jake pogrebinsky

It was an auspicious day in England,but quite the opposite in the cold,windblown steppes far to the East... where the Monster,the future terror of all the decent,god-fearing blacksmith forums was birthed,yes,on that very fateful day... Beth,i hope that your sanity survives the kid attack!Good luck with it,and thank you for your kind,wise remarks.Here's a quote from Teresa of Avila that i like so much(though can't get there yet myself,alas):"All shall be well,and all shall be well,and all manner of things shall be well!". Obviously,it's in regard of Everything,so i won't even have to give a reason for why i suddenly drug this into the discussion on ironwork.. . Too many things going on here to concentrate on serious forging,so just played with those hooks a bit.The client made a mistake of giving me a free rein on these,so i went with as eclectic of a form as i felt like,today.Alas,our brave and valiant Danger,braving the society's ire with purely abstract work, will never know the joys of sneaking behind the "traditional" clap-trap,an opportunity to snigger with impunity from behind the,supposedly,time-hallowed design!As in "show me the book where it says that iron was never meant to be that shape",and all without ever going out on that limb of "art",sculking,rat-like,in the sewers of "craft" instead... Now,something happened with my silly camera.I think that some inner little micro-brain of it had had a micro-stroke,as i'm having a REALLY difficult time to take an in-focus picture(maybe it's my pea-brain that had a micro-stroke,i really don't know ). Anyway,more crapulous photos than even usual,i swear that the real iron looks vastly different from THAT...

Thanks,Clay,but,you know,when you're burying someone...you're burying lots,the whole life,an entire universe,you may even say...What's a goofy metal object,compared to all that? I was thinking about my rose bush,and how strange that it produced a flower,so late in the season,when obviously it's all fruiting away? Made me think that i shouldn't be so mad at all the drunks that visit the forge,for urinating into this very rosebush(it seems to draw them).Looks like i should be thankful,instead,for it's fortuitous mutation,and their part in it.

Beth,you're just the most wonderful-understanding person,wether it's ironwork,cars,art,grief,...I've so many reasons to be thankful to you for a chance to hang out with you here. You're right,as lovely as your shop is,i'm glad(for your sake,mainly)that we're far apart,we'd never get any work done,but philosophise till what little shop time you get will be gone! Continued plugging away at the cross today,seems like i'm done,now.Made that rosehip rose,even found the one amazingly late bloom in my rosebush,so posting a photo of that. Also of the Athabaskan version of the Sargeant Pepper coat,and some stylish boots,to show how this rose is a local design element(at least since white man brought glass beads,it was different before,this kind of work,more subtle and better in many other ways). The whole deal is made from the dump-found material,from brazing rod rivets,to that copper sewer pipe and knife-switch,to the waste oil that gives it the nice,matte black.One friend in the Old Country tells me that the addition of any sourse of Sulfur will make waste oil produce even deeper black. It was again fun to use copper,but i'd still prefer iron,any day.Although there's probably a lot that i don't know about copper,just using your basic forging tecnique on it,and not utilising it's potential fully.

I'm sorry,Beth,i don't remember!It might've been the later,2a,but i'm not sure...It was a short-base TRACTOR,essentially,one big massive PTO(which had an option to be routed out the front,the back,either side,or up through the bed!!!forest service/fire truck basic model). What killed our relationship was the price of parts(i've ran into the president of Alaska Landrover Assn.,who gave me a price catalog,which turned my hair white,just reading those numbers(that guy,naturally,was driving a perfectly maintained,brand new-looking 110). For a while i drove around with a crack in my exhaust manifold.The entire manifold glowed bright-cherry(you could read a book inside the cab by it's light coming through several small holes).I drove it around stoutly keeping my mind off that steel gas-line,bolted to that very manifold... In other words i've failed it,just like i have many other neatest rigs in my life,my '55 Chevy deuce&a half,wyllis,a herd of ford pick-ups, unmaintained and dead before it's time...(I'll stop before i get carried away drawing parallels,i've not Michael's tact,and am bound to say something inapropriate!). But,yep,me and the whiteman's economy hate each other with an undying passion.I've never in my life had a bank account or,god forbid!a credit card.Just dirty handfuls of crumpled bills,falling out while i'm out in the woods,i'm forever loosing it.(Maybe Ceasar will find it there,laying there on the tundra dejectedly,it's his anyway,and i wish him all the luck with it!) But,not a great way to have wheels,for sure!(Especially the classy kind).

You guys are WAY cool.That's really neat,Michael,that raven-like skull.Beth's bulldog one must've been SOMETHING,with that lower jaw of theirs...Far out,the skulls have tons of curvature that is fascinating,God's own sculpture... That's great about the 2" rivets,i can picture you Michael with that Rosie the Riveter-style riveter...Gotta love MASS,everything about it,the more iron the better,yessir!!! Beth,i'm sorry about your enforced lull in shop time,but it can be good and constructive too,we'll figure some stuff out,meanwhile. BTW,i really like your motor pool.I've had my 1966 rover,a shorter body than yours,108,i think.Loved it to death,used to carry my engine crank in the gun-rack in the back window,and hand-crank it(even after i've rewond that starter).Loved the Rover manual that came with it,it told of all sorts of bush methods,local Alaskan term for these is "abortionism".My favorite style of repair work...And every other kind...

Michael,you're a wild man,for sure!I like that crazy torso,a human skull sounds fitting...You'll have to...umm...,harvest it yourself?(I'm so tired that had to sit a while to think of a politically-correct euthemism for the above:). Your toys are so out-of-sight nice that i don't even envy them(the one HD in Galena has ended up here by mistake,the owner was very bad at geography,so got it shipped before realising just where he's moved to).I've a little soft-chined skiff that's almost as good as a motorcicle:). Beth,that is really VERY cool,how much valid,thoughtful,and diverse advice your project inspired so far.Please,let us know how it's going,what you're doing is very worthwhile and interesting,and brings about some neat points and details. I was EXTREMELY happy to read that you've had that rare peacefull,competent,forge-welding moment,that is just the best,that's exactly what keeps us all going back to the forge every chance we get...Very happy to read that,after a fairly rough day. My good friend is very near the end,and going fast.His son in law,also my very close friend,is building the coffin,and asked me to forge a cross for the top of it.I've spent 12 hours in the forge trying to do the very best i could. My friend liked the mix of metals,so i've unbent more of that copper pipe for one of the lifts.The iron parts are hot dipped into waste-oil(the smell is my favorite part of the process),and all in all,everything is as is proper for a send off of an old welder,mechanic,hunter,just a fantastic human being. Tomorrow i'll try to forge a flower for the middle space.Out of that 5mm or so copper that actually this very friend has given me.There's a great decorative element in Athabaskan lore,our "rose",the 5-petalled blssoms of which are the first flowers out in the spring,and it's often present in beadwork,and other local visual crafts.My friend has lived here since early 60-ies, married an Athabaskan woman,and has a great,numerous family.His kids told me that when the'd come back from school and query him about all the ambient racist issues,as in who's a "breed",and all that's so common here(and everywhere),he'd tell them:Remember,you're not white,and you're not indians,you're Americans. My buddy was a real man,he'd have liked a flower on the cross of his coffin,or at least would have a laugh about it,wherever he's at now.Peace. Beth,i'm too wiped out to resist,i give up... Jake Pogrebinsky P.O.Box 271 Galena,AK,99741 (Actually,i just got a letter from California,addressed to Jake,blacksmith,Galena,Alaska...It all works. But beware!The retribution will be terrible!I'll send you back a human head,or something gross like that!No,wait,that was Michael's project...Well,i'll find something exoticly-organic here for a package to England,maybe trap that ermine and send it to you for Dolly(wonder if it'll make the trip...maybe with a chunk of something to gnaw on...)!

Hi,Bryan!Seems like we were writing concurrently,but,strangely,i did express a part of my opinion on THAT VERY THING! It is a VERY important thing,as we do forge FOR someone,just like an author writes to the reader.It would be great to hear some ideas that folks have on that. (BTW,some stuff in box-stores IS forged,some even very obviously Hand-forged.Check out those $1,98 hooks at the hardware section in Westside Fred's,they're actually not bad at all(Indonesia,i believe)

(Michael,i forgot to say this:Though i'm sincerely thankful for your praise,i must say that about 90% of what i've been doing lately IS sub-par,in terms of quality of workmanship.It scares me,actually,how bad it is.I really want(and need)to produce the maximum variety of objects,but 1.Jumping from project to dissimilar project,and,2,not having the time to practice any of the given techniques(some of which i've never done,others-not for a long while),together-it's a KILLER,man,i'm most chagrined,and will have to sensor ruthlessly before the show...) I'd like to belabor that same point a little more,though am growing despondent of hope of making myself understood(it don't matter anyhoo,but,still...). I've made the other two candlesticks today.Like i said,i drilled the large cavity,leaving about 5/8" thick bottom,which i used to drive the cup into it's "saucer",by means of a right size punch.Then,i punched the rest of the hole,that i used to rivet the whole together to the stem,by tenoning it. So,i deliberately eye-balled everything,making a few extra problems for myself(like that severely off-center hole),but gaining that irregularity that i seek especially in this project. On the next photo is the process of indexing the parts together,using whatever means possible-temp.differential,force,cunning,whatever it takes.Spreading the fudge around,so that the irregularities don't compound each other,but are still there. Eventually,after a few more adjustments,i peen that tenon inside the cup,Now the assembly is ready to be welded to it's stub in the base. The reason that i've gone into the details of all this is...Well,i'll make a clean breast of it:Often,i'm sorely tempted to make a point by using an example of someone's work in the negative,as a way NOT to do something. I'm fully cognisant of how sleazy and unethical that would be,so it makes me search,instead,of a way to exemplify it by a positive,as in how it Can,or Should(IMHO) be done.And WHY,is really what's most important. I've argued this point in the past(unsuccessfully,as usual),but still hold on to it for myself:A client,a layman in general,can and does judge our work very cannily,without often even realising it themselves,but they do. They know,INSTINCTIVELY,that forging is a process of mashing iron around,so to speak,back and forth,like forming a snowball,say.Well,to do that,one cannot go below a certain thickness in any one dimention,right?WE know,as smiths,that you can only forge something back in itself provided that it's thick enough. THEY( )know it too...In the back of their,even un-,or less-informed, blacksmithing-wise,minds. Thus,if something looks(may not even BE,but LOOKS)thin,it immediately spells "tinny",cheap,less-quality,to a regular person. Especially against the background of more fatter,bulkier,parts.So,it's crucially important to keep the relative gauge of stock even,balanced,and as thick as possible,closest to cube or ball,vs the sheet or a flat circle.And that's why i wasted time with this sizable round-stock,vs using pipe,or rolling any sheet to come by these candle cups. But that's only a part of my point,though i'm not sure that i've energy to keep on going(or anyone the patience for reading any MORE bs...). Beth,please forget what i said about controlling your hot-spot.You're using coke,it'll be hard for you,and is of no consequence.If you ever use green coal,then we may discuss it,as it is a handy tool.But,not indispensible,and i'm sorry to bring in more factors and complicate things unnecessarily.Sorry about that. (I think i may've screwed up with pictures placement)

Michael,your praise means a GREAT deal to me.You're a real pro.In ALL ways,i'd imagine,but i'm especially impressed with how you handle the spatial issues,curves/3-D compounds,that sort of stuff,i really respect that.So thank you. And no,of course the tools in and of themselves don't mean anything,good or bad,i just use it in my pathetic attempts at explaining a point(unimaginably,literally,difficult to talk about forging,who'd ever guess?!). I'm not a purist either.I'll try to make this same point once again:I made the cups of the candlesticks out of 1 1/4" round.I could've forged the inside cavity,but to save time and my back i drilled it on the old camelback.Then i forged on,business as usual,and any traces of machining have gone away without me even making them. IF i was less experienced in forging,i may've been led unto temptation by the concentricity,the lovely all-around evenness of machining.Then,the candle-cups would end up different,would look odd and out of place on the background of forged stock. In other words,one needs to know where one is going with the work,the message,just like you say.And if the final look must say "FORGED",and DOES,then it don't matter AT ALL if it was,actually,forged. Is that again,totally pathetically confused?Maybe it's not as important as i feel it is...Very possible...

Dave,good for you,very happy to hear this,and i think that the guy knows what he's doing when he chose you,you're an accomodating fellow and he figured that he'll get what he wants by dealing with you. Don't underbid,if you can help it.Putting the price on your work is...Just that very thing.Bidding high will mean that you've every reason to believe that you'll do a superlative job.THAT's why you're higher than someone else,you'll do a BETTER job. The weight is an issue only in the footprint dept.You may do a quick calc.of the psi exerted on what flooring,et c.Softwood decking on porch may mean having to spread the load a bit more. Phil brought up a very wise point-wobble,or any form of flex or un-steadiness.Steel is pretty elastic(i remember how surprisingly soft the 16" by 8" I-beam turned out to be,surpriesed me,anyway).But the project seems straightforward enough,and you should be fine just using your common sense. The VERY best of luck with it!

OK,Bryan,that's cool,so,roughly 1" x 2" is what they've started with,as they'd loose at LEAST a 1/16" a side to scale alone. The height must be some metric stock that the canny Swedes use,them,that've been making iron longer than anyone(but the Chinese:)). By method of deduction,the eye being 3/4",we have the cheek thickness,...no,we don't...as we don't know how they've slit it. No problem!We've lots of beef to play with,almost 1/2" a side.That means that the slit will be short,and the lengh of the eye comes out of the mass of the sides of it. And THAT,in turn,tells us that the drift must be of a shape in it's initial section fairly narrow,with flat sides to fuller the cheeks against. Zo:The drift starts out as a chisel(to open the slit),transitions in the above shape,to fuller the sides and to draw down that bottom "ear"/langette(in an utterly useless,mechanically ,but admittedly cute way);and transitions again to the final eye shape.Possible to just make the one tool,though they use 2 or 3,i'd bet. Nevermind,just thinking out loud,Bryan,but if you do follow it,then good,because it's just forging,same as stake-flippers,coat hooks,or any other.

Beautiful shop,Beth,i'm totally convinced that the BEST sort of work is coming out of there! Lots of great tools,really like that "ironworker",your heavy lay-out table.(I've no flat reference in my dump at all,it's a botheration). Great forge,and i really like that heart-stencil on the hood.Soon,you'll be able to fire-weld it in iron,for a trivet or something! Again,great looking "florettes",or whatever they're called technically.A very essence of "ironwork",those.

P.S.Forgot about the forging part of welding sequencing: You've heard it before,many times:the weld has 3 parts.muddle,and the two ends,one or both of which are skinny scarf-ends. When out of the fire: 1.Smack the middle(to spew out the crap,and to bring the metal in contact with each-other). 2.Smack the skinniest end down,MAYBE even try to pat/blend it in right then.IF so,then forget about turning it,even,the anvil has by now drawn the welding heat.Flux it again,and put it back. 3.If you didn't do anything but steady smacking,you MAY be able to work the other side,as in a blow or two or three.No sense in doing more,you're loosing heat now,and may begin to OPEN the welds back up. On the more general level:Wait till the scarf-end(down-facing at this final stage)starts sparking.Turn the blast off,reach in there without moving it out(maybe turn it facig up),and pinch-weld the whole,and especially the skinny end.Pinch the fat part,your tongs will then be hot,then pinch down the skinny edge. It's actually extremely satusfying to do this,here,with WI,i see loquid slag run fown the tong bits when i do that :)

Beth-you're happenin',man,you're THIS close to being just count on using welds reliably in completed work.Here's what i'd suggest correcting: When faggot-welding,give yourself a bit more of a loop,for more flex(unless you're closing the entire loop.another good way to make a "blob" on the end,BTW). You're having tough time blending in the edge because your scarf is too blunt-the skinny edge can be knife-edge skinny,and longer. Now,an important aspect of the process,the SEQUENCE.Separately,the heating and the forging,Heating first: You have more and less mass in the same joint(scarf point is skinny).Heat it mass-first,down,or facing the heat.Heat it till ALMOST there,then turn skinny part downwards.Now,watch it close,and AS soon as the sparks appear above the flames of your fire,turn off the blast. Now,give it a count of one or two,as without the blast the temp will RISE,momentarily.NOW,tale it out and smack it.Gently,just like you say yourself. Your fire has bounderies,from hot to cold(pile of barely burning stuff).Use that transition to keep the rest of element from overheating.So,the weld itself in the hottest spot,all else outside.Constrict the hot-spot,if you can(can you?).The hot-spot must be adjustable for different size/shape work. You've done BEAUTIFULLY on the blob,right on!The only way that you made it a bit harder on yourself,is by drawing out the taper right away.It's easier to keep the fuller maximally short-you can always draw it out later. Also,you've bitten off a bit more that a Cube worth of volume.It's hard to resist,but also makes it a bit harder.But,you've GOT it,right on!!! The "rosette" that you made out of the blob is SWEET.An absolutely timeless element(why have i never tried that?!). Combined with your wonderful,hand-worked,lovingly,obviously,tapers,it all looks KILLER,man. I really like that,that is all that the ironwork is to me,right there. Again,RIGHT ON!!!

Thanks to all of you kind folks.Rusty,that idea was marvelous,thanks:I've googled Hugin(father AND son,somehow missed the son when reading about the ARTS&CRAFTS years back...),and spent unto the wee hours reading about Gothic architecture. Learned that the ceiling at Glouster cathedral cloisters that so profoundly affects me is the Fan vault,that the cathedral also contains the incomparable,the unique Stellar(!)vault...By then,my normal schizophrenic sardonic laughter at myself was reaching it's highest pitch-here's a moron,in the wilds of god-knows-where,studying gothic architecture,for to turn it into the bespoke ironwork to do exactly what with?I truly am another Jude the Obscure...But thanks,i really do appreciate that. Clay,the "horns" are scarf stubs,as that structure will have two more candle-stems welded to it.They'll be somewhat shorter,and high up braced to the central one with a weird-shaped brace,it'll clash with all else in the piece,and that'll be real gothic then-eclectic,you see! Michael,good eye:I've failed to follow the sketch in this one,(most important)aspect.The thing is in a real danger of becoming ass-heavy,that is why i just hinted at the circularity with the "feet",instead of forging a nice fat ring for a base(as i probably shoulda done...). See,that's the essence of the entire dilemma,right here:The torture of "traditional"construction is unbearable(imagine,with a mig&a peanut-grinder i can just go about slapping stuff anywhere's i likes,whistling as i do),yet,THAT is where IT comes from,the COOL,man,the spirit of it all... The hand-touch is very important here,i feel.The imperfections,the inconsistencies,the sloppy fire-welds,all that combines to speak to us in our brain,that is the primal bellybutton wisdom,deep within one's reptilian brain's deepest recesses... And you're absolutely right about it not being easy,the compounds...Lor',it ain' easy...Not with the imperfectly squared/tapered WI stock,especially.Again,here the irregularity of material combines with the math of X-Y-Z axis in a peculiar way,again,THAT's where it's all at.(IF done gracefully,which i'm already loosing control of). As a general comment:I'd need to work in this given style for a couple of years,not even planning on keeping any results.THEN,i'd venture to attempt something like this,with a degree of competence.The iron,and this style in particular,deserves it,and it is the very least of respect that one can show it. Instead,here i am,forced to fake it for the sake of a "product",aimed at a consumer that will be unable to even place it in history,let alone appreciate the iron for it's potential.And THAT is why more people should FORGE iron,we may be going down with a sinking ship,but at least we can go down in style,without profaning the sacred aesthetic of iron itself. If one chooses to work with the MiG and the grinder,then one should design for it,then it's harmonious,and has just as much right to live.These are the two of many dialects of the same language.But mixing them is vulgar,as each language,be it French or Eubonics,has it's own grammar,and must conform to it,or it becomes ungrammatical, a disharmony...

Thank you,John,you have a terrific store of knowledge,i really appreciate your valuable input. I've had no idea that collaring was uncommon,now that you say that,it seems natural. Strange,i've deviated from rivets on this particular job,i usually have a tendency to overuse them even,as i like them so much,even as a forged detail all of it's own. I may have to think of some alternate ways,like man-up,and weld everything(there's already a weld for each linear inch of stock.... I guess my trouble is that when i weld,i like to really work the weldment,for several high-yellow heats,to allow the diffusion to thake place,as well as to mechanically both test and blend the parts joined. In this instance,as in any other when the parts welded are complex and already formed,and cannot be hammered in all directions,and other limitations,i'm scared of making "tack" type welds,where the parts are brought together without much distortion. I absolutely dread any of my welds coming apart later,in use by a customer... I may think about a blind rivet-backed weld. If you could possibly post some photos of Gothic work that would be absolutely fantastic,jist fabulous.You've great taste in ironwork,i've really admired those competition latches that you've posted in the Association thread(meant to ask you about that cross motiff,but never got around to it...). Also,in the thread about the pot-hangers,those hooks by Chris Dwyer are absolutely wonderful,the way that the taper is long on them,and so carefully rounded...Amasing,how much a "simple" hook can be worked on,and so much can still be perfected in one... Truly a wonderful calling,the iron forging is,quite literally Infinitely diverse!!! Thanks again for showing all that neat stuff.

Bryan,i'm sorry,those measurements...Are you sure that you're not talking about the EYE of that hatchet?The poll should be a rectangle,from the back,at least...It's not like one of those "skinning"(?) jobs of GB,is it? Well i do have some leaf spring 3/4" thick,but not sure that it's thick enough(as in the quandary above),and also it would be a bear...Mo mild that thick around,that i've come across yet,anyway. Glad to hear that you're forging,wonderful.

Beth,thank you most kindly.You've somehow inspired that project,and now you're a GREAT help on it,at many a juncture. You're right about the connectedness issue,it's structural as well as visual.I'll try to deal with it by means of the top brace,but may have to add detail down low as well.Thanks again. Listen,Polyurethane of any brand should be good,it's a very forgiving glue not requiring a strict glue joint.However,if the wheels busted off right flush,and the repair area is tiny relative the fulcrum of possible forces that'll act upon it,then maybe it's better to look for some 2-part epoxy.With epoxy,you could mount up a small cone around the transition area,reinforcing it(Polyurethane,though gap-filling,only connects the parts that are there.Well,it's foamy in reaction,and that foamy slop if not cleaned up does also have strengh). But those are the two modern glues that will work.Both will need a good degreasing of surfaces,the brake cleaner spray is my favorite as it leaves no residue,but it's some nasty stuff.Alchohol should suffice. The carpet beaters are fabulous!Is that where the Celtic design originated from-rush weaving?:)Any of those can be done,and would look cool,in iron.Many strands of rod,just like originals.Oh,there's a ton of potential in there!

A couple of slightly more better photos,finally found something to use for a contrasting background,even if it is a feed sack.

Beth,dear,i've a HUGE favor to ask you:Could you,perchance,dust off your degree,and using it,your own ideas about design,and the ambient,atmospheric aura of that sort of work that you're so fortunate to dwell amongst,using all that,can you please tell me if i'm completely off,and need to scrap all this and start from scratch? Or,if i'm even remotely achieving any kind of a semblence of Gothic style?The photos will not be that good,it may actually be difficult to tell what's going on,but i'll try anyway(I'm in that nasty part of the creative process where the judgement fails me entirely,thought about it too much,am too close to the project,if you know what i mean.And the timeline's a killer,i can't just put it by for a while,but will take half a day off and just thoughtlessly pound away at these nice,simple hooks...). The overall idea toward which i'm trying to work: Now,i've that main part suspended over my planning surface,and working on the supports,combining the legs and other parts that'll tie everything together(collars). Forging the supports was easy(each was a one big chain link),but forming them was not.The semi-spherical nature of the plan turns everything into compound curves.However,it in itself gives a certain form,that i seem to like and need,and so don't resent the difficulty too much. The middle,bracing element with a pendant(collar beam in construction,not sure about forgework term)should really be welded in.But i think i'll collar it,to balance out the main collars above them that'll hold the support to the q.-foil. Now,this is what i'm thinking theoretically:Gothic stuff rests upon the symmetry employing the Many(like those many-petaled rosettes on Glouster ceiling);Four,the points of the cross and the main shape of the cathedral layout;the Three(no need to balabor this one ;the Two-as in two converging lines,converging POINTEDLY,to the ONE.One God.One focal point in most Gothic elements.One direction in the cathedral,up,completely naturally making a point of glorifying The One God. And i think there's something also about using those in natural,logical sequence,4-3-2-1,that also is important. Anyway,there'll be three collars at that junction. And here's the parts approx.brought together: So,Beth,would you,like the noble Roman Matron,point your thumb up or down?Does the Victorian Flyswatter Project live?Or do i trash it,before i've dumped any more time,fuel,and hearache into it? I trust you implicitly,and await in trepidation...

I KNEW IT!!!You're related to the Prophet,AND,your sister is a theologian-i'm talking to an exactly right person!See?The spirits are never wrong!When i had a vision that told me i should start using the internet,why,i almost thought that i maybe shouldn't 've taken that particular mushroom...or,at least not so much of it...But!Here we have it! And here it is,the magic word:"virgins"!The beady eyes of the hermit begin to glow with a sinister red light,the filthy rags stir...Dried heads and snakes and other animal parts rustle ominously...The Cultleader future becons!I'm off to England! But first,i'll try to finish that Gothic masterpiece.May be just as well to get in good with the High Church,before i strike out on my own,and build up the Cult sufficiently.A good cultleader is a prudent one.The Real madness is Systematic! So,off to the forge,first,but then-directly to England!

You sure dig up some amasing stuff,Beth!The horse/mule train picture is neat.Where is it?White Pass?Chilkoot?It's something like this,because those look very much like "Yukon sleds",Hudson Bay Co.used to sell the hardware kits for them,and you put them together yourself. Byciclists,too,were quite common on Richarson Trail,and on this one right in front of me now,connecting Richardson with Nome,during the Gold Rush. Wonderful shot of saddled zebra!It's rare,i believe,no?Quaggas were the only more or less ridable African equines,i thought,before they went extinct. Thank you for these photos,Beth,but i must admit that i'm dreadfully disappointed in you:You actually don't believe that God has a bellybutton?!I feel dreadfully let down,that someone like you,who's so kind,sensitive,thoughtful,compassionate,and such a good person in general,as well as the mother of the LOVELIEST little girl in the world,can be so blind! OK,i'll PROVE it to you,and everyone else,then.The reason that i've been holding this a close secret is that i plan on travelling to Oxford,to Magdalene College specifically,to ASTOUND the whole civilised world with this stupendous news!So i didn't want to spoil the surprise,or risk some unprincipled person plagiarising my great theological discovery. Here it is:IF God didn't have a bellybutton,then HOW could, he/she,create Man out of the Bellybutton Fuzz?!Eh? Now,i know you sly Brits,and your theory about "...snails and puppy-dog tails...",but i tell ya,it WAS bellybutton fuzz!For certain! And where was it to come from,if...but,i won't blaspheme any more by repeating such herecy. So,i'm no good as a blacksmith,that's why i decided to become a theologian.After all,if Jude the Obscure could do it,why couldn't I?!I hope that they'll bestow the Honorary Doctorate on me right off,though,as i'm not very studious,but more inspired,you see. D'you think that they might,Beth?I do so want to be Doctor of Theology,i'm so tired of forging...Please...may i?

I think that it's looking fine,so far.Wonder how you'll attach them together,in a bundle(i presume?)?. The reliance on using that factory lengh in between the forged elements is detrimental both to your skill[level build-up,and to the look of a finished work.I PERFECTLY understand the motivation behind it,wasn't born skilled,either:),but do try to eventually work your way into forging ALL surfaces. Even the plain-twist doesn't look quite right using rolled stock,the corners are neither sharp,nor deliberately radiused.It was never intended to look forged,and it does not.Try to help it,it wants you to! Good going,not a simple project,good for you to challenge yourself! Very best of luck,Jake

Aw,Beth,that picture of Dolly is the best thing about this entire goofy thread,i absolutely mean that.That is a gorgeous apron,too(and a KILLER old Singer!),tall Dolly that she's doing great at it,and if i but lived any closer,i'd order a custom apron fro her,for the shop-apron!(To disguise the unsettling-ly developing bellybutton.DON'T tell her that in Russia,the "squirrel" is a folk symbol,an allusion to DT's,as in "the squirrel has come to call...",but it's only one of the reasons why i so like it!). I'd like to do something for her,and the only thing that came to mind was to post the photos of the last of my ancient sleddogs...(I figured that because sometimes my friends bring their kids,and tell me:"We've come to look at Jake's dogs",as if i'm wondering why would they bring their kids around to see a filthy old hermit ).I don't know if Dolly likes dogs,but here they are anyway(sorry,they're at a molting stage now...),Eulah,and Oreo. But of course i've read Beatrix Potter!Every night,for many years!(Then,when my daughter was FINALLY tired of that,i've read it myself many times again!Children's Lit is infinitely worthwhile,better,in fact,then adult fiction any day ). And ALL of Dahl's books,naturally(that's why the quotes from all that are filling my head while forging). English children's books are a world of their very own.Burton-edited Fairy Book series(the different colored ones),Irish Fairy Tales edited by W.B.Yeats(now,THAT was a favorite for a long time!),i'm sure that i don't need to tell YOU,of all people,just how cool all those are... In the States there was the incomparable Laura Ingalls Wilder,my favorite author altogether,i think,anymore(Those that judge her books by TV series have missed the whole point.There's stuff in her books that tells more about US history and human psychology than a handful of college degrees). Man,the trouble with having a mule for me was my isolation from other similar animals(i'd at least have to have two of them,for company),but mostly the lack of vet care,and other surrounding support culture.The animal husbandry in these,pre-Polar regions amounts to selection by breeding,and a bullet to the brain as a general cure for ailments.(There are 6-8-10 dogs in a team,and if something happens to one or two,et c.,also you breed up or down with the food availability.I've had to kill several good dogs before just running short on food that season,and it's just too much for me anymore,i'm out of that game...). Like i said,long ago,during the Gold Rush,there were horses here,it was different then.There's one cool story about one old miner who lived out the Road from the village of Ruby(upriver of here).He shared his wall-tent with his mule,with a canvas wall in between,(for decency ). Every once in a while they'd head to Ruby,to clear the cobwebs out.The oldtimer would go to the bar,and the mule went out on the town to look for sleddogs to punish.He viciously tracked down and fought dogs every chance he had,and all the dogs in Ruby would go into hiding on those nights.By morning,they'd meet at the bar again,and head back out,for another month or two of work.An Alaskan Idyll... And even now,like when i surreptitiously look in on Clay's thread on Scyths,i realise how much organisation it takes to have horses,haying equipment,farriers/vets,knowledgable neighbors...And,money,nowadays especially.It's not like a horse or a mule can be worked for a living... A few years ago a friend in Fairbanks has lost one of his team of Percherons to an illness,which,of course,is an absolute disaster,they having been raised,trained,all else,together.And that's Fbks,where there's some 2000 animals and quite a support culture. So no,unfortunately there'll be no mule in my future...Sob...

Wonderful,Clay.Again,i think that you did a corker job on those knives,respect! Thanks for all the other info,too.I'm impressed that you have a connection into the White's!I don't do enough real work to justify having boots that nice,but do ogle them occasionally in catalogs,or on a rare visitor. You'd be surprised to hear that 100 or so years ago there were thousands of horses in this neck of the woods.Most were draft breeds,Belgian or Morgan crosses,and even some serious Percheron-types.Some shoes that i've found before are enormous,8"-10" across,cleated for ice in a crazy way.WI,the oldest ones.But with the steamboat traffic apparently the demand justified even shipping crates of factory blanks,have seen them around,too. I've much respect for farriers,and always wanted a horse,so bad it hurts...A mule,actually.There's a breeder in Canada,across the border,not too far,who specialises in Mammoth Asses!!!Has some that are 16 hands high,and jet-black!It really is painful to know that i'll never get to traipse around this country in a company of such a magnificent creature...(I'd call it Pookah)...