ThomasPowers

My Daughter the Veterinarian worked in Roswell for a while...

Just remember Frosty that doubling down is a BAD THING!!!!!!!!!!!; I'd be happy to be rid of my TBT......

Shall I make you an appointment in Roswell?

My wife was going to take me around the scrapyard today then decided the winds were too high.   Arghhhhhhhhh!

 Many "Nerve Gasses" are strongly related to pesticides.  Most of he pro knifemakers that use positive pressure masks make their own for more like under US$100 rather than US$1000 which is why I mentioned wasp screening.....

Out here in NM we try to AVOID the "probing"....

Funny the mountain just west of Socorro NM has a Perlite mine in it.  A friend picked up 3 TRAINCAR loads of perlite when there was a batch damaged by a rainstorm...

"Blacksmith's Mail" tends to work very well.  I once hauled a pallet of industrial shop lights from Quad-State for a smith near Phoenix AZ. Put up at their place for a couple of Estrella Wars later.  One of my minions picked up a 165# HB on their way rom CA for  me.  Tried to hide it in my shop; like I wouldn't notice a spare anvil....

Reading a recent copy of ARCHEOLOGY magazine where they were using a hand held spec to identify cave/wall paintings paints.  Must have been a great grant!

I have found that there is a lot more stuff I need friends to own rather than myself...

Woodburn your name  on the inside of the lid!

For grinding; a positive pressure respirator with the air intake in a "clean" area is a great way to go.  Be sure to screen against bugs though!

Remember that the cross bars on the bottom half will bow downward; a common mistake to not do so.

Does it have a caplet indentation in the base?

The ones shown in the Egyptian metalworking book look like tweezers.

Chisels and punches and drifts are usually easy enough to make that it's not worth trying to buy and ship them in.  To buy local I would try to get in with BABA.

When I buy "new" steel; I try to get an extra stick; for "just in case".  The joys of living in the country with "space" for both scrap and "new" steel!

And TBI's from most any direction including "inside out"!

Just remember that a "Mastermyr" one should look brand new; not 1000 years old in the ground.  (A common problem in SCA; folks forgetting that their stuff should look "new" as supposedly they had "recently made or purchased it...At the Medieval Technology conference at PennState a couple of decades ago; one of the presenters was covering that point while talking about the Goldsmith's house in York that they were getting stuff for.  All to look newish except for 1 cabinet that the documentation said was "inherited" so they put a generation of use on it...)
 

Good that you are not trying to exceed your previous TBI; I'm more at the stage where it feels like someone keeps turning up the Gravistat.

Coal started to be used by blacksmiths in the high to late medieval period according to Gies & Gies in "Cathedral Forge and Waterwheel"  so using plain charcoal will buy you close to 2000 years more "traditional".

In general any wood good for making self bows will make good handles.

As I have lost a friend due to complications of Metal Fume Fever I   don't allow the stuff in my shop/scrap pile.   Easy enough to get Ungalvanized steel!

Mechanics are another good source for "free steel" in my experience.  I made our mechanic a bottle opener from an unplated wrench and he offered me several tons of scrap out back of their shop.

My wife is the oldest of 12 siblings; we had deep discussions about how to handle their issues *before* we got married.  No money or moving in was the baseline; but good advice has bailed several out of their high priority issues...

And vice versa: I now have a double horned anvil in trade as I thought it would be easier for the estate sale to sell. (As we have a waiting list for it already I think we were right...)