John in Oly, WA

Thanks billyO. The casting part, to reach a satisfactory level of success, has taken the largest part of that time.

George: Yes, I made the box too. The characters are Japanese Kanji characters, also represented on the box upper right corner. Left to right on the box, the vertically aligned pairs meaning (if my research is correct) is Abundance, Serenity, Harmony, Health. Those pairs are on the blade guard and pins of the knife - visible are Health on the blade guard and Abundance in the two pins on the handle. The pin in the darker rosewood has my initials in it - JAM. The pins I cast in brass from 3D print outs from models I made in a CAD program. They are essentially Corby bolts, each pin half having male or female threads. In this photo you can see the latches and hinges I made for the box along with the rough castings of the pins.

Just don't point it at yourself, or might not be completely safe. But most likely safer than melting metal, and definitely faster.

My latest blade has taken me about 3 years to make. It was/is a steep learning curve, starting with I'd like to know how to make knives. The photos aren't great, but here it is.

Forget the metal melting and tell your boss you need a handheld XRF metal analyzer. Much faster, much safer.

Nothing really exciting, but useful - a couple of CO detectors to put in my shop.

Merry Christmas! And now I'm wondering where it starts. Where's the International dateline? Coupled with, where are the areas of the world that celebrate Christmas? Who gets to jump in to celebrating Christmas first?

Merry Chrishanukwanza to all! (the inclusive version) Happy Holidays! (the PC version) Merry Christmas! (just my version)

Thank you for sharing those photos. Just BEAUTIFUL! And yes, it's special. And you had a hand in making it so. I really do like the old stone architecture. Even call it ancient by our American standards of what is considered old.

LittleBlacksmith, good to see you posting again and good to see more of your stellar work!

Beautiful work Tom7! Please take another pic when all the candles are lit and the electric lights are down low. And I second BillyBones' sentiment - beautiful church! LittleBlacksmith, good to see you posting again and good to see more of your stellar work!

Also, your D-backing plate is too thin. Way too much potential for flexing. Should be minimum 1/4" thick. 3/8" thick would be even better.

I don't know if they do or not. The last time I was in, I didn't see any glass for sale, but then, I wasn't looking for it either. You have a good start to it Sam. Just keep at it for the last part. The manufacturer's water to refractory ratio is a bit dry, but it works - just mix it thoroughly and pat it together like MCalvert suggests. I found a large dowel (like closet rod size) worked really well.

I knew that was the place you were referring to Mikey - just putting a name to it to make it easier for Sam to source.

That would probably do fine. I don't know the construction of your stove, but maybe just packing some wood ash in the bottom of the pan might deaden the noise.