Scott NC

I got your card this morning, thanks Billy. They deliver twice a day here in a residential neighborhood, it's no wonder the Post Office is always going broke. Probably why they have to rip you off on the postage on non-machinable letters too. I'll ask them about it when I post yours. I fired up my ink pen so look out...

A prayer for him and his family.

That is one fine looking fence. No wonder the neighbors want one next...... I could see lining my drive with something similar. Thanks for the photo.

Thanks George. I have never heard of the bar type. I worked for a short time in a feed mill for those chicken barns but I am signing off before I say too much.

They don't call them Cannon Ball Agitators for nothing. It agitates you when you find out you got ripped off... Thanks arkie, I passed on that one! . George, didn't they used to shoot cannon balls chained together for maximum effect?

Cutie is right.... You can teach her to play the Cajon you made someday.

What is your project that requires all these rings, may I ask?

North of the old cotton mill then 3 miles as the crow flies. But you are late to the trough by nearly a year. Does make your mouth water though....

I think I once related on the forum how I slid down a steep ditch on a rainey night into a plowed field that had recently been spread with hog manure. I tried driving my way out and it got worse and worse. I eventualy burned the clutch out. Then it got even worse.

So do I and every now and then you find a good deal. There was one here that recently closed up and had a sale I went to and they had a "fossil dinosaur egg" marked down to $1200. It looked like eroded sandstone to me.

Nice. Are you going to hang it on the wall, Billy. Heres my rusty haul from my second visit to the "new to me" junkyard this morning. I can't drive my vehicle in so it's what I can carry.

I take it that's not your absolute last final word on the subject....

I will take a picture of it. It had a rubber tip on it that she said covered up a point she whittled on it and would take off if she was really mad. I checked once and she was bluffing. I included a close up of the tip where you can see the old duct tape that held the rubber tip on. Grandpa's was more of a bludgeon and I still have that one too.

Some of those files look like they have a section that have been ground round, almost like they could be gripped in that handle.

I will send you the adjustable radius part of it as soon as I figure it out....

That's a nice hammer and a good deal. It's satisfying to see someone get a great score on a tool at the expense of an antique store.....

I don't know all that much about it but I think a lot of community colleges and tech schools now allow high school students to take classes towards a degree or just to check out a career path. Perhaps just out of interest....??? That may be worth looking into in the future. Sometimes free tuition. A quick search locally showed least welding and carpentry. I don't know about casting, though. It might be the "new" shop class.

I might have an even better/easier way to eliminate that flat spot on your next job with a slip in fixture for your bender, but I have to draw a sketch as I can't describe things very well, if your interested. I can pm it to you as it might be something I might make and sell myself so I can retire.....

One of my first jobs was in a foundry that made bearings for railcar axles using rotocasting and I often wondered what would happen if something went wrong. There was a hot dip galvanizing place nearby also where they dipped large materials. A chain holding up one of the "dips" broke and when the item dropped in the tank it created a overflow flood of zinc that one poor fellow got caught in. I'll spare the details but say what was left of his workboots were frozen on the floor by the zinc. I had a friend that worked there, he soon left. I no longer cast metal.

Jerry, I can send you my Grandmas old crooked cane for when you are done with crutches and walkers if you want. It got used by her more for poking and swatting and now it just sit's there.... Just joking, for petes sake!

Dentist's make a lot of money. Glad I didn't end up as one after I had 6 teeth pulled to get new choppers, one of which had to be sawed in half to get the roots out.

I don't care about making a living from my talents, but highly respect those that do. It is worthy of it.

Your work is pleasing to the eye.

Do you think the play/fit around the center pin in your bending die could have something to do with inconsistencies in your results?

I think his bottom rolls are not adjustable. I was looking at your hardy jig and wondering if you could not just make something similar heavey duty and curved to the radius you need to fit in your roller without the stem and bolt to get your radius started? Late to the party idea.