notownkid

makes you laugh here this upstanding citizen gets an upstanding out of work lawyer and investigator most likely at public expense to mess with you like you were the criminal. In good oldie England they would hang thieves for stealing a handkerchief where did we go wrong. it sure does in some political circles these days. the lawyer & investigator are getting paid. there is enough of it around so it must be paying somewhere

I'm really good at making Scrap at least I can sell it! I thought I had a good fish on but turned out I had caught the prop and cleaned out my line. Stopped on way home and bought a can of Tuna.

outdoor as well, hire the unemployable we do at every election local, state and federal levels. Keeps them off the caviar line and in our pockets. just like most of the folks in Parliament or congress for that matter. any pictures?

Don't I remember taking the end plate off and changing a couple connections on the back of the motor and it went from 220 to 110 or reverse? We used a 220 bulb in a 110 outlet for years as a night light outside a vol. fire department dim but did it's job even moved it when we moved into a new station. Steve Sells should be able to "enlighten" us on this.

JHCC is right, RESEARCH here in IFI and everywhere else, you can think of, visit museums with shops, the "PERFECT SHOP" is an combination of ideas from many others. My idea will certainly be different than yours with climate, weather patterns, zoning laws, as JCHH says what are you going to do with it, what do you have to work with for construction skills. Might look up on Amazon the "Perfect Outdoor Blacksmith Shop" they seem to advertise everything else. Many years ago you could buy houses and barns from SEARS presume a shop was available as well. One would think in todays "I Want It Now" life they would have them BUT it would cost more than $1,000 in any $s I'm sure. As they say get a comfortable chair a few drinks and lunch made and start in Shops here on IFI and go to it if you don't find it branch out. Try Historical Societies in your general area and see what they might have for pictures of old shops that are long gone amazing what you can see. I was 30 yrs planning my perfect shop and guess what? it's too small already! I've worked in 6 different shops over the years, I knew what size I wanted but $$$$ got in the way so it became what I could afford. $$$ limits can certainly slow down Perfect so I'm happy to have what I have, more than I did and more than many others have, I'm Happy!

One way to get a deal on an anvil is buy one for way too much and another one will end up on your door step in short order for less and most likely you are broke from the first purchase. Murphy's law, really wish I could get my hands on Murphy! Always costs money to be in a hurry. Lou I forgot to mention in my PM to you that where the event is being held they have basic classes and some advanced as well ask the owner who happens to be the Pres. of NEBs.

Daswulf We have given away many pieces that would have brought good $$ 10 yrs ago. we don't need anymore and downsizing we don't have the room. Nobody in the family wants them. We had run into way low prices in one state so moved some to another and it was worse. Not worth the hassle any longer. The younger families today that are making the good money have no interest in history or what was yesterday only today and maybe tomorrow. I give talks on local history in my area and I have noticed 90% of the people in the audience are 40 or more . I'm scheduled to do one next week and the young lady told me I would be given 20 min. to give 60 yrs. of history on a certain subject. When I told her I had jokes that took that long to tell she said she couldn't stay interested in anything more than 20 min. She will be getting a surprise just how long I can make 20 min. last. Last time I did this one it was 1 1/2 hrs and the people kept me talking for another hr. after I was done. Told my wife I would sound like the Energizer Bunny doing a Drug ad. to do it in 20 min.

nice to find a Dr that cares or tries to care within the limitations of Ins. today. My wife worked in Long Term Care for many years and the Psyc. doc. were the worse to deal with, no time to listen only kept writing more and more drug orders. She said the good ones were worth their weight in gold others in manure. Best of luck going forward to Sandy and yourself.

Sure feel sorry for you folks in the Old Country shortly you will only have soup to eat with a wooden spoon. Politicians will have access to real cutlery but the rest will not be trusted.

Antiques they maybe BUT in general Real Antiques in relation to furniture, dishes and the like have fallen on real hard times even carriages and sleights have hit bottom or nearly so since 2008. We have some from wife's family 150 yrs. old or more, a Large well known NE auction company told us they weren't interested in taking any more as their warehouses were full and their auctions that did draw 4-500 people now were getting maybe 75 and prices were down 80%. As they say the Bloom will soon be off the Rose and we may see a decline in Antique Blacksmith items esp. after the TV shows run their course. My dad said blow enough air to any balloon and it will burst just as the economy did in 2008 era. I know I was lucky to get my PW anvil with known history for $.25 a lb. a number of yrs. ago. Would hate to be starting now and why would anyone pay $1100 for that piece of scrap with no real value when you can purchase a brand new one for not a heck of a lot more? Fools and their money? Seems like about 3/4 of the folks who show us an anvil here on IFI want to know the value.

"This Old Anvil laughs at many Broken Hammers," Carl Sandburg, in The People, Yes

Lou X out "Vietnam Vets of America" they have 15 trucks a day going around CT picking up what ever people want to donate ( with limitations in size) and I was just told they have a Thrift store some where in the state( didn't ask where). Tools are one of the items they pickup. We are moving and we have them scheduled every 2-3 weeks to stop and even I have given some old tools.

$.25 a pound is value in this condition. (in my local yard) other than conversation piece, or bad example is of very limited use.

TPAAAT does work, 90% of my equipment has come to me that way, a couple live auctions netted me a few items usually when I was there to buy something else. if in a hurry call up and order a new one reduces the chance of disappointment. I had a never used brake drum forge with buffalo blower come my way while eating lunch at a counter restaurant while wearing a blacksmith t shirt. guy setting next to me asked if I knew anybody looking for one his father had made, $25 later I drove up to his wood working shop and loaded it. A leg vise was offered while I was picking up my mail at a very small rural PO while wearing Steve Sells T shirt and the guy threw in a bunch of other tools all for $20. You just never know. Never have used Craigslist.

This was seen at the Biltmore blacksmith shop a few years ago. simple and to the point

I seem to have an almost endless supply of used horse shoes some not used enough that I would have put them back on but a lot of eventers in our area don't want used shoes. Farrier Friend of my sons drops grain bags of them off when he gets around to it and leaves a rasp or two at times also. I've made hoof picks out of the shoes in the past and give them out to the young riders at a horse Assoc. up the road from me.

Oh so right! A number of years ago now I was a competitive shooter in a couple different disciplines, we use to joke we kept a little book on excuses we would use for a bad shot, bad day any reason why we lost or did something unusual. Not a bad idea to have one for explaining to the wife why something followed you home esp.in her car. This way you will not use the same excuse too often, plan ahead. The route to Dinner passes by the little woman.

if you want to go to the meet you need to Join. what does one bring as a newbie, interest and ability to listen and converse with others. Safety Glasses a must good boots. Tools usually will be available esp. in the green tent, Very friendly group always willing to help and dispense knowledge.

as far as the New England meet is concerned break your wife in with just going on Sat. which is a great starting point and Sun only goes till noon and Fri Starts at Noon so Sat is the only full day with a dinner and auction in the evening but still only an hr. from home.

Greetings, suggest you look up New England Blacksmiths on the net there is going to be a 2 1/2 day event later in Sept outside Greenfield Mass which is aimed at beginners and lightly trained Blacksmiths. Very Nice People super location and always a fun time and a chance to meet others from the area. Easy up and down I91 for you and reasonably priced.

We were 95F with a dew point of 83 yesterday in Vermont but we are only 5 weeks from the leaves turning and the leaf Peepers arriving then it's the while stuff. Yuk. I didn't have to shovel any of the 95f yesterday. Glad to hear the Deb is gong great.

there are 52 weekends a year, half of which are winter weather for us so we are down to 26 weekends, everyone of those weekends will have a dozen events scheduled that I would like to attend within 1-3 hrs from me. The chances of me driving 15-18 hrs to Ohio is slim to none at this point. I use to drive to Camp Perry Ohio outside Sandusky for the National Rifle Matches every yr. but that was 35+ yrs ago. NEBs had a hard time getting an event set up and finding the volunteers to run it without worry what is going on 700+ miles away when 99% of us wouldn't be planning on attending it anyways. I thank Judson and the Morrells plus the entire NEBs board for all the work and planning for this event and hope I can make it.

Very Narrow window of opportunity to schedule things in the Fall in New England. Any later it's Leaf Peeping Season and everything is booked for rooms and the roads are full of tourists and busses. Long Haul from Places like Maine and upstate NH and VT esp. going West as there are few roads headed that direction to get to Quad-State,

Prayers for Holly and the rest of the family

Reusable as well