LarryFahnoe

Always impressive to see your installations at your customer's homes Alex! --Larry

Another thumbs-up, I think it looks great Shaina! --Larry

Pretty neat John. Lucky is the son who has a dad that would make him such things. --Larry

There's an article in today's Epoch Times covering The Breakers built by Alice and Cornelius Vanderbilt. Link not provided per IFI rules, but it is an interesting read with some more great photos (courtesy of The Preservation Society of Newport County). Knowing nothing of the history, I had assumed this was the work of Cornelius Vanderbilt; the article disagrees... --Larry

Ryder I agree with Neil, I think you're making more of this than it's likely worth. Not trying to say anything bad about either the drill press or your efforts to restore, but more to be practical. If the swiss cheese bugs you, one of the various fillers would likely do pretty well once you cleaned the hole out. I'd add JB Weld to the list of possible fillers. My 2-cents worth. --Larry

Fingers crossed for your garden this year but it looks to be off to a great start! Interesting hoe design, may have to try something like that at some point. --Larry

Mother Nature tests us all! Looks like heavy, wet snow, sorry for your tulips and other plants Alex, hope the snow melts quickly! We're having chilly, gray, rainy weather in Minnesota. Our most recent snow was a couple of weeks ago, before many tulips were blooming. --Larry

I like it Ted! Perhaps more of a semi-circular arrangement for the rising sun? Either way your work is very clean and appealing. Great photo John, a new profile pic? I like the textures in the AL, assume the lines are the puckers/pleats forged down? --Larry

Onward Jennifer! It's going to be great & in fact, it already is!! I sure get your mention of the dreams of youth...thoughts of time used to be more about how long something might take, but getting older the thoughts turn to will I have enough time to do all that I dream of? --Larry

Heck of a lot of work Nate, looks great!! --Larry

Yesterday I stopped to visit Ken's Custom Iron and had a very pleasant visit with Ken's widow MaryLou who continues to run the business that they created together. The stop was occasioned by my wife gifting me a selection of tools...what started out as some tong blanks mushroomed into a couple of years worth of gifts! I added a twisting wrench, hammer/tong rack, rivet sets and chisels. MaryLou had them all neatly wrapped and boxed so this morning's delight was opening and inspecting & I must say that everything exceeded my expectations. Wonderful to see a small family business producing great products at very fair prices. Of course I got the tour of their fab and blacksmith shops which was really quite impressive. I noted the quiet pride in her voice when she told me she'd just shipped MZ75 hammer #296 (I think I got that right, pretty close if not) & I smiled to see the rack of anvils ready to go for the next handful of hammers. The most impressive was the 150lb Fairbanks hammer that Ken had hauled back from Whitefish MT & rebuilt to support some of the contract forging that he was doing for a local equipment mfg...pointing 2" rounds to be used as the "spear" for a tractor attachment to move round bales of hay. Good folks & great American-made products. --Larry

Got a chuckle upon seeing the little flying gizmo as though it was ready to launch into the rafters... You have an amazing collection of tools, interests and skills Jennifer! --Larry

A clever use of pipe Chad & another vote for the counter-twist. Guessing the threads will get cut off? --Larry

Love the meticulous attention to detail. It is going to be fun to see your pics and report! Godspeed David! --Larry

Honoring absent companions, well done. --Larry

Nice Ted! Gazing at it for a bit, the philips screws seem a bit out of place, but understandable that you want them to secure the hooks. What about forming a head like you did with the two inner hooks, but do so on a longer brass machine screw allowing for a nut on the back of the wood blocks? Either way, very attractive work. --Larry

Well done Jono! Kudos to you for sharing the mistakes (that we all make!) as encouragement to others to think better. I've found I need to "think thrice, measure twice, cut once" but I'll probably need to add a fourth step in there as well... I'm thinking with the amount of time and effort you have put into this project, you'll have some built in motivation and momentum to attend to the next steps, even though they won't happen as quickly once you're back at work. --Larry

Wow, excellent progress Jono! Having the time available on holiday really seems to have added rocket fuel to your progress...even with time, things often take me just this side of forever! One comment after watching your test video, the suggestion often given is to avoid greasing the screw as it attracts filings and swarf which degrades the threads. --Larry

Shaina the leaves are looking great, just in time for spring. Look forward to seeing your completed flowers! Billy, appreciate seeing the tooling, I'll add your ideas to my notebook too! I've got a dried milkweed pod tacked to the wall...am inspired by the shapes, another on my list of things to work toward... ;-} --Larry

One thing I have learned, particularly from the wise counsel of many here, is to make use of what you have as there is a lot to learn about this craft. You have plenty of time to keep an eye open for other tools, but this one will very likely serve you quite well until something else comes along. It has seen lots in its day, leave it more or less alone and use it just as it is. Resist the temptation to grind. --Larry

Looks GREAT Gewoon! Probably one of the coolest and most unique wall hangings anywhere nearby! Would make a heck of a noise if it falls though... --Larry

Great progress Jono! I suspect that you're going to grin a bit every time you use this little vise, for the rest of your days. Well done!! --Larry

Jono, your descriptions and photos are really excellent, thank you! Looking forward to the next episode and sending good thoughts for your endeavor!! --Larry

Beautiful work Chad! I appreciate the effort you put in to make each one unique, I certainly hope your customers will appreciate your effort too! --Larry

Thanks David, have added those to my list of references. Watching John Rigoni's 10 year review of his hammer I noted the die saddle he uses...I am planning to make one akin to Ken Zitur's, but John's addition of the stop blocks was interesting. No shortage of things to make, the shortage is time! --Larry