BillyBones

I switched to coal a few years back but i enjoy reading about builds sometimes. Anyway, you guys may get a chuckle out of this. My gasser was a single burner firebrick box. The burner was a Ron Reil (spelling?) style burner. The jet was a burner jet from an old propane grill, cobbled together plumbing fixtures, very inefficient but i could get welding temps. The box was made of angle iron with a piece of flat bar welded on. The burner hung from the flat bar on a piece of wire going in sideways.

My wife goes in the shop every single day. One of our barn cats has decided to make a nest in there so she goes into give him food and water. My next door neighbors mom came over one day and told me she loved coming to see her daughter when i was working. It was the smell of burning coal, she said it reminder of when she was little at her grandfathers house. Hefty, nice pliers.

Nat, do not get caught up in what we call the "he said, she said bull spit". What person A said may not have been in any, way shape, or form meant as an insult. Or it may have. It could have been person B said something like "Sure, come on in, just excuse the mess." And person A responding with "No big deal, Nat's shop is worse." Basically just and off hand remark not really meant as anything. Now had person A went on and on about how much of a slob you are, need to learn to clean, etc. then yes i would call that insulting. I will not judge a single sentence a person says with out knowing the entire context of the conversation. With out knowing that you just waste you time and energy on something that may be meaningless. Insults and derogatory comments are just air moving through the vocal cords of a person. What gives them power is you. It is how you perceive them. How you handle them says more about you than the person who said them. Ask yourself why does the comment anger you so much? Is there a nugget of truth? Do you feel that you are a messy person? Do you feel you can do more to correct it than you have and are angry at yourself for not doing so? If so this is an opportunity to reflect on that and improve yourself. If not it is just meaningless air. Treat it as such. It is usually a reflection on the commenter trying to bring you down rather than lift themselves up. Those people deserve neither your time nor your energy. If that person comes to you again asking for help, "no" is an acceptable answer. Your time is the most valuable commodity you possess, it is the only one you can never get back. Do not waste it. ----------------- I am 2 different people when it comes to keeping my shop clean. Come to where i work and all my tools are put away, in order, neatly, after every single use. My mics are laid out neat and orderly, my gauge pins in order, etc. When i worked in a trans shop same. I could grab a socket or wrench with out even looking at my tools. If you borrowed a tool i expect it put back exactly where you got it from, or at least give it to me to do myself. Come to my shop at home and it looks as if a tornado came through. Pile of rags on the floor(not oily), tools laying about, trash overflowing until i have to start stacking it on my tool box or work bench, sweep the floor? i do not even know where the broom is. But what is weird is i also know where everything is at. My anvil bick is on top of the small tool box, in front of the toaster oven, next to my hot cut hardy, under that old worn out left glove.

Ridgeway, traditions have to start somewhere. I will also never knowingly eat testicles either. Grandma used to make cracklin bread, corn bread with cracklins in it. That was quite tasty as long as the cracklins were fresh. Poke salat was pretty common to find on the table in the spring time along with butter fried day lily buds. Pine nuts are pretty good in something but a pine nuts alone... nope. When i was around the age of 4 my parents and i went out for dinner one evening. The waitress came to the table to take our orders. She asked me and i said liver and onions. She just paused, looked at my mom and dad, and mom said yes he actually likes it. So yeah i was that weird kid that liked liver.

I use 1045. It is a pretty common material in the shop i work in and we run it up to 2 1/2" dia. So i just grab a bar end or 2 when i need it. So for me it is available and the price can not be beat. I would use it to make blunt tools though. Like fullers and flatters. I do not think i would use it to make hot cuts or chisels with though. 4140, maybe. My cutting tools are generally made of 5160. I got my hammer drifts from amazon. Came in a set of 3, a mousehawk drift, a small hammer drift, and a large hammer drift. Are top tool eyes the same as a hammer? Yes, no, maybe. Depends on who makes them and how they feel when making them. Some of mine, yes i used a hammer eye drift. Others just a hole, and even a couple no eye at all and a piece of round bar bent around the tool. So top tools do not even need and eye. Also a lot of smiths use tongs to hold top tools. As far as handles, 1) i have never had any hammer handle that did not need fitted to a hammer. 2) top tools do not need to be as precise as a hammer. I have a couple that are just stick i broke out of the tree behind my shop jammed into the hole. You just need it strong enough to hold the tool in place while you hit it and long enough you do not toast your fingies. Should you make one? Of course you should, that is just a silly question. Any reason to get in the shop is a good reason to be in the shop. Edit: I looked up those drifts. They are still available but cost about $88USD.

I use math every single day for my job. Mostly trig figuring angles and the like.

Never made chitlins but i have been around making lard and that stinks to high heaven as well. It was usually my grandma doing the actual making while the rest of us did other farm chores. I wouldnt eat a chitlin if i had to. But i do like me some fresh cracklins. Another southern "delicacy" i can not stand is collard greens. Never had turnip greens Grandma would make wilt greens and use mustard greens in it sometimes though. Wilt greens is mixed greens, usually spinach and lettuce, with hot bacon grease poured over.

Ham slice or dehydrated pork patty MRE was the closest i got when i was in the ME. Ham, usually left over from Christmas, blackeyed peas, sauerkraut and onion, and corn bread. The wife however does not like sauerkraut nor blackeyed peas so i will have to make her some green beans or something. She also hates when i cook sauerkraut and this is one of the few days a year i am allowed to do it in the house.

Chocolate or peanut butter? My daughter made some great PB fudge for Christmas but i have eaten it all. My forge does nothing to heat my shop, notice the torpedo in the background. The backing is only 1" wide. Hence the reason i used the tab and slot method. It also does not need to be that strong, there is a piece of wire holding the door closed now. I redid the rivet yesterday and in the process drilled it off center and messed up both the hook and the backing plate so i remade both. Or all 3 i guess actually. Here is also a pic of the back of the bale and how the tab is peined.

Got my new kitchen knife ground and started to put the handle on. Got my scales cut, drilled for pins, and somewhat shaped. Mixed my epoxy, glued it up and set the pins. Clamped it up and went about other things. About an hour later i checked it and my epoxy was still wet. So my pro tip for the day is, mixing epoxy resin with epoxy resin does not make for a very strong bond, you have to use the hardener. The wife snickered at me... Last week i made a latch for a bedroom door to keep the cats out. The wife said we need one for the attic door. So i made this little guy. Not happy with the rivet so i will redo that and there is a sharp corner next to the rivet i need to knock down. And yes i forgot to chamfer the sides of the keeper and latch. The keeper is held on by a tab style tenon with a slot in the back plate. A few years back i made a slot punch that is 1/8" x 3/8" just for this purpose. I surprisingly got it centered with out a huge amount of effort. The bit of surface rust on my anvil is from Sunday it being 70° and rainy. The humidity had everything covered in dew, all day long. Yesterday it got up to a balmy 20° with 30mph winds.

Oh no, another Brit! Just kidding, welcome. We also love a good story. Spin your yarn and tell us of the lives you have lived.

Yes, yes we have. There seems to be a certain segment of people now a days who only get enjoyment by putting others down. But just as you said they are strangers. I give those types no emotion, no response, no thought what so ever. They have no bearing on my life, my well being, or my actions. They are not even an entity to me. To paraphrase: It is not the situation that defines you, it is how you react to the situation. - I can not for the life of me remember who said it. But i want to say Epictetus. (i am sure one of the more scholarly among us will correct me soon) An honest critique or constructive criticism comes from the heart. It may be tough love but it is truth. It is the mentor's job to say "Not good enough" but with that comes the responsibility of explaining why, how to correct and improve so that you may become successful in your endeavors. I tried to find the first hook i ever made, oh boy was it bad, no luck. But i do have these on my wall. I keep them becuase they are useful in the shop, but also as a record of my progression. I can look at these and see how far i have progressed.

Dont be. The whole reason for joining this site and sharing your work is for improvement. I look back now at some of the stuff i have shown and say "well, this is absolute crap". But what i got out of it was the folks here who have been mashing metal since before the bronze age gave me an honest critique and advice on how to do better. An honest critique for me is most valuable, if i want a good job and a pat on the back i will show my mom.

Merry Christmas all! Being on holiday shut down at work for the next 2 weeks got a good day in the shop yesterday. So i made me a cross pien top fuller. Made from a piece of 1040 hex. And got a new kitchen knife i been working on hardened and into temper. 1095 for that 7" blade length.

I took down a huge honeysuckle this past summer. While no it was not as big it was one of the worst things i ever had to cut. The branches are just a tangled mess that go every which way.

I have noticed that people who have to buy their own tools take care and respect the tools of another. For example when i worked on transmissions with a bunch of other mechanics i never even locked my tool box. If someone needed something it was asked for then promptly returned. While where i work now the company provides the tools and no one takes care of them.

Wait, a pie is more than 1 serving?

Finished my daughter's torch holder, hopefully i can get it into paint before Thursday. Supposed to warm up a bit this week so she may have to wait a couple days so i can paint it Friday when it will be in the mid 60's. 6F last weekend, close to 70F for Christmas weekend, gotta love this Ohio weather.

Alexandr, Looks like a lovely time. Made a small latch for one of the upstairs rooms. The cats have taken to pushing the door open and wreaking havoc in it.

Seems like the same concept that Stanley and MAC uses with the tuning fork in the handle.

Pretty cool, thanks for sharing. I would like to know what that forked thing is #257 in the next to last pic. Some sort of farming implement i assume but for what?

The red hot iron used to heat drinks is called a loggerhead. I made few of them a couple years back for someone who wanted to make "traditional" hot coco for Halloween. It actually does make it taste a bit different. The hot loggerhead caramelizes the sugar a just a little.

I just click on the little blue star if i have commented in the thread, a little blue circle if i have not, next to the thread title and it goes to first unread message.

He is on youtube. Not as family freindly as Red Green but i find him quite funny. Rednecks are all over the world. Kind of proves that men are really over grown children. Some of the ladies but it is almost always a guy that says "hold my beer". I would bet that many thousands of years ago there was even a Neanderthal woman looking out of the cave going "oh Lord, what are they up to now".

You guys did it again. Sent me down a rabbit hole on saw racing.