Winston

I have an opinion on this topic that not many have. Most people tell young people to find what you love and do it. I say, do something you like that supports what you love. If you do what you love it becomes work. Everyone I know that ‘does what they love’ has mixed feelings as you have expressed. It is not so much doing it everyday. It is the having to do it everyday to survive. It is the dealing with clients on the mundane. It is the never having time to fulfill your own dreams because you are trying so hard to fulfill someone else’s. While in college my love used to be in a field of work that included metal and creativity. I was working for myself when I had a wealthy client that wished to invest in my business. It would have meant quitting school and taking the business seriously. It sounded great at first. Yet I had seen others try the same. I knew that if I could make enough money elsewhere, I could do my loves without the having to deal with what was mentioned above. So, I stayed in school, and I have been happy with my decision. I might be happier though if I would have picked a profession that supported my loves better. I have a friend that is another example. He grew up in the country and loved the outdoors. He loved the woods and roaming large tracts of land. He had dreams of lots of land of his own. So went to school for his love, and became a forester. He now manages other people’s property and cannot afford any land for himself. He, himself has said he should have chosen another profession he liked that would allow him to support his love of the outdoors. I know there are people who do what they love with no regrets. I know this does not work for everybody, but I think it would for most. Also I want to make clear that I am not advocating doing something you hate. There are lots of things and individual can like. I like my job very much. But I would not call it a love. Just my 2 cents.

I sold it about 6 or 7 years ago. I have never had a title or a tag on any trailer here in Alabama. You can get a tag, but most people I know do not have one unless commercial use. I have heard that they are tightening up on this. Either way nobody asked for one when I sold it. One more reason I like Alabama over California. :)

After reading these I had to tell of my greatest "find" that followed me home. It wasn't a tool, but it allowed me to buy some tools. I had told a friend that I wanted some axles to build a trailer to haul scrap with. He soon after told me his dad had an old boat trailer at his farm, and he wanted someone to just haul it off. I could have it if I could get it moving. They said one hub was seized up. He didn't know how bad of shape it was in. Now I should say this is a wealthy family. Well I drove out to get the "old" boat trailer and found an aluminum, tri-axle trailer, with aluminum wheels, over 20' feet long and not 5 years old. I did not find anything wrong with a hub. I just hooked to it aand drove away. A tire wasn't even flat. I sold it for $2500 4 days later. I told my friend's father to give me a call if he ever wanted me to haul anything away again. :D

Thanks, they are both helful.

Picture 4 and 5 look like a slide pin of some sorts. It looks similar to a pin in NP205 tranfer case. The 2 dips are for some type of stop to catch as it slides. The heavy rust on one end is what stuck outside of the equipment. The slight rust next to the heavy is the part that slid in and out. That is my meager forensic analysis. I wouldn't have a clue what type of metal though.

I am new and slowly reading through everything I can find about blacksmithing. In the mean time I am cleaning out my shop from old hobbies. I have axle shafts, leaf springs, and coil springs. I have read of people using some these but I was wondering if there was a list of what each was good for. Also is there anything else that would come off a truck that could be usefull? I did not want to throw away anything usefull. Thanks.

I have a 227.4# (according to the bathroom scales) Hay Budden. I am a new blacksmith. Got my forge 4 weeks ago. I have an anvil that was my great grandfathers so I never have looked for one or learned about them. I decided tonight to figure out what kind it was. Went out and scraped the surface rust off and found a "HA... BU..." over "Manu..." over "Brooklyn NY". Thanks to google I figured out what kind it was. I didn't have a clue about anvil types. I guess it turn out the granddad bought good stuff. I can't read the serial number though.