Les L

John, I just saw your post on getting covid, I hope all goes well for you and your family. I got it last September, after being vaccinated and boosted, but had very little symptoms, just a scratchy throat and a cough in the evenings no fever or aches. I got the infusion after the positive test. The worst part was convincing my wife that I could quarantine in my shop instead of the back room to keep from going crazy. I'll keep you and your family in my prayers.

Thomas, it sounds like your retirement is going about the same as mine. The first month I threatened to change my name to “ I need “ because every time I answered my phone that’s the first thing I heard. Two years down the road and I’ve only completed about 1/4 of the projects that I had put off for retirement, I’m not complaining, because it sure beats showing up every morning to a place that doesn’t appreciate your work and I don’t hear any complaints when I say “not today, but it’s on the list and I’ll get to it when I can”

I have the single burner mr volcano and have no complaints

Templehound, every time i see one of your posts I feel like a kid on his birthday that can't wait to open his present and see whats in the box, and as usual, you did not disappoint.

Billy, one of the good things about flame coloring copper, if you mess up just stick it in an acid bath, wash it off and try again. I’ve used vinegar, but making a bath with PH minus for pools works better and quicker

Billy, I use a small brazing tip, # 1 or0, with a small flame, you have to tap a spot then move to another spot go back and tap the first spot and so on until you get the colors you want, you just have to be patient and sneak up on your colors You can cool an area if it gets where you want it

FYI for anyone interested in the conference, it has been moved to the fairgrounds in Denton. They also placed a registration link on their Facebook in order to get an idea on headcount

Probably why he didn’t bring them home

There is going to be a teaching tent there also, but but they haven't provided any details on it or who is going to be teaching yet.

Mark, and most of the presenters will be there there whole time, you will have a lot of opportunities to talk face to face with them. Every time I’ve seen Mark at an event, if he’s not doing a demo, he has a forge set up and is swinging a hammer and explaining what he’s doing.

He can use the plows in his wife’s garden he’s building, I just don’t know who’s going to pull it

Thomas, those wheels look like hay rake wheels, the one where you set in front of the tines and raised/lowered the times with a lever beside the seat

Billy, great job on the bracelets, are you going to flame color them?Alexandr, beautiful as always!

Trooves, think of walking into a room full of your grandfathers (no matter the age of the smith) and everyone wanting to help you, just make sure you wear proper clothes, footwear, safety glasses if you get close to a forge, listen to advice and be polite. At our club meeting last week a 70 yr old smith worked with a 12yr old, that joined our club three months ago, and at the end of the day he said he hasn’t had that much fun in the last 20 years, but the young man met all of the conditions I listed for you

Trooves, look up Crossroads Forging Conference on Facebook, it will be a great chance for you to meet smiths in your area and a good learning opportunity for you

Good job

Nice knife

Donniev great job on the coat hanger, the only thing I would consider/recommend changing would be changing the screws to something that looks likes the rivets you have on the frame and add some texture to the frame. I think the slick finish on the steel and the screws take away from the great work you did on the project and makes it look like some of that “hand made stuff” you can get from a store

I was able to acquire a 88 bronco a few years back, that had been sitting for about 16 years, the engine was froze up, I couldn’t turn it over with a 3 ft cheater on the crank. I was familiar with the 50/50 ATF acetone mix, but used Marvel mastery oil instead because I could get a gallon for less than 2qts of atf. I filled the cylinders with the mix, let it sit for a week then turned the engine over with a 12 inch ratchet. 30,000 miles later and no problems yet, worked great and saved money

I’ve purchased several items from online and and always had excellent customer service, including getting calls from them to discuss the most inexpensive way to ship items In order to save me money. Definitely a customer oriented business. My only complaint, I stayed I a cabin about 10 miles from their business while on vacation last fall and didn’t realize it until I ordered something this spring and saw the address. I feel like a big dummy every time I think about it. I have a set of those drifts, I smoothed mine off with a 60 grit flap disk using light pressure and they work great

Some of the demonstrators got together and put together Crossroads Forging conference May 12-14 in Aubrey Tx, about 12 miles from the original. No entrance fee. You can look it up on Facebook

That’s why your called a blacksmith

John, don’t let them get under your skin, I love the pictures of your shop because it proves that I’m not the only person that has a shop that looks like mine I tell my wife that it’s my security system, I’m the only person that can find the good stuff, I just don’t tell her how long it takes me

PB, so they left the broken screw, will that give you problems in the future? I hope you get well soon, I could see you were having trouble the last few months. looking forward to seeing the boot knife finished

Templehound, another beautiful example of your work, well worth the seven year wait