BillyBones

Tried another wall sconce. The wife says no more candle holders. Shaped out what is becoming my best ax so far. Started as a piece of 1/8" x 3" x 8" piece of flat bar. The bit is 3 layers of 52100 and 2 layers of 15n20. No grinding yet, all hammer work, or heat treat.

May have been the 2" of ice under 6" of snow but just yesterday i had to drop the old truck down to 4lo just to get in my drive way. My SIL tried in his car this AM. Had to get up out of my nice warm bed, get dressed and go help push him back out of the drive way. Trucks also do better doughnuts in the snow than cars in my opinion. A few years back my dad bought himself a brand spankin new Ford F-150. We made the trip up to the PX, about an hour drive, to stock up. My mom wanted some cold stuff so they got a bag of ice. Of course the ice was in one block so i picked it up and slammed it down in the bed of his new truck he had not had for a week yet. The ice put a huge dent right in the middle of the bed. My dad just kind of sighed and said well it was bound to happen sooner or later. When i bought my GMC i tried my best to keep the dents and scratches out of it. Then one day my boss comes in and tells me he hit the side of my truck. Caved in the whole passenger side, both doors. One door still has a huge dent. Only fixed the one that would not open. One more, my dad backed a trailer into the side of the Ford i used to have. I may also have to mention my dad also drove a low boy in the Army for a while.

We raised cattle when i was a yungin. I did not mind them at all. A little flick of the switch and they did what i wanted them to, which was mostly move out of the way, move from the barn to the pasture, move along into the truck for market. The horses on the other hand, we had 2 at one time, were the absolute dumbest animals ever put on this Earth. It may have been we just had stupid horses but they kind of left a bad impression on me.

You could get one of those cargo racks that go into a trailer hitch for the SUV maybe? That way the tank would not be in the passenger area. Trucks are not just for southerners, try getting around in 8" of snow with out one.

Chimaera, I have got 12*F on my thermometer right now. That means that my anvil is also 12*F. You may want to heat the anvil a bit before trying the weld too. I keep a 15# cube of 4140 next to my anvil stand. I can use it for upsetting long bars or pick it up and set next to my fire for quick welds. Very handy to have just a lump of steel around when needed. I use the same ~3# hammer for just about everything and that includes welding. I see it as a matter of hammer control, but that is just my opinion.

Looks like there is a good spot for making tenons on there.

Les, if memory serves i believe it was the 9th artillery there. We were supported by the 1/9, again if i recall correctly. Ah, Graf, that was, well it was Graf. Bet your dad spent a few days at area mud in Schweinfurt too. The 69th was the armor unit there so i was one of those guys you saw cruising around on an Abrams. So i went out yesterday and today. Ran out of fuel for the heater and i just aint into 17*F anymore so i called it a day. Made a wall sconce candle holder. I made some tear drop punches a while back and gave them a try. Failed horribly. The punches worked fined i just cant get them back in same place or at the same angles and such. So i flipped the plate over and took off the edges. The failure. And here is what i cam out with. Yeah i know, i should clean up sometimes.

Welcome aboard. Looks like a nice set up there. The propane guys may be here to give some suggestions later. The only thing i see is you may want to float that tank in a tub of water. Helps with keeping it from freezing. What kind of steel for the chisel? A few hammer marks but you will get nice and smooth in no time with practice. Overall though nice work on everything. Kind of jealous of the casting table. I started getting into casting this past fall. Unfortunatly the only place i can get a fire to cast is outside and since getting the supplies i have not had a day that it did not rain, snow, or a mix that i could do it on. Again welcome, dont mind the curmudgeons (they are actually really nice guys, just don tell them i said so) We love pics and seeing progress made by others. This site has done more to advance my skill and make me reach beyond my comfort zone than any where else i have been. Keep it safe and have fun.

I used to drive a 70' Nova, all suped up and went really fast in a straight line for 1/4 mile. Anyway i was working 2nd shift at the time and went to work one day in the winter. It was about 60*F that day. Well while at work the temp dropped into the 20's and here comes the freezing rain. When i went to leave i discovered i had left my window down. My front seat, that old foam they used to use, acted like a sponge and i got to ride home on a solid block of ice. Yesterday my work called me to see if i was coming in, mind you i have to drive back roads the whole way. I said with 2" of ice covering everything no i wont be in. Me and the only other person who drive a 4x4 truck said no while the one kid with a little Honda sporty type car, all low to the ground fast and furious like said he would be there. Dont know if he made it or not but i do know the ice was deeper than the front of his car. I have a feeling he was the only one and they called him and said they were shutting down for the shift. On the bright side i get a 4 day weekend this weekend.

Les, i was in Kitzingen (spelled correctly, ) with the 1/69. Cant find my pic of the leaning tower. Then i got to got to Aschaffenburg with the 4/66. Alexander, that is a lot of snow. And here i sit whining about the 6 inches we got yesterday. But it is supposed to get back up in the upper 30's or 40's next week so it will be gone soon enough.

Looked mine up July 25. Saint James feast day. There are a total of 12 occasions that day. I am torn in claiming "Hire a vet day" "Nat'l hot fudge sundae" day or "Nat'l wine and cheese day" James I, King of Scotland also shares my birthday.

When i was stationed in Germany they had frog crossing signs. During a part of the year frogs would get so thick and so many would get run over the roads would get slick. Like driving on ice but it was frog guts.

Rockstar, i remember those days but for me it was the TV. Only time i ever watched the news as a kid. When i was in high school we lived in a town that had 2 high schools. I remember the disappointment when you would hear that your best friends school was closed but yours was still open too. If anyone is wondering we had 2 schools in a small town becuase they wanted to build a new high school. When it was finished a bunch of stink was raised as to what they would call the school and the football team. So much so that the city council stepped and just said quit arguing, we will have 2 high schools for a town of 25,000, problem solved. Even when they closed the old high school, re-named the new one, people like my parents refused to recognize it as the high school.

So i have heard that word 3 times in different places today. So i too have learned a new word. Had to look it up after 3 times but hearing it used i had a good idea from that. I have a piece of good stout honey suckle i have been aging for about 3 years now. I planned on making a a shillelagh out of. Little more than waist high, has a big 3 way fork on one end and about 1" - 1 1/2" thick. I dont have a stone chimney or lard to do it proper but i have been keeping it greased down. Maybe a good project for inside during the up coming cold spell.

Congrats. I hope to one day retire but it looks like i am on track for that day to be a week after my final day on this Earth.

Frosty, if you are ever in the area i will get you connected with a friend. He is the best portrait artist i have ever seen in my life. He did a tat of my daughter on my x-wife's shoulder that is unbelievably realistic. He does most of his work in B&W.

The Ohio flag and the Tibetan flag are the only 2 state level flags that are not rectangle. Chad, I have "Praise be to the Lord my rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle" etched into my 1911.

Need some lumber for small projects? Check with the local machine shop. The stock we run comes in boxes that are between 6' and 16' long. From 4" wide to 12" wide, 1" thick pine boards. No not the best lumber nor will it last a life time but for just a season or 2 they will work. Some of them will still have that paper that keeps rust and corrosion off of the bars left inside of them too. If no one at work wants them we just drag them out to the side of the road. They are never there longer than overnight before someone takes them. Chimaera, cool frog.

I used to work in a tattoo shop so i paid little to nothing for most of the ones i have. I have one that was done by a guy named Alf Diamond in Germany. When i got back to the states i found out he is one of the most famous tattoo artists in the world. It is pretty simple a skull with a pompadour of flames. Was going to get a brand at one time too. I got my iron made, heated it up good and hot took a deep breath, got ready, took another deep breath, built up my courage, another deep breath, steadied myself and stuck it on. I waited so long that i got a nice burn but the iron was to cold to leave a permanent scar. So a lot of pain for nothing. George, if you get one on your back you wont have to look at it all the time. JHCC, he couldnt foot the bill for the lawyers fee anyway.

Doing a quick search, up until the 80's they were made from 1008/1010 steel. (GM is the only manufacture i could find a specific alloy for and it said 980x is used now.) Seeing as to how easily rims are dented, bent and scratched they are most likely some kind of similar alloy now i would guess. They also make good stands for snag grinders.

I want to now who keeps lowering my floor every year. It is a whole lot further down that it was 10 years ago. My wife wants flower beds too. She will get flowers and all that. 2 weeks later i go plant them, always in a different place than she was going to plant them, then she ignores them till fall. At which time i have to go pull out the dead ones.

Glad i could make y'all smile. Pat, i watched a guy on the you tube make one of those and if i recall he just made a bracket that bolted to the sides up and over. Kind of a "U" shape. The rams stayed down but then the whole frame work flexed though. His did not look as stout as yours though. I am thinking more of a tube or tunnel around it would work much better. The less ram you have "exposed" the better it would seem to work to me. So after almost 2 weeks sick at home. Longest 2 weeks of my life. I finally got back in the shop. Started a shepherd's hook for my aunt before i got ill. Finished it today. Most was done so just the spike and foot on the end (no pic it is just pointy) and the collars. Then, inspired by DHarris i have made a coffee scoop. Still not 100% but it was nice to get back out and do just a little something.

Since we have had a cold snap this may be appreciated. A coworker told me this tonight: Did you hear about the guy whose body temp went to absolute zero? No worries he is 0k. ( definitely better written than told)

Grouser, i like the pigtails on the bottom. Jobtiel, a little fat at the eye but if it fits it fits, pretty nice work if i say so my self. DHarris, nice little spoon there. That hammer maybe you could take the handle off and repurpose it into something like a monkey tool? If flame maple is not a good handle material maybe do a composite. Osage or hickory core with flame maple sides for the look. A friend of mine made me an ax handle with osage and purple heart the contrasting woods look really nice. Unfortunately he also put a nice thick coat of epoxy on it so it is slicker than a ...

My grand parents had a small shed on the back of their property. One day i went out to get something and found a garter snake just hanging out. This snake was every bit of 5' long and a good 1 1/2" around. Biggest garter snake i have ever seen in my life. Something i just learned a minute ago, garter snakes are venomous. Their saliva contains neurotoxins, kind of like the Komodo Dragon i guess, but it is generally harmless to humans.