lazyassforge

Patrissmo, the club is still a viable club, the covid has slowed the meetings down for sure! There are still lots of members and they are trying to get regular meetings started up. Surprisingly it seems to be hard to do that!! I am not a member any longer but it has nothing to do with the club, my health has me down to the point I don’t even get out to the shop. I still want to get back to forging! hope this helps , Bill Davis

Yes Thomas! We have all kinds of family stories! My dad had to get a birth certificate when he got ready to retire. The family Bible said he was born September second and his school record said the first! He was born in a canvas topped clapboard shack. My grandpa was an itenerant Assembly of God preacher. They built churches in various Oklahoma towns. I even have a sister who lives in Altus! What town was your mom born at??

Thomas, I live in a very rural part of Oklahoma(no neighbors closer than half mile and they were kin). During the summer I used to go to bed when I got home then get up and forge on knives with my power hammers from ten until three or so then nap till five and go to work. One day a coon hunter stopped by looking for his dog. My wife talked to him and he asked what we did at night to make so much noise!! That’s the only “complaint “ I’ve ever got.

Pnut, on the inner tubes, the red stripe tubes contained natural rubber and were much more lively and shot further than the strips cut from blue stripe inner tubes which were made from butyl rubber. Even the red stripe tubes didn’t shoot near as far as the surgical tubing on the slingshots. I also had one of the wrist rocket slingshots after I got older.

Billy Bones, just a question about using inner tubes on slingshots. Do you know the difference between red striped tubes and blue stripe tubes? When I was a kid red stripe tubes were getting scarce around the farm but with the natural rubber in the red stripe tubes, they would shoot faster and further. Bill D.

When I was a kid, some of the farmers would rig up hot wires by taking the hot leg of 110volt and run it through a lightbulb and then attach it to the hot wire fence. I was too scared to touch it but I guess nobody died! Not for lack of a good opportunity! I think the wattage of the bulb dropped the strength of the shock? Bill D.

Could you start another spring with the thicker circular saw blade and leave the center area thick and taper both ends down to .03 or so with a gradual slope? Perhaps make the circle a little larger? That would make the tapped hole supported with thicker material and being longer would spread out the movement of the spring. As far as heat treatment I have read (no personal experience) that for gun springs, use a small container just big enough to hold the spring with oil just deeper than the spring width. ( think shoe polish can)Heat the spring and drop it into the container. Then to draw the temper, light the oil on fire and let it burn the oil away. Hardening and tempering all in one basic operation! For what it’s worth gun springs are usually tempered to a deep blue. hope this is of some use, Bill D.

Going back to the original question, could the metal be flat bar which was sheared out of plate? When I ran the machine shop, sometimes when we ordered hot rolled strips sometimes they would send us sheared strips and the edges looked similar to the picture. As best I can see on my phone! Bill D.

Twisted willow, what part of Oklahoma do you live in? I’m down in the Lawton, Duncan,Chickasha area basically equal distance from each. I’ve never seen a vice marked Original Trenton but I didn’t pay all that much attention to them I guess. But one thing I’ve noticed is that the same jaw size vises might weigh quite a bit differently. Some blocky and others very lightweight. I never noticed a big difference in the selling price because of weight. Hope this helped some! Bill Davis

My forge is nothing but a hobby shop. I have(had) a job and was very opposed to making my shop into another job. I named it “ Lazy Ass Forge Shop” specifically so it would not be taken to seriously. We were raising mule colts at the time. A lot of people got good laughs out of our name. Bill Davis

I would certainly be proud to fix something like that for my dad (god rest his soul) or receive something such as that from my son!!!

I haven’t had a store-bought haircut in about 46 years, my wife’s mother cut it while we were dating and after we married, my wife has cut it! When I had chemo, my hair/head started aching. We trimmed it down to 1/4” or so and for whatever reason it quit hurting!!! When it grew back, my hair grew back fine but still had color so I guess I’m lucky there!

I believe it’s a tool for installing and/or removing the rim from wood center car wheels (think model t) I can’t explain how it works but I’m pretty sure that’s what it is! Hope this helps, Bill Davis

I found a picture of the finished abana chain from the year 2000. There were 975 links and it weighed an estimated 200 lbs. the pictures aren’t as clear as I’d like but here they are

This is a picture of a “whole” vice/anvil. hope this helps! Bill D

Well, frosty, I don’t enjoy the side effects but the side effects of not taking the stuff don’t look good either! bd

Frosty, the treatment I’m getting right now is Radium 223. They watch over it like it’s plutonium! The dr said the rules are very strict. He also said that one sheet of paper is adequate shielding for it. They inject it into an iv when I get it. Fun, fun, fun!!! bd

Diana says she has some pictures and info somewhere! We are having a discussion as to whether it was Missouri or missippi that had their name on their section of chain!

Several years ago the Saltforkcraftsmen blacksmith club in Oklahoma “sponsored” a chain build for the Abana conference. We requested links and chains from blacksmiths and welded them together into a long chain. We took it to the conference In Flagstaff I believe and completed the assembly there. I wish I could remember more but with all my meds, I can’t remember many details. I remember we hung it on one of the tents and carried it into the gymnasium for the auction. My shop was the main assembly area so I got my share of forge welding chain links. I remember there were a couple Damascus links and one club sent in several yards of chain. Missouri club had cut out letters attached to their chain spelling out Missouri. Does anyone else have pictures or memories of this? Thanks, Bill D.

Hi Trueblood! I have no idea about your metal but I caught your name! My mom’s maiden name was Lowrey, I know it is spelled at least three different ways. Her Cherokee family is from north east oklahoma. I guess it doesn’t matter but just thought I’d bring it up!! Bill D.

Charles, I’m still griping about stuff, but, at least I’m still around to gripe! My wife is as mean as ever! This week she has moms house rented to a bunch of ladies for a quilting retreat. She’s cooking for them so she’s busy! She enjoys it though! Hope y’all are doing ok! Bill D.

Hello, Mr Stephens! how are things in Bradley? You have certainly shared your forge ideas with lots of people. For that, I thank you!! Bill D.

Possums are the one animal around here that are on my immediate hit list. I leave snakes alone and skunks are even grudgingly tolerated. Possums are carriers of a protozoan called sarcosistis horses (and mules) pick up the eggs of the Protozoa from eating grass where the possums poop. If the protozoan goes into the muscles of the horse basically no harm done but if they get into the nervous system or brain the horses are seriously damaged. I’ve had a horse and a mule which were infected? In their nervous system. Watching the damage done to these animals was enough to turn me into a possum hater! Sorry if my words are misspelled or terms misused. bill D

Thanks BillyBones! It probably has a lot to do with the dry sand around this part of Oklahoma! The “trees” that grow around here are just scrub brush in other parts of the country!

Billy ones, I have got to ask. What does honeysuckle grow like in Ohio? Here in Oklahoma, all I know the honeysuckle I know about is a multi limbed bush/vine that has small stems. Could you mean honey locust? People around here use boisd’arc and honey locust for bows but as far as I know, not honeysuckle. just curious, Bill Davis