LawnJockey

I am fairly new too and soon to be new to the Phoenix area. My wife just moved down there and is staying in a temporary rental while she looks for something more long term. She is looking at a place today that has a separate shop building. I should be there full time by the later part of June. Strating in mid March I will be driving back and forth with an 18 foot flat trailer hauling furniture and shop equipment and I am looking for a couple of guys to hire to help unload if you know anyone let me know. Anyway, I am looking forward to getting to know others in the Phoenix area and at some point I will have a shop available to share with others.

A great idea for those that have earned more than we can ever provide.

My current shop is about 1,500 sqft. Most of it is taken up with woodworking equipment and the rest is metal work and blacksmithing. I have to move things around at times but it is no big deal. In the winter I hook up a wood burner and in the summer I disconnect it and move it aside. It isn't a big deal. I just move things around depending on what project I am working on. Sometimes I have to push everything aside to lay out a large (for me) metal project on the slab. I never thought of doing work in several trades was that unusual but I come from a boat working background where you do everything.

Yep, that is why choice of schools is so important to us. He will be the last one at home and he has three years to go. His grades are stellar and he participates in all sorts of school activities. During the summers he has done camps for everything form blacksmithing to cooking. In June he will test for his black belt. He is a good kid and we want it to stay that way. We are also looking at the BASIS Charter schools and we have entered their lottery. It seems a little crazy that you have to win a lottery to get your kid in a good school. There is always private but then again you have to win the lottery to do that too. The school thing is so important to us that we are even willing to rent for a few years in a housing development with a busy body HOA and postage stamp sized lots, my personal idea of Hell as that would mean no shop. If we have to take that distasteful route we would use the time to study the area and buy or build what we want for when the schools are not an issue to us. For me that would mean my smithing would be limited to classes, etc, for a while. My off the grid place is 6 hours away from Phoenix I can always build a barn there for my shop for the next few years.

Cave Creek is one of the areas we are looking at.

781, thanks for the info. I will be in Phoenix that week end. Maybe I can slip away from looking at various neighborhoods, etc with the family. I'll have to run that by the boss.

Frank, thanks and thanks again for the H-B.

I had a neighbor come over the other evening after she had had a few glasses of wine. She asked me if I could spare some coal for her step sons. Of course I complied but then after a few more glasses of wine she changed her mind.

What is going on blacksmithing wise in the greater Phoenix area? I am starting the process of relocating there. I have no idea as to where we will end up as that will be driven by the best school for my youngest son to finish high school.

I got to spend a week with my grand kids back east, that was priceless. As far as physical gifts are concerned my daughter gave me an apron. Then there were lots of books, etc. Big news came on Christmas eve, we are moving to Arizona from California. My wife finalized a job change and a big step up. She starts February first and I will stay in California until the kids finish the school year in June. Between now and then lots of work getting the place ready to sell and moving.

Merry Christmas to all. It is a good day, as good as any, to pause and think about what is really important in life.

Proper laying around techniques take a lifetime of practice to properly refine. Give her a break, teach by example. Don't be overly critical if she doesn't catch on too fast, not everyone is gifted. Merry Christmas

My taste for older tech goes beyond guns although I have an interest in them, particularly single shot rifles. I have a couple of 45-70s, one is a rolling block. I cast for them and my 32-40 CPA and also pistols. I also have some Martinis. I have a passion for older tools and wood boats. In my misguided youth I loved bumming around in 3rd world countries admiring their simple solutions to mechanical things. At one point I had a commercial fishing boat with a single cylinder Hicks engine in it. I believe it was the last licensed commercial boat using a make "n" break engine in California, unless some other fool has tried it after me.

We are getting this place ready to sell so I don't have time to let them age on their own. I have done some looking around on the Net and it looks like vinegar is the ticket. The cabinets are dark stained oak (built by the former owner a cabinet maker), the counters are a grayish brown granite and the appliances are stainless. We are going to refresh the cabinet finish with tung oil. The floors will be saltillo tile and the walls will be a pearl finish white to brighten things up a bit.

Great ideas. I think I will start with an acetone cleaning to remove any polish residue. There isn't any laquer so remover is probably over kill. I will order a couple of extras to experiment on. Thanks

I am doing a quickie kitchen job and I want solid brass drawer pulls but not that shinny 80s polished brass look. I have located the drawer pulls I want, they are cast brass and polished. They don't have that ugly laquer finish. What I would like to do is dull the polished finish and let use polish them over time as it will. Anyone have any experience doing something like this? Thanks

Cut around the center on the end you are not using and then pull it apart. Once apart the shaft will be fully exposed to cut with a saws all, grinder, plasma cutter, torch or whatever.

My interest ends closer to 1911.

I hate the garbage being produced today. A few years ago the wife purchased a new washer and dryer. The stuff feels like it is ready to fall apart already and this was high end stuff. At my little off the grid place I go to great lengths to avoid buying that garbage. My kitchen cabinets are old high school science lab cabinets. For plumbing fixtures I had a plumbing contractor friend save fixtures he was tearing out for me. All cast iron, ceramic and brass. The only new item is the on demand hot water heater and that is the only item that gives me trouble. I would post photos but I can't get photos to upload.

I'll be in the DC area and I am always looking to learn from others.

Nice shop. I wish I would catch the neatness bug. If I did my vocabulary would instantly become less colorful. Jobs would go much faster as the finding misplaced tool time would go down greatly, so would my blood pressure. They say the key to a successful marriage is two phrases, "Yes Dear" and "I'm working on that". I can honestly say I have been working on shop neatness and organization and I am getting better. Your photos remind me I have a ways to go.

Good to hear, all the best.

Well, after all it is a boring subject.

Thank you, that answers my question.

I just purchased a ATHA handled punch that I am am going to reshape as a slotting punch. I am new to the wizardry of heat treating so I am wondering if this should be heat treated and if so, how should a slow minded aspiring smith approach it? Thanks in advance.