steponmebbbboom

Hi folks,

I don't know how well known this is, but an OABA member here in Hamilton, Larry, organizes a bulk coke purchase from Alcarb here in Hamilton, twice a year - once in the spring and once in the fall.

The fall run for 2010 was on Saturday and I picked up 400lbs of pea metallurgical coke for $95.00. I'm going to ask Larry if it's okay to post the spring date on this OABA forum, if there is an interest from the S.Ontario smiths here.

Would anyone be interested in being notified about the spring run for 2011, if it's okay with Larry?

hofi, of course i am thinking of you every day during this trying time in your country. i sincerely hope you stay safe.

wouldnt white-out pick up every fingersmudge and bit of coal dust and just turn black anyway?

duly noted chuck, thanks for burying the hatchet. please pardon my earlier sarcasm.

your loud pipes may sound great to you, but to the majority who arent into bikes, theyre just annoying.

if im going to be pulled over when my car's muffler has a little hole in it, im sure not going to feel sympathy for harley owners when theyre told they cant frap-frap-frap all over town and rattle windows anymore.

sure, blow those baffles into someone's face; thats the ticket. kick their heads in! thatll learn em.

that is a clever slider mechanism!

well, the second one i decided to plough straight through with and finish up just to see what it would look like. i didnt temper, anneal or harden this one, just heat and beat, grind down and filed the edge. i ground the head down so it sits nice in your right hand. the twist is very close; i think the next one will only get a half turn and it should line up with the fingers nicely.

well guys, i thought id spend the day pretending to be a bladesmith and start making knives out of my pile of railroad spikes. i twisted the handle 3/4 of a turn and flattened it, and just beat the other end into shape. i then reheated until dull cherry, and have it stuck in a barrel of vermiculite for the timebeing so i can work the edge later. i have absolutely no idea what im doing but ive got 40 spikes to get it right. comments? suggestions? thanks guys!

those tongs are HAWT!

sam, good to see ya buddy.

hi,
my post vise is a 5" unknown model (probably nothing uncommon) with slight screw damage for $75. this is the best picture i have of it.



also, thak.ca is selling new 6" post vises from czechslovakia, similar to the leading suppliers, for $699.

looks like just a steel drop to me.

2 inch by what? for a leaf?

Thats one mother of a leaf!

if this is going to be a feature on a production piece you might want to invest in a gas forge and a treadle hammer if you are going to work stock that big. but a leaf?

how about forging some flatbar stock and welding it on later? might save you some time.

dont let the feds see this thread, theyll be hauling all you penny vandals in!

just a suggestion, hollow drums like that can always be ballasted.

I kind of have the feeling that we better get it while we can, as the prices may do what they did in the early eighties and have the bottom go out completely.

yup, spoke to him recently, he'll be back.

how do you keep the sides straight like that when youre punching holes in hammerheads?

the best thing about using a brakedrum for a base like that is that if the assembly is balanced right you can tilt it and roll it along the floor like a welding bottle.

perhaps i am being naive.

But for blackening forged steel all i do is heat the steel until it is too hot to touch, not glowing, just before colours start to run. then i wipe it down with a rag soaked in vegetable oil. just regular vegetable oil. this instantly turns the steel black.

its not like paint but it holds up ok outside.

congratulations.

thank you Pete, i was truly blessed.

this marks one year since the last i heard from her. those of you who have seen my posts will recognise the name, i have since updated the dead link to her picture.

le was my best friend. we met in 1997, when i was in college for Heavy Equipment. she was studying pest control, and like me, was getting top grades. neither of us had to study hard, and we hung out together while our classmates sweated over midterms and finals. we had very different ideas about relationships, but when it came to being emotionally present, we were peas in a pod. Drinking at the Kent tavern, breaking into the locomotive at the town park, closing down the coffee shop night after night and talking til 3 in the morning on a school night over glasses of wine and we both still managed to make the dean's honour list. she landed a job the next year in Michigan, and later Iowa, and we never lost touch. we spoke just about every day, often for hours.

a lot of things happened to her during those years. some of them good, more often she was in harm's way. i heard about it all. she ended up with a divorced older man with a few children from a previous relationship, who did not understand our friendship. early last year, after an extended visit to europe to trace her armenian ancestry, she took a road trip through the united states to california to scout out a new home for her family. the last i heard from her, she was visiting death valley. at some point near los angeles she rolled her suburban and was cut to pieces. she was not belted. she was cremated, and is interred somewhere in northern michigan with her parents and younger brother. her boyfriend will not disclose any more details and refuses to speak to me.

neither of us had religious beliefs, but i cannot help but thinking that my actions somehow matter to her. her biggest fear in life was that if she died, no one would remember her. she had no surviving family members. i made a promise to her, that if she died, i would always honour her memory.

le, i think about you every day. the grief has faded, but our friendship serves as a constant reminder of what i am capable of, as a friend and inspiration. you, in turn have inspired me to be a better person than i am. i am so proud, to be your friend. i am prouder still, to carry the responsibility of ensuring that your deepest fear never comes to pass. i will always remember you.

always.

wow, i remember his posts. good guy. i will miss him. safe travels, ruben.

buy it, looks ancient!