Nobody Special

What a pretty little Trenton, and in California too. You must have lived a good, clean, wholesome life. My second thought was that somebody didn't love it very much. Too much cold work on it, left all those little rings and wallowed out the hardy hole some. Looks like you cleaned up some mushrooming too, and they got welding spatter on the feet. Poor little guy. Fortunately Trentons will take some abuse if it's not applied wholesale. Keep it warm and feed it lots of hot metal daily until it feels better. Nice find.

Fair enough, what's one more Ancient One? And besides, careers in advanced electric trends towards the mystical, eldritch, and devolved anyways. What was the original question again?

You clean the parts to be joined, very very clean. Then you heat to about cherry red, take a fast pass with the scale brush, and add copper, brass, bronze, or whatever you're joining it with. You can use other non-ferrous metals, but copper or brass works fine is tough, and takes some heat. You will likely want to wire it together before the initial heat so that they're held in place together. Anywho, rambling a bit. Add your non-ferrous metal, a bit of flattened pipe, wire, or brazing rod, and put it back in the fire until it melts and joins the pieces. I've seen it done with brass p

I'm not about to complain. If Yog Sothoth and the Goat with a Thousand Young don't insist on GFCIs, then I'm in, regardless of how many dimensions the build is in.

I don't suppose it could be a political token, could it? 1912 was a hotly contested election year. Please, no discussions of politics of less than 100 years ago.

That's why you need the unicorn blood, naturally. Allows for pattern welding of wootz without resolving the carbides into nothingness. The fact that it's glittery and rainbow colored is simply an aesthetic bonus. You could use griffin spoor, but that leads to undesired traces of phosphorus, and a stinky blade. For something a design that complex, I second casting. Although if cast separately and attached, I would have serious concerns about it cracking or becoming damaged upon striking.

Because that would be easy, and make a lot more sense? *slaps forehead* Pnut, you reminded me of when we used to make barkeep's "friends", basically a Louisville slugger with the end cut off, drilled out, and weighted with lead. It was easier to store, conceal, and swing indoors, but ya, it was a total bushwacking weapon, and I think they're illegal in many states. They also tend to break in use if not wrapped in friction tape. Cannot emphasize the no kiln dried wood enough. Part of the reason I'm not allowed to watch forged in fire at home anymore was shouting at the screen e

At that kind of weight, aside from the high probability of injury, speed becomes a major issue, and you've got to be beating your hands to death when you hit something, especially if you've been using 3/4". Even with pipe, it's going to hurt. You're also going to be highly restricted on length, and part of the point of a pole arm or staff is that it's used to keep the other person at a distance, and often has to be kept moving. The shorter it is, the more you're moving it. Ever watch someone fighting with a bearded axe? It'll make ya dizzy. For staffs, or any hand combat, I'll be

I had a friction folder I used to make by folding half a shoe. It's heavy and clunky as is, but you can file down the inside to about half thickness or so and it works well. Back end works as a hoofpick.

George, A locking, folding pocket knife, but the body of the knife is made from something like a .25" or .375" round rod, usually flattened on the side, and the attachment point for the blade is flattened into an offset medallion, like the half-penny on a scroll. There's a small place filed out in the top back of the blade, which holds the blade open with the body acting as a spring. Schrade used to make a very ugly one. There's an older Gary Huston video showing him making one somewhere; I can't find it. This is one of my early ones, if you couldn't tell by the terrible pairs of tongs.

Hitting a hay bale with a zwiehander is a bit like chasing a pig. Ineffective and it annoys the pig. Ask me how I know. Incidentally, to catch a pig, train them ahead of time to follow treats, or get them blind drunk on cheap vodka mixed into mash. Of course then you have to move a drunk 300 lb. pig that can't stand up on its own from the middle of a muddy field. Whee..... You brought back some bad memories, Thomas. I made a 5160 wire jack for daily carry on the farm, and tempered it a bit soft on the spine, on the theory that I would abuse the heck out of it. It took sharpening

E pur si muove. (And yet it moves) In this case, literally. When I use a harder anvil (which in turn has more rebound), I move more metal and I get less tired. Maybe your experience varies.

Fire works. But have you ever smelt it burning? Eww.....

Lot's of bleach will get the maggot smell out, for rot, it takes an mild acid, or for fat...man this got gross, for fat that's turned, it needs an alkaline. Don't ask me how I know.

The "dish" in the windowsill reminded me. You can use a broken piece of porcelain to sharpen knives, although you have to be careful not to scratch the blade. Done it a couple of times in a fix.