BillyBones

A little definitely goes a long, long way.

Rescued these from the scrap pile today. The CV is from a Jaguar and the axle is a 6 lug out of a HD Chevy truck. One of the guys i work with straighten the shop up today and these were the first 2 thing i grabbed. Tomorrow i will have more time to see what he has stirred up to the top of the pile.

If you have an older vehicle that is an option, however on the newer vehicles, '07 and up, that is a huge no-no. Todays cars the alternator is designed to maintain the charge not recharge a battery. Doing this can reek havoc on the cars electrical system. I have had more than one customer complain that there tranns is not working right only to find out that the battery ahd gone dead and they just jump started it and went. The fix was charge the battery. A car only needs 10 v or so to start and run but with all of todays gizmos and gadgets on cars they need the full 12 v and xxx amps to work properly. Even if you do not notice any drivability issues it will greatly reduce the life of the alternator. And if you have seen where they put some of these things now a days...

I use a few small chunks to get mine going, like Das says, in the center with a few pieces of coal around it. I will put a few drops of lighter fluid on the charcoal before i put it in the forge, on top of some news paper.

Was on the way to work one morning listening to the radio. One of the DJ's said he went to clean out his gutters and there were some standing pools of water trapped in the debris. He could not figure out how that the minnows got on top of his house. Yes, he said he had minnows "a little smaller than a grain of rice" in his gutters. The sad part though was that 3 others on air with him did not correct him. I have only gotten mosquito larvae once, a quick spray with WD-40 took care of them. I used to get a good build up of slime and algae though but a hunk of copper pipe tossed in took care of that. Something that just crossed my mind for both. Pool shock. Anyone know if that would work? I do not go to pools much less ever taken care of one, heck i avoid swimming at all costs, love water like a cat. So i am not familiar with what it does but i know it is supposed to keep the pool clean. Oh and i also know it is chlorine so maybe also some bleach in the water may work. Dont know just a thought.

I dont go to yellow springs to often, i am lets say a little too conservative. My ex-wife is from yellow springs, she went to school with Dave Chapelle. Super nice guy. So, Frosty, The wife wont let you?

I too am only a couple years in. I find this an interesting read. You cant always get what you want. But i see you got what you need. 70% solution has been my whole life so I have the exact opposite problem, i will not ask for help or someone to do it. There needs to be a balance of when to do it on your own and when to let someone else take care of it. But when it is with in your ability there is nothing better than the feeling of a job well done. Even if it is ugly as long as it works you will use it and show it off. I like to make a little wine from time to time. Got some dandelion wine aging right now. Nice looking cider bottles. Ever make apple jack with any? Life does indeed get in the way. Sunday was one day that i had i could go out and work in my shop. Now i watch the grandkids on Sundays. It is a hobby, those are my grand daughters. I can set the hammer down for them. Just have to figure work arounds. But that comes back to what you say as to it is not a race also. Dont let a hobby take over your life. Hobbies are meant for your spare time. It is nice to hear your take on what you have learned not only in blacksmithing but life in general. Keep hammering, but most of all have fun.

Amazing how long a tub of that stuff lasts.

Going to be my first. Any suggestions would be appreciated. If anyone goes to the wool gathering Thomas has mentioned try the black raspberry ice cream. I suggest on the hot fudge brownie sundae. Oh i guess i should mention that the wool gathering is held at Youngs dairy just north of the village proper. They make their own ice cram, cheese, etc. The pumpkin and sweet potato bread is right tasty also. Their is also a couple good eateries in Yellow Springs. All this is basically in my backyard. So if anyone needs any suggestions of good local resturants or other things to do, hit me up.

I think i saw one of them 48's in a museum. When i joined i could have been on a 60 actually. The Army was phasing them out and it was mostly the Marines that had them. Went to the ME with the 3rd infantry and 1st armor. Ended my time at Ft. Hood with the 1st cav. Came home on leave one year and went to see a good buddy of mine. I was sitting on his couch when his dad came out and sat down. Now his dad had never said a single word to me the whole time we were growing up. He looks at me and says "You the one that joined the Army?" i said yup. He proceded to ask me about the M1. How it worked, what i thought about it, etc. Then looks at me and says he was just wanting some first hand opinion becuase he was the one who designed the computer system on the tank. He worked in the FTD building at WPAFB.

Abrams. The most lethal machine ever created. As R. Lee Ermey says "Its job is to go out and rip open enemy armor like a can opener on steroids."

When i was in the Army i had to wear a CVC helmet. Looks like a helicopter pilots helmet with a boom mike and ear phones. The radios in the tank had a constant hum. Ever since, all sounds kind of get jumbled together. When i talk to some one i have to tilt my head so that my ear is towards them so i can understand them. Background noise washes out a lot also. And now the eyes are going, used to be able to "shoot the eyes out of a rattlesnake at 100 yards in a sandstorm", now i cant read the road signs until i am right up on them. And by golly when i find that guy who keeps making the floor lower ima goin to whoop him good. Every time i bend over to pick up something it seems i grow 3 feet taller. Ahh, the joys of getting old. Cant wait for the alzheimers, that way i wont remember what it was like to be young.

I can say from experience that an IR burn is no fun at all. Itches like the dickens, takes forever to heal, and the looks you get...

In the upper left corner of the body there is what looks to be a small gear with some nails around it and a screw coming out of the middle. I can see the ones that would be for the strap and i see nuts (?) where the volume knob and such would be so i ask what is the screw sticking out for? I was also thinking that it would not be that far of a stretch to making a workable version. Seems just a few tweaks on fret location and string spacing, all that would be needed is a couple pickups attached to it.

Kill a mantis...no way in the world. I love these guys. I think that they are also a protected species here and it is illegal to kill one. I figured that it was a female and with the size of her belly i would say that she is with child now or my shop is good hunting grounds and she is well fed. I do not kill spiders either. I had this big spider living next to my back door all summer. It got to where i can reach up and stroke her back with my finger and she would not run off or anything. The guys i work with think i am strange becuase i will rescue spiders. If i see one in the shop i will pick it up and take it outside so it dont walk into a puddle of oil or something.

I feel ya on the blending thing Daz, feels like i am working on the same car everyday. I love me some good music. Just never really paid attention to the "tools" of the trade. So today i made my daughter a hair tier backer thingy. Maybe a little heavy but she does have dreads so it may hang just right. It is made from a garage door spring, hardened and tempered. Still needs a little filing and clean up.

This guy came back for a visit. Much bigger than he was in the spring.

Das, i love the way you used the trans steels and clutch plates. The string wind up bolts, arent they called banjo bolts? Or am i mistaken? We call the fitting on some trans cooler lines banjo bolts and i always figured that it came from the string bolts on a banjo. I am amazed yall can see a Les Paul, or a Fender, or what ever. I see guitar.

No. I do not see it being worth it. There are a couple on line smiths that go out of there way to explain the why and how they do things. It is my opinion that these, few and far between, guys would do just about as much as someone online that you are paying. Save your money for tools, stock and supplies. Your real knowledge lies between the hammer and the anvil.

Took a load of scrap to the scrap yard today. While unloading i noticed what i think was an old thresher. I noticed these laying on it and and inquired. The guy standing there said throw em in your truck, so i did. This is a scrap yard that did not sell to the public last i checked. He then told me that they had sectioned off an area where people could go dig through and take out what ever they needed. He then told me that the steel has also been sorted by bar, plate, HC, springs, etc. I did not inquire as to how much, but i will be back. He also told me the old what i think is a thresher came out of a barn clean up, so these things may not be a part of the machine but they were on top of it and being held by what looked like 75 year old wire. Anyway, now to figure out what to do with them. Edit: I forgot to add that it was at Dayton-Xenia auto parts in Xenia, for anyone close that may want to stop there.

Ahh, thanks for that Irondragon, i kept wanting to say trivet and i knew that was wrong.

Not that i missed the mineral soil thing, just needed a small patch about 1 cubic inch. So i figured a little handful of dirt would be alright. Worked but stunk. I love tootsie rolls. Especially the fruit flavored ones. Caddy shack is one of my favorites, Chevy was great in that but Carl the grounds keeper (Bill Murray) is my favorite character.

Well it is Sept. and here in the state of Ohio squirrel season has kicked off. Gotta have a way to cook them oh so tasty tree rats. So i made a squirrel cooker and one of them adjustable pot hangy things. Not the prettiest things but functional. And seeing as how they are for my own use i do not care about pretty. I did however burn off the end of one tine, but again it works for me. Funny how those wierd rust rings follow me to my sittin table.

When i started out it was with a 24 oz. ball pein. I then got a 3# cross pein, much to heavy. A 2 1/2# engineers hammer worked very well for me so i used that for a long time. My go to now is the hammer i made this past spring. Comes in just under 3#. Point is that even though i am no weakling, a 3# was to heavy becuase of the fact i was not used to using my muscles in that way. Get used to swinging a hammer that is comfortable then work up to heavier hammers. On another note, just as a hammer that is to heavy can cause elbow problems so can an anvil at an improper height. Learned that the hard way.

One note about soil usage. Burn some before making a whole forge from it. I needed to patch a small spot next to my tuyere, so out in the yard i went. When i fired the forge it stank to high heaven. The only thing worse was when a cat left me a tootsie roll in my coal pile i did not catch till it was burning. Trust me that is a smell that no one should experience.