Anachronist58

Great googely moogely - a pressmans' dream! I swore that I would make it out Ocotillo Wells way this past winter, but alas, it got hot again......... be out there as soon as the heat breaks, believe it! Embarrassed to say, I covet your iron Robert Taylor

Hello and welcome to the forum. I think you should know that the forum traffic is so high at times that posts can slide off the front page and get lost. Also, people, such as myself, may be away doing other things, sometimes for days! There are many here eager to see you excel, and also, to learn from you. Palm Desert is not far northeast of my town in San Diego County. I am interested in hearing more about your loot, and I believe you have your most important tool in good working condition....... Welcome, Robert Taylor

Client up in Kern County wants some rusty samples. He will receive some rebar, excavated after 47 years, and some rusty dia. 5/16" wire rope, patina age unknown. I decided to try my hand at rapid patination, so I immersed a very clean dia. 1-1/2" 52100 bearing ball in 40% vinegar for 8 days. Over those days, the solution went from clear, to claret, to blue, to blue-green, to black. The reaction was still vigorous when I removed the ball: I then wiped down the ball - pretty dark grey, and encased it in vinegar soaked virgin gabbro semi clay. It sat for four days in 90°F sun (not nights, this aint Floridia). Here is what I got: Next one with be straight into the vinegar clay, to maybe remove a step. Robert Taylor

You and your Mother are in our prayers and intentions, Charles. Robert and Sheila Taylor

Pretty lathe! More pics? Robert Taylor

Nodebt, now your avatar will emblazen the top of page 444, for eternity! Igor the Eyesore is tall enough at 25' but the slope of my property makes every rigging job fraught with hazard. I do have two trees of sufficient height and girth, but the catenary tension will be stupendous. Robert Taylor

Thanks, JHCC, the idea has merit. Now to see if the battery will take a charge...... Robert Taylor

Well, I thought this was a good idea, then I thought it was a bad idea. Then I took Mrs. Taylor out to see it, and she said it was a good idea. There was a lift truck on site and the price was "almost free". It fit perfectly in the truck. I will have to disassemble it to get it out of the truck. 20' manlift, est weight, 600 - 700#:

See long range video, "henderson nevada explosion". Shucks I have recorded pressure waves for half a pound of, er I would rather not say.....

Congratulations, Thomas, you all (anvil makes three) have six years on Sheila and me. If you are serious with this relationship, let that anvil go: The repercussions could last for years, need ye ask me how I know? Edit: can you kiss the anvil good night and sleep with it? Robert Taylor

My eldest brother unnaturally passed in March. Grieving with you, and beautiful work, by the by. in our prayers, Robert and Sheila Taylor

You must be kidding Frosty - I want to come to your place just so you can rub some of your luck off on my head! But I will not do it. I would rather give you some of mine! Remember the monthly Analog Magazine? Cheers!!

Well, I still do not know what to call that thing (hardy cut??) - the dent in my head may be acting up.... One thing for sure is that you may not want that want that edge tool to remain in the Hardy Hole whilst doing regular forging. I may be exceptionally absent minded at times, but I have done it before and I am sure to do it again: That is, bring my hammer-filled hand down on top of the edge tool - YEEOUCH! work safe, and good Looking Tools! Robert Taylor

Honest, Nodebt, I did not see this earlier. To be perfectly truthful, the New activity on this forum can be the perfect storm, when members post so fast that things go right off the page..... Sincerely, had I seen this earlier, I would have made note of it, but frankly, even when I do, they can be hard to backtrack to...... far be it from me to probosticate Pinocchio with paltry platitudes..... Oh, My Nose! Really, I I like him a lot! Robert Taylor

Wow. 136 pounds at three feet, makes it ostensibly 136# rail. That makes it about the worst piece of rail one could ever get one's hands on. It may even be jinxed. I advise that you you ship it out here to San Diego, as soon as possible, before something bad happens. I can not pay the freight, but I will dispose of it for the sake of the Greater Good. All kidding aside, that would make a great anvil standing on end. 136# rail is nothing to sneeze at. I find those thin web sections indispensable, the head section substantial, and quite complimentary to an "anvil" shaped anvil. Robert Taylor

"Close to the same COE' - Ahh! There is the magic! The 2003 Cedar Fire slumped mobile home jack stands and frames, and the glass pouring down from above, tightly enameled non-negative spaces and surfaces. Frosty, your above elucidation ties it up neatly for me. Robert Taylor

Me too, and that other thing I have to take. Every time the Doctor says that it is time to adjust the dosages, I have to wear black contractor trash bag pants while driving. "No side effects" - BAH!

Nodebt, I do not paint, because I am a Hack..... A fine paint job, methinks....... I now have spied an application for the sundry perforated steel vent grating - Compound Eyes!

Here is that critter!

I have been labelled certain iterations of "odd" before..... but I am speaking of sculpture! And you have given me some good ideas! No pink, no tempera colors - I seem to have a touch paintophobia........ Hmmmmmm, tasels... Do ladybugs have fierce mandibles?

Nodebt, that is me, when I am at my best...... Back to your sculpture though: Roller bearing eyes, horse shoe proboscis, bob wire brow and mustache, but what were the ferocious teeth up-cycled from? After viewing your work numerous times, I find it to be whimsically intimidating, or, scary, and I hope to capture that impression, myself. Robert Taylor

Nodebt, I like your use of Bobwire. Rotten Potatoes. And a decomposing Possum can take many weeks to cease expressing its vile odiouisty. JHCC, nothing worse than an undulating carcass that demands immediate dispositition: Blessed are we if we can cover it with dirt, and come back to it in a few months..... Robert Taylor

bigfootnampa, you have my mouth watering! Yes, John, that is the word I wanted. While "copse/copsed" has a history as acceptable usage, I prefer "coppice/coppiced".

A volunteer Olive layed over one precipitous year. It copsed (sic) into a slew of straight shafts. In about three years, some will be ready for something. A wise man recently said, "I no longer worry about drying splits!", which I find to be an inspiration on many levels. I spent six weeks south of St. Robert. makes my jungle look like the Plains. Alas, SLAG, methinks you are right: No Padouk in your Jungles (I have zero knowledge of its occurrence).

templehound, a lovely knife and sheath ensemble, and I am humbled by your reverence for the materials. This entire thread is so inspiring to me, as my focus is to work with what my 1/3 acre provides for me: Locust, Olive, Mulberry. And the woods that follow me home: storm tossed seafaring burls of I do not know what, Manzanita trunk and root, beautiful straight grained mystery wood, Eucalyptus (for anvil stumps, dishing, and chopping blocks). And, of course, there is the making of Charcoal..... I am especially encouraged over how splits are dealt with, and drying cycles! Thomas, I have a bit of shortening and rasping going on around here. "Proven in good" refurb is SOP around here! Robert Taylor