BillyBones

Thanks guys that makes sense now.

Thanks for all the input yall. I should have also mentioned i did this in a coal forge and not gas. Steve, i do not understand what you mean by mystery metal. I can look up the chemical composition and mechanical properties. From what i gather it is one of if not the most common mild steels there is. Also with most bridges being built from it, i would have to guess they know exactly what they are using. I think i will have to say i agree with JHCC, i have just been lucky so far.

I am no bladesmith, but i have made a couple knives and i usually harden one day then temper the next and have had good results. When i hardened i did an edge harden, only the first 1 1/2" or so heated. The high carbon portion. Then let it rest till the next day and tossed in the oven. Should i have tempered like i would have a chisel and let the color run? The first one i made turned out nice and i used the same process. Just seems odd that it took that long for the weld to fail and it looks like it sprung apart.

Them there are some right purty hearts. My old lady would love them.

So i kind of been into trying to make tomahawks here as of late. My first, well go to the "what did you do in your shop today" and you can see it. Just finished today. It turned out purty good. My second however miserable failure, my 3rd welds were bad. But my question is about this 4th one here. Wednesday i made it. Thursday did some rough grinding and hardened it. Friday put it in for temper. 4 hours at 400. A-36 with a 1085 insert. Sunday i was cooking out with the grandkids and showing it off to a friend. I laid it on my out side table. That evening i went out to pick everything up and found it like this. Sat for almost 48 hours with no complaints. Not bad, until: Why did it take so long to just suddenly separate? Really, it sat for almost 2 days then all of a sudden it just came apart.

Finished my hawk Octagon handle from some kind of old tool i found in the barn. And another i started. A-36 with a 1095 insert.

Am i missing something with this South High flee market? Should i make the 45 minute drive to Columbus for it?

We had a farmer here who recently wanted to give up his Pygmy goats. The article read "free, if you can catch them." Youngs dairy is close by and along with cows they have a few goats. They are very people friendly and the grandkids love to go visit. They have machines like gum ball machines (now there is something else you see about as often as a rotary phone) that for a dime you get a handfull of feed to give the goats.

Made some new tongs. 3/4 bar, then welded 1/2 bar for reigns. Man, i love welding with coal. Still more shaping and the like. (and yeah i know need to pick up the scrap, but some it comes in handy) Hardened my tomahawk. Tried to make another, failed miserably. But hey that is the learning curve. The worst part though is the edge is my first piece of "Damascus". I am still going to grind an edge on it and etch it just to see what the pattern looks like.

Made my first tomahawk. Well at least the head. This is after knocking of the flux and scale with a sanding disk. Got to fire up the old coal burner yesterday for the first time in well over a year, man did the welding go easy. Still needs hardened and tempered. A piece of A-36 strap with a piece of O-1 at the edge.

I have a rotary dialer on my Galaxy. It is just a digital app but it is kind of cool. The problem i have found though is i do not actually know anyones phone number anymore. If i need to call the woman, i just hit "old lady" the daughter "woman child" my dad "Geritol general" etc. My old ladies did that for a while, she finally figured out how to turn off her notifications.

There is a web sit that i like to look at from time to time called "instructables". Believe it or not but last weekend they had one on an adjustable height grill. A quick look and i could not find it again, of course. Charcoal briquettes were first made becuase Henry ford had a huge pile of scrap lumber. The lumber was the cuts from the wood used to make the floor boards in the old Ford's. Henry's brother took those pieces, ground them to dust, mixed in a little coal dust and voila Kingsford charcoal was born.

I grew up on a farm where the whole family lived. We got indoor plumbing in 78'. Until then it was an out house and a wash tub. But we all had to pitch in to help. Whether it was throwing hay in the loft, sloppin the hogs, picking beans or what not. I was taught at an early age how to make due. May dad retired from the Army, but he also did a lot of construction. He is better at things like building roads and bridges though. The most important thing my granddad taught me though was do not give up, there is no cant do it. That was my dads side. My moms side my granddad died 2 years before i was born. He was a colonel in the Air Force, my grandmother died when i was 4, she was a piano teacher. They were kind of lower upperclass types that were world traveled, imagine my moms shock when my dad came home from Vietnam and we moved down in the sticks from DC.

Aus, i forgot to say no, my dad did some construction work but not much. He is retired Army. Most of that stuff was most likely my grandpa's. He was a construction worker. Kind of a jack of all trades. He could build cabinets, as well as he could lay a foundation. Could roof a house as well as build the walls. He was the first person i ever seen smithing. He was not a black smith but if it needed fixed he could fire up the forge in the barn and do it. He could lay brick and pour concrete. He fought a Sherman in WWII ( the reason i served on an Abrams) and could shoot the eyes out of a rattle snake at 100 yrds in a sand storm. He could grow crops and raise live stock. He taught me so much, when he was not dropping hammers on me. (3 times, once from the hay loft) My grandpa was just an old KY hillbilly that grew up in the 20's-30's when you had to do for yourself and he taught a lot of that to me. He taught me how to shoot, how to hunt, pound a nail, sharpen a knife, skin a rabbit, melt lead into shot, plow a field, cut tobacco, plant a tree, wire a socket, level a board, etc., etc. If ya cant tell, my grandpa was my hero.

Yes, yes we must butcher them now.

It amazes me how Ozzy, you can not understand a word he says when he talks but sings clear as a bell. I was always told that you put an "X" across each puncture of the fangs, then suck out the venom. Then when i actually learned some survival first aid in the military it was explained to me that sucking out the venom by mouth could get the venom trapped in cavities or between the teeth and poisoning your self. And that even if you use the little cup or some other sort of suction by the time you make the cuts and start sucking the blood flows so fast that it just a wasted effort. Am i right? I do not know just what i was told. I never had to deal with snake bite. However if it were me that got bit i would suck until i sucked so much blood out i pass out from blood loss. Someone else mentioned this here, but i ate a rattlesnake in Oklahoma. Pretty tasty critter.

Wasn't sure as to put this here or at the pets page. The mouse may not be in a museum, but he now occupies a spot on a shelf in the shop.

So i was a sittin at the house today and my dad calls. He says he has this old gang box in his shed and if i want it. I said but of course i want it. So i went and got it. I went to pick it up and my dad says its heavy, it full of stuff. I said dont you want to take it out. He said no, take it all. So off i went home with it. So lets open up the mystery box. 3 old jack stands, body dolley, 3 trowels, A socket set, 1/2 drive, some threaded rod, a piece of 5/16 plated though, a sign from WPAFB, and the mouse. It is a real dead mouse i found just like that...guess he learned of his peanut allergy to late. But wait there is more. These 2 old tool boxes, with peanuts and... The old drill, 3 old planes, auger bit, hole saw, more on the files... 5 old files, some old drill bits. couple more drill bits, some old wood chisels, an adjustable drill ( i have 2 other all 3 made by Springfield) old screw driver, adjustable wrench, another trowel, hatchet handle, and last but not least part of a ratchet strap.

My dog never really ate berries and the like, but he sure did like the green beans, peas, corn stalks (never understood that) and just about any other green veggie. Oh and apples. I miss the pecans from when i lived in Louisiana. That would have been Dehnam Springs. I planted a pecan here. i am told that they will grow this far north but are not really suited for it. One of those things it might it might not.

This is the brush i got from the paint store. The bristles are stiffer than the long style and stainless. It is not the best thing but it gets the job done.

I found mine in a paint store. It has a threaded hole for a paint roller handle even. Not quite as big but the bristles are big and stiff so it works purty good.

Les, is that a goose berry the dog is a sniffin?

I used a giant umbrella for a while. Worked good for shade and as long as the rain was not to hard or sideways it kept me dry also.

Shabumi, i like that. Nice, simple, elegant. The opposing twists almost look like knots. I am correct that is just four pieces twisted and welded on the ends? Glen, thanks for the tip on the welding rods. I have about 300,000,000 old rods lying on the floor of my barn. (exaggerated but there is a whole bucket load) Now i have a use for them. Most are missing a lot of flux and i figured they would just be scrap.

SHARKS IN THE OHIO NEAR CINCI !!!! Just had to tell me that didnt you, Aus. With the tornadoes last week and sharks in the river, we very nearly ended up with a real Sharknado.