Les L

John, I want to see a video of you carrying it home on the bike 

I’m sure that all these spots on my body from getting burned while jammed in a corner welding would be considered as cauterized, but I never had one get infected in 45 years of welding

Goods, nice shop and it looks like everyone was having fun 

Jobtiel1, that’s a nice looking axe 

My grandfather was a blacksmith in the early 1900’s and he told me that people would come to him with a fishhook embedded in their hand, he said he would push it through, cut the barb off, heat the shank with a piece of hot metal then back it out. I’ve never tried it and don’t plan to. 

Lee, you can take a half moon file and trim back the refractory to enlarge the hole then coat the inside to seal the glass fiber. Wear a mask while doing it.  My volcano forge was sputtering on low pressure and I raised the burner another 1/4 inch and cured it  

That would be a trip to remember

Lee, In the last pictures you sent it looks like the bottom of the burner is in the forge below the insulation, it should be inside the insulation, not in the forge. 

I put fire bricks under the forge, thinking I needed that for insulation, because I wanted to store the gas bottle under the forge. After using it I would use expanded metal, or sheet metal, under the forge because there is not enough heat below the forge to be an issue 

Great haul Twisted 

Twisted, All you have to do is load a bunch of tools on you sailboat for ballast, turn your sails to the south, dock her when you get here and sell the tools for the expense of having fun with us. Guaranteed to beat sailing the seven seas 

ILS, I've attached some pictures of a stand I made for my volcano forge. It's 37 inch high, so I don't have to bend over, has a 22 inch base with wheels and adjustable tool rest, that folds to the side when not in use. It is very stable and easy to move around in the shop or transport to our club meetings. This is the first of three I have made for two volcano forges and a three burner majestic for our club. If you put wheels on one I suggest installing all swivel, I put two straight and two swivel on the first and will be changing it to all swivel. due to the ease of moving them to different locations. We use the on concrete, stone, and dirt with no trouble. Hope this gives you some ideas.

Billy you got lucky, you’re right if you hadn’t brought the tools you’d be going back home to get them, at least that’s how it always works for me 

Scott, I like your chicken, it amazes me how you and Das can look at a few pieces of scrap and come up with a piece of art, my imagination does't work like that.

 Mothman, you did a great job

Billy, Your parents are going to be very proud to show that off, I've been waiting to see the finished product since you teased us with the legs, and you didn't disappoint us.

Thomas, good to see you back, I was getting worried because I hadn't seen anything from you in a couple of weeks.

I hope everyone stays healthy, be careful with this new covid, it has hit a lot of people in my area.

Thanks Scott. The poster was designed by a member that joined our club last year. He did one for last year also, we’re very proud of his work 

Your right, but that’s why I have backup, a few rolls of flux core, 2 100% argon bottles, 2stick welders and a tig rig. 

You will never regret it

The Louisiana Metalsmiths Association, LAMA, is pleased to announce their annual conference will be held at Beaver Park, in Lafayette, La on March 11 & 12 2023.

Gordon Williams, from Zion Blacksmith School, will be presenting both days. We will also have a toolbox raffle, a craft auction and a blind forging contest on the 11th and several vendors will be present with items for sale. 

Come join us for plenty of fun, great food and a chance to meet new friends. More information is available on our website and Facebook. Feel free to PM me with any questions.

Great job Lary

Billy it looks  like you have some fun projects in the future. I’m glad you like it 

For some reason this page hasn’t shown up for me for a few days, I guess it froze up the same as every thing else the last week. I signed out, then back in and everything seems to be working right now. 

Billy, that’s some nice looking tools, who made the hammer eye punch?

John, that’s a nice haul, but the mention of the exam gloves bring back a lot of bad memories, thanks for not showing them 

That's a mean looking ax John.

Billy, good score on both of them. You’ll like the forge, I have one and the only complaint I had was the satanite refractory that came with it kept cracking. I reclined it with Greencast 94 and am 100% satisfied now 

MJ, that’s a nice watch 

Alexandr, I would enjoy living close enough to you to be able to watch, or help you, with your work and learn some of your techniques, but if I was able to do that I would be broke because my wife would be buying everything that she saw that you make. We always look forward to seeing what you post.