Marc1

Ted, you are blessed that you were able to pass your skills and tools to your son. I sometimes think in who if anyone will take up some of the things I love. So far had no takers. However with 4 daughters came 9 grandchildren and counting ... there is still hope As temporary caretakers of skills and things, our main job is to improve ourselves and leave some positive impression on someone else ... and sure, also some of our stuff. I think from your story that you have succeeded on both accounts and that there is still a lot left in you, skills to learn and love pass on. God bless Ted, do stick around.

Anyone game to venture what this thing is? Only info so far is 40" long and 15" high. Too far to check out, must wait for a forklift to turn her around Estimated weight, 470 lbs Target practice?

Clearly if you are willing to buy, then you must buy and then tell. Buy and tell ... or buy and don't tell ... but don't buy and tell? seems that one is counterproductive

Well ... I think it's a given ... Marrs

Australia’s Owls Australia has nine species of owl. They fall into two genera, Ninox (hawk-owls and boobooks) and Tyto (barn owls and masked owls). The four species of Ninox(Rufous Owl, Powerful Owl, Barking Owl and Southern Boobook) all have large, yellow eyes and a hawk-like face. The five species of Tyto (Masked Owl, Sooty Owl, Lesser Sooty Owl, Grass Owl and Barn Owl) all have a heart-shaped facial disc. Some species, like the Boobook and Barn Owl, are widely distributed across Australia, while others, like the Lesser Sooty Owl, have a restricted distribution. Australia’s owls are more often heard than seen. The Great Horned owl is Bubo Virginianus, a different species. The do have some similarities.

When my architect brother had a building company, he had to enter closed competitive biddings, yet the contractor client would regularly open the bid and give it to the company they wanted to work with for them to match the price. Then when the work was allocated to the competitor he would find they were also using his designs. He soon worked out that the cost of presenting a bid for a building including plans and design worth a lot of money, was a sure way to get designs stolen and bids lost. Not worth it so he took up smaller buildings, dealing directly with the client.

That is indeed a nice anvil. Worth $350 and a tad more. Best of luck with that deal. Moral dilemma? I give you a moral dilemma, it is probably worth twice as much ... ha ha

Australian Owl

Yes, time is precious. So if someone gets discouraged from starting something he would like to, and then decides he will give it a try 10 years later, he has actually wasted 10 years ... so to speak. I can't believe your name is Frosty and you live in Alaska ...

I have a veggie patch in an enclosure to keep the cockies out. In it a few boxes of veggies and some 5 citrus trees. They flower very well yet bare no fruits but for the lemon tree. I called up a horticulturist who told me I had to add potash to the ground, water daily, buy a beehive or do the pollination by hand with a brush flower by flower, spray eco oil for black pest and suck the stink bugs up with a vacuum cleaner ... and some few more things that escape my mind just now ... and yes, I am going to do just that, despite the fact that a bag of oranges, lime, mandarins and cumquat, can be bought for cheap when in season ... and no risk of getting stung by bees in the process. And more to the point, the post before Thomas sort of supports my point. A TV show or a computer game that prompts people to talk blacksmithing, is a positive even if it is not right in many points, not historically accurate and even if it teaches the wrong thing. Did you know hat the pictures of perfectly roasted chicken in TV shows is actually not cooked at all but gets flamed with a propane torch to get the right colour? That does not stop folks to decide to have a go at roasting a bird ...

Interesting you say that Frosty ... I have been saying that for a few decades. You can buy a new Refflinghaus for some 15 Euros a kilo yet someone decides that an older beaten up one is worth 30 Euro a kilo. Collectors? It's a different hobby Thomas, a hobby that is hard to understand and one that psychologists have written about. I wouldn't let it bother me. Ever heard of "wine collectors"?, now there is a odd one if there ever was an odd thing to collect. What do you collect if you don't ever taste it? Your faith in the legitimacy of a label? Having said that, the price hike does not bother me one bit. It is called supply and demand. If the demand outstrips the supply the prices go up. There is no logic to it, no point reasoning over it, no point pointing fingers to the uneducated consumer nor attempt to educate him or her. There is only the fact that something commands a price because there is someone willing to pay for it. Properties in Sydney have duplicated their price every 10 years or so for the last 60 years. Folks (who don't have a property) don't like this, Politician like grandstanding with large gestures about it, journos write feverishly about it using the term "affordability" ( I confess to laugh loudly every time I see this word), and the lefties of this world, love to blame the investors for it. Speculators they say .... Yet the fact remains that in a free market and unless you want to follow Cuba, the price is set by the consumer. And so it is with blacksmithing tools. The simile with the hip displasia german shepherds is not a good one. That particular genetic defect has been bred out of the gene pool a while ago by the german shepherd associations that actually care. And as far as what you say on new vs recycled steel, you are of course correct yet you are leaving out important aspects of what is attractive to a new person taking up a hobby. To me blacksmithing has always been a job. It is only now that I pick up a bit here and there for fun and for old time sake. A person that has never done this, decides to start based on the little information he collects from demonstrations, museums, media or friends or TV shows and the fact that he can do so with little money. That includes beating up scrap for no money at all. I would like to know how many people have given up because they encountered an odd piece of unusual steel ... probably not that many. There has been probably many more giving up discouraged by criticism. I think ... and that is only my take on the subject ... that for some, an influx of interested people in any pursuit that is dear to them feels like a threat. All of a sudden it is not that little known subject most folks know nothing about, but it is now something others talk about, and some of the talk is perhaps nonsense and some is odd, and some we know to be wrong, and we think we need to deal with it. I say let it be. The valuable people will grow, the others will grow out of it. We (and i humbly count myself among the older generation) are all richer for it.

I don't quite see the relevance of used tools market fuelled by newbies. Someone selling his tools is someone who has given up, hardly something to look forward to. Yet I must agree with Judson on his sentiment in relation to a revival. Welcome them any way you can. Cooking was a boring second class occupation for dubious characters until TV shows made it popular. It is cooking shows that have changed the food experience in UK, and Australia to an extent and with a speed no one ever expected. There is a lot to be gained from renewed interest even when it is not from museum curators and purists.

Amazing

Talking metal work cutting tools ... and assuming you are working with AC supply, best angle grinder you can have is a 5" milwaukee rat tile grinder. Change disk with no tools, change guard position with your hands. 1mm disk cuts steel like butter. I don't remember where my hacksaw is. To chop bigger stuff, the new milwaukee bandsaw is one of the best, perhaps together with the DeWalt. Battery power seems attractive but I rather prefer a cord in my way and some power in my hands. New battery technology may change that. Not for now. Of course tools like cold saw and plasma help a lot too, it all depends how far you want to go with your hobby.

Hi Jake. I am new to this forum and have never heard of you and your adventures. Never seen your work nor your face, but if this writing is what you can do in a simple post and if you have some stories to tell ... please ... write a book about them. That would be a lasting legacy just as many other creations can be. Stick around and do tell your story, you can always change the name and places at will. You are a better wordsmith than you think. There is an audience out there hungry for real life experience in any shape or form you can produce it. Kind regards Marc

Monitoring the progress and assessing what changes produce results and lower the heavy metals is paramount. Don't stop seeing your doctor and monitoring your blood test.

Ha ha, so true. if you improvise music, you quickly learn to lead with the left and follow with the right, no such thing as a wrong key nor a mistake. (Kozzy ... I hate your avatar)

Hi Santis, sorry to hear about all the nasties found in your blood particularly considering your young age. Age is of course in your favour and listen to all the recommendations given in the above post. All but one I'm afraid, since "detox" is a medical nonsense. There is no such thing and taking one vitamin in isolation only contributes to imbalance. Vitamins if required need to be taken as a multi complex or multivitamin containing all vitamin and minerals required. "Detox" diets are usually associated with some fads or cons sold to lose weight. Hope you get better soon. Finding the origin of the heavy metals and stopping them from finding their way into your bloodstream is the only way. Your body in time will eliminate what is not needed. I hope you can enjoy blacksmithing for many years to come.

You know you don't really need a sharp edge? ... more the opposite. The first thing you would need to do to that Brooks is give it a bit of a radius on one side at least. And dare I say ... you can straighten up those small chips on yours with a nice radius.

Absolutely agree with rockstar ... (are you really?) Just like with anything one wants to learn, it is in the early stages that support in any area helps along. I play piano since I was 3. 20 years classic music reading from music sheets. Yet I wanted to play jazz. A timid question to my german teacher got me the answer ... there are no music books to play jazz. So I stopped playing for some 10 years, completely saturated of classic stuff. Then, sitting in front of the piano with no book in front of me, I thought ... the music I want is in there, I just need to press the right keys to bring it out. And so I did, slowly and painstakingly I learned to improvise and I play with my eyes closed anything I feel like ... despite poor advice from my classic music teacher. What was the question again? ... oh yes ... inspiration ... ha ha Technical aspects seem to be popular with advice givers but inspiration request are frown upon for no good reason. Any artist can have a block, let alone someone new. Suggestions to the question 'what can I do with this' are a perfectly valid way to help someone and asking shouldn't reflect negatively. In my experience if I ask what could I write about, or what could I play, the answer will probably help me sort out my own thoughts and will most likely be what I don't want to do, and push me in the right direction. Ask away always, and learn to sort out the answers I say. And if you answer, answer in a supportive way without judgment ... We are all different.

hot link removed at the request of Anvilfire. A few more ads, including a "complete blacksmith shop" for $700 ... (from last year) just to show some going prices. I wish we had that sort of prices here.

I am a tool tragic and buy everything I can lay my hands on, so I would probably buy the anvil even if I don't need it. But if you want some support in your reasoning, the logical thing to do would be to buy a different size anvil from the one you already have (that I like better than the red one by the way.) So ... since $500 is not a bargain, I suppose there are plenty of $500/60 kilo anvil to be purchased, shop around for a 80 or 100 kilo one. Yes, it may cost a bit more but you save your $500 and save some more as you look for it. http://www.listlux.com/atlanta/a,41,1691460,--100--Blacksmith-Farrier-Anvil-----x0024-175--Canton-.htm A quick google search in your area came up with this. $175 for a 100 pounder. Conceded i don't know what that thing is, it may be a boat anchor ...

True ... and don't forget to seasonally adjust to avoid hitting rock bottom ...

Somehow your post and your avatar are ... mm ... incongruent ha ha Gote, sure there is a feel good factor in what the user may think is recycling. Personally I believe the "green" factor is so overstated, overused, exaggerated and has so many different hidden agendas that has lost all his appeal. Then there is the fact that steel is recovered from the rubbish with a great big magnet and very little ends up as oxide back in the ground. And that is not necessarily a waste either since nothing is really lost ... not to mention that the deposit of iron ore are so vast that will last without recycling for several millennia. I doubt however that the potential beginner blacksmith is losing sleep over the provenience of that piece of junk he found under the house or that thinking about the amount of carbon, chromium, nickel, or other addition to the metal should make him decide to toss it and buy new instead. Junk is free most of the time and it is that allure, together with a bunch of other reasons, not the smallest being the fact that it is possible to start blacksmithing with not much money at all, that allows TV shows to resurrect interest from time to time. We should welcome it in any way shape or form. In my opinion of course.

I would say they were earthy potatoes ... Solanum Tuberosum