smokey07

Hi,to all the vets. U.S. Navy 1960 thru 1964  on the Northhampton, command/communications crusier also ship was Com 2nd Fleet . spent a lot of time going in circles in the Atlantic ocean.  Smokey          

to protect the screw after you clean and lube it, take a piece of thin flexable leather and wrap around the screw  when you have the vise opened a bit. jaws opened about 3 to 4 inches or so.  sew the edges together  so the leather tube is very loose around the screw so it will flex when to close the jaws. mine on my vise is about twenty years old and still keeps the scale and crud off the screw.  Smokey

as commisaryman third class  E-4, would be in charge of late night working party when out to sea. in our stores were cans pf stableized milk, crew would not drink the white milk only the chocolate if it was very cold.would hold late night flotation tests on the cases of white milk when far out to sea.

George N.M.   saw your post about carrying a Randall knife. thats a name that i havent heard in many many years. bought my Randall in 1962 when i was in the Navy, still have it and its butchered many a deer and a few elk.  i wonder if there is any of the Randall clan still making those. i have never found any other knife that can stand up to a Randall.  Smokey.

Iron Dragon  anvil is strikeing for  Master smith  Francis Whitiker.

l live in central oregon where the soil is mostly rocks and clay. we have six recycled bath tubs for raised beds. drill a few holes in the bottom for drains , a small layer of rocks, then some weedstop cloth so the dirt doesnt move down. then soil and compost and plants. one has raspberries, one has strawberries. and veggies in the rest. tubs are all fiberglass so there is no rust problem. keeps the small rodents and critters out of them.  and there is no real bending over to have to deal with.  Smokey

went to Skunk Hollow Forge school of blacksmithing in 1976 and the graduation from thr class , you got to shoot two 100 lb. anvils. one upside down as the base , both had  had a depression in the base, so filled the base with black powder ( maybe a third of a pound or so ? )  a ring of clay around it and set the other base down on top with a long length of cannon fuse to set it off, and to get the xxxx out of the way. the school was down in an old creek bed with a high plateau to the south, so someone could go up on the top and estimate the height of the shot. mine went up approx. 90 to 95 feet. i was told. the school was outside of Denver, Colo. near the town of Morrison ,Colo.  Smokey.

U.S. Navy,60-64 Command Cruiser (uss Northampton)  radioman then switched to commisaryman to get away from a real idiot of a division officer (boot ensign right out of the academy ) did my 4 years and bailed. 40 years as blacksmith till the recession shut my shop down, then retired and wanted to do something different. so now i drive a water tanker for the wildfires in Oregon. looks like its going to be a real bad season this year. already have worked three 14 day shifts and that usually starts in august. we started in june. lots of fun.    Smokey

mr.anderson, i have a 402 lb Kholswa anvil that i have used since 1980 . built a sreel box out of 3/16th sheet, poured in sand and then a piece of 1/2 inch chip board. makes it  stable and does not ring too bad,and the anvil does not tilt or move.  Smokey.

George N.M.  before i retired, i had a shop in s.w. colorado and did a lot of work for the trophy homes in Telluride and Aspen. if you built a home and wanted a wood burning fireplace, you had to apply for a permit and they were very limited and also very expensive. therefor i made a lot of doors for gas burning fireplaces which didnot need a permit. i dont remember the exact permit cost but in the early 2000,s they were up in the thousands of dollars. it seems like around 5 to 6 thousand.  Smokey

MT,  Dave at Arrowhead Forge in Buffalo WY, and i went thru the school  [ Skunk Hollow Forge] way back in the dark ages of 1976.  He runs a great school and is a talented teacher. If you get the chance to attend his classes, you will learn a lot. tell him Smokey sent you.  Smokey.

you folks that want convex eyes for the kerbals.  have you tried using small end caps for pipe?  you would have to weld them on but they might work.  Smokey.

my wife has a 97 honda crv 2.2 moter  246000 miles as of today.  very little in repair costs. hoping for 300000miles  smokey

back when hay bales were tied with wire, we had those to cut the wire. used them on many bales.

Bruce and i went to classes at Skunk Hollow Forge in Morrison CO in the mid 70,s and then had a great friendship over the years.  I will miss him very much.  Smokey

I have had both hips done as full replacements. got the card from the surgeon that says what was done.  TSA  geeksw dont pay any attention to the card and  shunt you off for the full patdown and wand  treatment.  just so you know.  Smokey 

TP and Frosty,  tks for the tips , they are welcome.  did a lot of over the road driving back in the 70s, so am kinda used to being in the seat long hours. on these fires, sometimes you are at the stage sites for filling small rigs and can be there for hours.  BOREING...  so you can get out of the rig and walk around. again, much thanks..Smokey

very envious of you folks time in the shop. i actually got to walk in mine today for the first time in a month. with all the wildfires in the pacific northwest, and my "partime" job driving a water truck for the fire crews, our shift is 14 days on , then 2 days off, then 14 days on again. when you get home for the 2 days, is about enough time to do laundry and SLEEP then back out again. oh well it will get better once winter gets here. Smokey.

look up the Rocky Mtn Smiths on the net. they are all over the front range. there are all kinds of workshops and classes. all of the time.

had left hip replaced 2001, out of hospital in three days. right hip done in 2007. built a new 1200 sq ft shop in late 2001-2002. been forging professional til 2016 than retired after 38 years at it. go get it fixed.be4st thing i ever did. Smokey.

On another note, am going to look at a 110 Big Blu next week which only has about 100 hours on it. Never even seen one up close before. Had a 300 Chambersburg for 25 years but sold it when i retired.  still want to play in the fire , so any comments , good or bad will be helpful. Smokey

Back in the early 90s i lived in Yelm WA. there was a scrap yard in Tacoma called Floyd,s who got in a stack of 15 5x5 acorn tables  and a friend of mine bought all of them for resale to other blacksmiths. He wanted 300$ each for them and he owed me 175$ from a job i did for him. So you can do the math.   Smokey

Vini, see if you can find one the books written by Francis Whitteker,[sp]  He has a way of doing angle iron leg out . I donthave the book but i have seen the trick many years ago You have to prebend the opposite side a little then bend the other way. I am sure someone on this forum has acess to that book. Sorry i cant be of more help. Smokey     My mistake;;;; the other half told me i do have the book.  THe Blacksmiths Cookbook by Francis Whitaker. ISBN 0-939415-00-3 By  Jim Fleming Publications   on page 32 it shows how to prebend angle for leg in and leg out.  Smokey

I had a 300 lb chambersburg (10,ooo lbs) in my old shop on a 6 in. floor. had 8 in. of oak timbers under it. 3 in. lags and shields w/ angle iron tabs, 3 on each side into the slab. no walking and no cracks after 14 years of use. there was not any infloor heat to worry about.  Smokey

Michael, tks for the clearup on tank size, had a 250 gal for the shop but same would apply for that.  Smokey