burn some green vegetation to make smoke to keep the mosquitoes away or the party may require future blood transfusions. (if the Alaska insects as ferocious as their counterparts nearby in the Yukon, North West Territories, or Nunavut.) Medicare cards would help mightily to pay for the said transfusions. Surely the members of the party would carry belt knives, bear repellent spray, survival pouches. (but that would spoil the narrative of the puzzle, so the "victims left home without them. SLAG.

All the above suggestions are excellent ideas. I have a suggestion for handles for very small files. Such as needle files etc.. (They are very useful for finishing details in items like decorations on, e.g., touch marks or engravings, etc.) Treat yourself to a luxurious higher-end plastic toothbrush. A brush that fits well in the hand. Brush your teeth until the brush wears out. Then replace it for tooth brushing purposes. But save the old one. That old brush will become the fine-file holder. Take the brush and cut the handle off, at right angles to the long axis. Saw the brush end off the toothbrush and discard it. The handle portion will become the new file holder. The cut should be made at a spot behind the brush bristles where the handle end broadens out. A right angled cut is ideal. That cut end will be situated where the file tang will be inserted. Center the cut end . Clamp the cut off handle and drill a hole into the end. The drill hole is now ready for the file tang. The diameter of the drill hole should be one eighth (or one sixteenth,) of an inch smaller than the tang's diameter. The tang should then be heated and driven into the hole in the handle. Let it cool and it is ready for use. Perfectionists can make a further refinement to prevent the file working out of the handle. Smith several small divots into both sides of the tang's long axis. The divots are orientated down toward the brush handle's base. The heated tang will fuse around the plastic divots when it cools This will help prevent the tang from working out of the handle. Different colored toothbrush handles may be used for specific files. The color makes identification of the specific file shape or its coarseness. Cheers. SLAG. Wooden file holders can be made from dowels. Discarded broom handles and finer wooden dowels are regularly discarded in the trash. Wooden clothes drier racks are sometimes also thrown away. Cut the rack apart and store the pieces. Such a rack will supply you with smaller diameter dowels for years to come. Two of them might last a lifetime!

Special nah!, succinct, pithy, & to the point. Definitely! SLAG.

G-day Dunk_c, Nice carved handles. Hand adzes are very handy. If any of your wood carving requires some concave carving consider scorps, and inshaves. They do a great job, with lots of control and ease of use. Craftsmen in North America can get them from Constantine, Leigh Nielson tools, Garret-wade, Leigh-Valley Tools, and sometimes, even, big box stores such as Home Hardware, & Lowes. I am certain that Oz. has its own specialty tool sellers. Smithing a hand adze, push knife or scorp would be fun projects. Many Australian woods are spectacular. (& very expensive state side). I'm jealous. Had several buddies from Townsville. Cairns, And Brisbane, living in Montreal, Quebec, Canada many years ago. Carry on doing great creative work like the items in your photos. Regards, SLAG.

Using an adze for making hammer handles would work but a draw knife could offer better control and work easier. Draw knives are not too difficult to forge I have bought several at flea markets. They were not too expensive and required just a little work to recondition them. But that was in Montreal, a decade ago. "Just sayin". SLAG.

Anachronist58, After reading your post I got back to my sources & did not find it again. (so WD40 is off the hook as far as phosgene generation is concerned). Never the less WD40 is a trade secret mixture, so the exact components are not specifically known. (also the company has altered its components from time to time and even for different countries, & could it be changed without notice in the future.). But there is NO chlorine to speak of. The company decided to keep the technology as a trade secret instead of disclosing the ingredients in a patent specification. It was vaguely disclosed that it has (in a material safety data sheet, M.D.T.S.) & that it is a mixture of 50% aliphatic hydrocarbons, under 25% petroleum base oil, propellant such as butane etc. which has been changed to carbon dioxide & ?% mystery other. Try https://web.archive.org/web/20140119014037/http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/17-05/st_whatsinside if you want some of the specific constituents, of the above mentioned chemical categories. A German formulation is somewhat different. It is strongly suggested that the product be used but not be burned off when it's disposed SLAG..

O. K.! Mr.Coe I stand corrected. Cheers, SLAG.

It's not the aluminum oxide that is that toxic. Other compounds created by the shaped charge are deadly. The contents and liquids in the tank (or A.P.C.) react with the molten aluminum and copper, this melange creates the toxic mess. I would not inhale any aluminum compounds nor fine dust, no matter how they are generated. Some aluminum comounds have been implicated (but not definitively proved) in neurodegenerative diseases. (such as Alzheimers disease), etc. I do not know of any blacksmith that forges in a Bradley. So let us all relax. Cheers. SLAG.

Mr. Special. Thanks for the fascinating information. Burning aluminum is not just irritating but it is extremely poisonous. (as is the depleted uranium in kinetic energy armor piercing anti-tank rounds. (A.P.D.S.) ) Moral of this information, is, if you experience an aluminum fire quickly extinguish an aluminum fire or get the h..l out of the smithy. Such a situation would be very unlikely. Modern shaped charge munitions can penetrate up to 22 inches of hardened steel. Explosive reactive armor has been around for 25 to 30 years, long after the Bradley was initially adopted by the U.S. armed services. It is scheduled to be replaced soon. Another factoid for the I. F. I. fraternity, is that a thermite fire is not a common occurrence. In most such cases the grinding wheels had aluminum clogged surfaces.(often caked on). Grinding wheels should be subjected to regular wheel dressing sessions . A clogged wheel does a very poor job at grinding, & the grinding time much longer. Cheers SLAG.

Mr. Frosty The allies, during World War Two, discovered that powdered aluminum added to the explosives, in bombs, boosted the shattering power by about 40%. (brissance is the term for that power) The aluminum effect was noticed and put to use in 1943. Today aluminum flock is added to blasting explosives to increase their effectiveness. (that includes slurry explosives such as ANFO, etc). Any finely divided "fuel" mixed with a chemical oxidizer can explode. The mixture is called a Sprengel sxplosive. Examples include a finely divided flour and air mixture plus a spark in a grain elevator, can blow it to pieces. (several decades back there was an average of about 3 grain elevator blasts per year, in North America) Finely divided coal dust mixed with just the right amount of air has resulted in mine explosions and fires. Ethylene gas (or other liquid short chain hydrocarbon) mixed in the right proportion with air and ignited at the optimal time for such mixing will result in a fuel air explosion. (similarly, hyperbaric explosives work using the same principle). Incidentally, aluminum fires are not only very hot but give off poisonous fumes. why they built the Bradley armored personnel carriers from aluminum intrigues me. Any R.P G. could turn the vehicle into a funeral pyre We may be getting off topic for this blacksmithing site. Cheers, SLAG.

If one is in doubt about the complete removal of the zinc coating. Let the metal soak in the vinegar solution, for a while then dispose of the liquid and pour some fresh vinegar into the container. Vinegar is not a strong acid. It's usually just a three to five % solution of acetic acid in water and it is relatively cheap. SLAG.

Steel filings and aluminum is not chemically sufficient to set up a thermite reaction. The mixture's constituents are powdered aluminum and red iron oxide (Fe2O3). Easy enough as iron powder or filings readily rust and we get Fe2O3. The reaction requires a very hot flame to get it started. Once started stand back and shield your eyes. The heat generated is 8,000 degrees F. Magnesium ribbon will start it. Put a few ounces on the hood of a car ignite it and watch it burn through the hood then the engine block and then through anything underneath it and leave a puddle of molten iron on the tarmac. Many wood workers have been familiarized with this problem Usually the aluminum sticks to the grinding wheel and someone later grinds rusty steel, and then whoosh. Cheers, SLAG.

Phosgene Detection, Modern phosgene detectors are electronic, I assume that they are prohibitively expensive. (some one please correct me, if that is not so). The old test was potentially hazardous. Many people got poisoned by using it. The detection method was a flame test. Essentially, a small gas torch was used. It burned a gas such as propane, butane, propylene, etc. The torch had a sniffer tube plus a copper reaction plate in the flame nozzle. The air would be sucked into the flame and the flame would turn bright green if there was any phosgene in the air. Regards all. SLAG.

Mr. Frosty is correct. The lowest threshold for the detection of phosgene is 0.4 parts per million. That number is four times the toxic level for phosgene in air. Many people do not even smell the gas at that level. Phosgene's odor is an unreliable test. Many people need a higher level to discern the gas. So the sniff test is no help. Incidentally it smells like freshly mown hay or green corn. The symptoms of phosgene poisoning are slow to develop & detect, they are most often missed entirely. Many folks who spot tested for chloromethane refrigerant leaks, got severely poisoned before they realized it, if at all. At the risk of repetition, allow me to gather up the information, plus additional facts in one post. Phosgene is also known by name of carbonyl dichloride, or carbonic chloride. It is a gas. It is not flammable & it readily breaks down in water. It was first synthesized in 1812 by a John Davy. (not Sir Humphry Davy).The gas was first used by the Germans in the First World War. It accounted for 85% of the 100,000 poison deaths experienced during that conflict. . The chemical is used for many processes like making plastics (e.g. polycarbonates), pharmaceuticals, chemical feed stocks, and numerous other uses & products. A blacksmith and other metal workers can encounter phosgene in many ways. Some of those ways are by heating any chlorinated degreaser that is used to treat metal. Also brake fluid will give off phosgene, when heated. Subjecting polychlorinated solvents to the sun or ultraviolet rays generating from arc welding will give off phosgene . Likewise paint removers should not be kept close to a heat source. W.D. 40 penetrating oil should not be heated. If any such chemicals need a heat treatment. Do so in a well ventilated outdoor spot and stand upwind. A fan, placed upwind would be a nice additional touch, but probably not necessary. The use of an activated charcoal containing respirator would be an additional precaution. Freon will produce phosgene if heated. Heated fire extinguisher chemicals can give off that gas. E.g. Halon , etc. A lit cigarette can start the reaction, as well as the heat of the fire being extinguished. So, how do we guard against phosgene gas? Place all solvents especially degreasers well away form a heat source. wash all suspect iron with a non chlorinated solvent, do so in a well ventilated spot and keep all chemicals away from an arc welder. Their containers would be better off being covered in a black colored "shroud". (like two layers of black plastic garbage bag). I hope that this post is both informative and useful. Cheers SLAG.

Arkie, I do not know how that came about. And, unfortunately, do not know how to correct it. I am barely computer literate. Sorry for the confusion

Laboratory personnel wear "hot buttons" or badges and weekly they are exchanged for fresh ones. The badges have film in them encased in a light proof holder. "old' badges have the film developed. If the film shows exposure that exposure was done by radioactivity. (since the film was in darkness the whole week). Radiation passes through the film holder and exposes the film. The degree of exposure is determined by the degree of film exposure. This method is far more sensitive than a Geiger counter. (especially for low levels of radioactivity). Soooo you can place unexposed film in a light tight container and place it on top of your metal item and take the film to a dark room and develop it. Obviously, a Geiger counter (scintilometer) to hand is much more convenient. So take the scrap to a university lab, or the geology department, or a hospital lab or a prospector etc. etc. & have them take a reading. Bonne chance! Cheers SLAG. Underlining removed

Ouch, nasty. SLAG

Herr Frosty, Do not forget a sharp shot to the floating ribs, they break easily and the assailant loses all fervour after that. Regards SLAG.

Many books and instructors teaching self defense are ineffective rubbish. They have not taught women proper & practical, effective moves. (many of those recommended moves require too much strength). Smiths can manage it, but most ladies are not forging. But there are still numerous maneuver and targets that require little brawn. (one example, is a hammer fist strike to the top of the shoulder blade. Only 3 foot pounds is needed to break that bone. When it is accomplished the whole upper side of the body goes limp and cannot be used). Forget knives. They require considerable skill. Are too easily taken by the assailant & used against her. Also the gore factor should not be underestimated. Sticky gushing blood puts most people off. male & female. Concealed carry guns require considerable knowledge (for example drawing the gun quickly, without, snagging it on clothing, & proper handling) They also need regular practice. The best defense is situational awareness, avoidance and a lot of screaming noise. Pepper spray cans work very well but may require explaining after the incident. A poor person's substitute is a powder puff. Which is several layers of tissue placed one on top of the other with liberal amounts of cayenne pepper and chilly flakes placed in the middle, and the ends and sides folded inward to make a puff. It can easily be concealed in the fist, and it is pushed into the assailant's face. This narrative is by no means exhaustive. There are many other methods. Cheers SLAG.

Just a little trivia for the gang. Lemon juice has citric acid as a major constituent. There is no vinegar in lemons and other citrus fruits. Vinegar is a 3% to 5% solution of acetic acid in water. Acetic acid is much stronger than citric acid. Very concentrated acetic acid is extremely corrosive. It's called glacial acetic acid. Acetic acid is commercially made from drinkable alcohol (ethanol). In the fermentation vats where alcohol is produced a bacterium called Chlostridium acetobutylicum converts ethanol to vinegar. That bug is called "mother of vinegar" SLAG.