Leah

those are not roos you are seeing out back they are jackrabbits. I shot at one the other day and missed. I ended up blowing a hole clean through...

The first class I took at Campbell was Batson's knife class. We forged a knife from a file. I ended up with a pretty good looking knife. Chuck Patrick is usually his assistant. I would love to go back and take it again, now that I know a little more about smithing.

I have the Grizzly knife grinder. I have not had it long and have not used it much, but it seems fine. The only problem I see with it is that the tool rest will have to be modified some. I have had the Grizzly buffer (same motor) for about five years and have used it a LOT. I have had very good service out of it.

her foot slipped and she and James both ended up in the slack tub together. About that time, James'wife came into the shop and took what she saw the wrong way. She looked around on the work table and picked up a big, heavy...

Thanks for the heads up. I just did a check and found out I can get it.

Glad to hear everything went well.

Nice looking. Thanks for sharing.

OK guys, picture this.... You are a busy mother, trying to get supper cooked before hubby gets home. You are holding a crying baby with a runny nose. You can tie this handy little clip on your apron and hang a wiping rag on it to keep your hands free for frying the chicken. Do I win some kind of prize? :lol:

I just got off the phone with Buddy Leonard. He and Betty are OK. They rode out the storm at their daughter's house about 20 miles west of Covington. He has a lot of trees down and it may be up to a month until he can go home. He has no damage to his shop and only a tiny bit to the roof of his house. He took a generator with him when he left but they now have power and well water at his daughter's. Two more members of the Gulf Coast Blacksmith's Association Charlie and Evelyn Trapani, are also doing OK.

My prayers are with Jeanette and Jim. I fell in love with both of them the first time we met. They are really great folks.

I am in Northeast Louisiana near Joe R. We did not get any bad weather here.

Woody, Your grandfather's crosses are beautiful. It is wonderful that you have this record of his work.

Good, now I can put curtains in my shop 8)

Marc, I am sorry to hear of your friend's passing. It is great that he was able to pass his skills to the next generation.

Strine, Thanks for the photos. Great design!

One thing I do is save a little coke from each fire and use it to "feed" my fire when I am welding. It really helps me keep green coal out of my fire. Green coal will not only add impurities to your fire, it will also cool it off. I would love to see information on the different types of scarfs for different welds. A simple drawing would be great.

WELCOME HOME RALPH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dawn, I know you are glad to be going home. Ralph, do what the nice lady says and no one will get hurt :lol:

Rick, What I do is to start with part of the bar in the fire and let it heat a little then, I push or pull the bar a little at a time and let the heat run up the bar. I have a slot cut in the back of my forge table that I can open up to let long stock through. If you have drawn the end down thinner, you might want to save this part for last so you don't burn it. Just keep moving the bar back and forth till you get a nice even heat all the way up the bar. I hope this helps.

Rick, Let me explain how all the "pink" stuff started. I was the frst woman they ever had in the pulp mill maintenance crew. I had been working at the mill in another department and going to trade school for two years ,so I already knew some of the guys. Still, I was not sure how they would feel about working with a woman. I worked with them for a week and then took an (already scheduled) vacation. When I got back, they had broken into my locker and painted all my tools PINK. This was not done to hurt me, it was their way of letting me know it was going to be OK. The funny thing was, after a shutdown, when everybody is using everybody's tools, I could always find mine and get them back. I started doing the same thing with my blacksmithing tools when I went to a school or hammer-in. It has just sort of grown from there. jwolfe made me two pink sacks for coal and my fire maintenance tools. Paw Paw, Guru and Brian Black had something to do with a pink anvil blanket, because even I will not paint a peddinghaus pink. Every time Jim C makes me another tool, it somehow ends up with pink paint on it. My shop looks like a Pepto Bismol factory exploded in it :lol:

Dawn, I have you and Ralph at the top of my prayer list.

Helen is on my prayer list.

Ralph, Hang in there. You are on my prayer list.

Bryan, Steve and your family are in my prayers.

Archie, What a neat looking forge. Let us know how it works.