Randy Griffin

My dad once told me how they used to sit around at work and see who could get their knife the sharpest. Said they could clip a hair. I have always been good at sharpening but never could clip a hair. Until I made a kiridashi from a ball bearing race. Show your sharpest knife.

I found this blank I cut out a couple years ago, before my surgery, and decided to harden it. Started to draw file the bevels first and the file wouldn’t cut. I cut this from a piece of bandsaw blade and heated it to straighten it but never quenched it. Wonder what kinda steel it is. I can tell you this much, it’s sharp steel. I can rub it across the top of my arm hair and it will grab and clip hair. It takes a scary sharp knife to do that. I got some more coming. A friend that owns a sawmill contacted me yesterday and said he had several I can have if I want them. 

blade is 6”.

Depends on a few things. Go see it and look for a brand. If it’s one of the better brand names and passes the rebound and ring test I’d say it’s probably worth $150. It still has the sweet spot over the waist and horn. If it passes the tests it’ll be a step up from the piece of track. Offer him $100. He might take it.

Prolly a fossil long gone and the void left filled with silt which turned to stone.

IDK. But sounds better than Frazer’s guess. 

Not all today but over the last few. Made some fullers for my post anvil. So far they work pretty good. I’ll give them a good test next week. A ball fuller and top and bottom fullers.

I also built a stand for my port-a-band.

I guess I’m a old guy. 

I always got my phone but will go stumbling through a dark house looking for a flashlight.

I ran across a fisher shaped object this morning. I could only get between 30-50% rebound. Didn’t have a hammer but the bearing wasn’t getting much ring. No marking other than 10 cast on one foot.

My grandfather was born in 1905. He used to tell me about coon hunting by the light of a torch made from lighter wood. We got it easy.

Mag light made one that took a single aaa battery. I used it hanging around my neck to walk to my hunting stand. Wish someone made a led that small.

I been carrying a flashlight every where for years until I had surgery 2 years ago. I still grab it from time to time. My latest was a stream light pen light in my shirt pocket. I had it about 5 years until I lost it a couple weeks ago. Luckily I got several backups. I also buy cheapos when I see them. If I’m in the shop and need a light I want to reach one without getting up.

Not today and not what I did in the shop but what I did to the shop. Had a pretty decent week last week so got it a little closer to the way I want it. Built the work tables on both sides and got some of my equipment mounted where I want it. I can sit in my swivel chair and forge. Spin right for my vise and left for my drill press. Still a lot to do but I’m a little closer.

Also weigh it. Maybe 194 lbs. but I agree with flatliner, I think it’s probably a John Brooks.

Sisco has a flat bottom. I think they were made by Soderfors.

Looks Swedish. Can we see the bottom?

Frosty, you didn’t lose a memory. It just went on microfiche. You’re too old to have a hard drive. 

The face is completely gone except on the heel. You would do better to go to the scrap yard and get a big piece of steel. I wouldn’t even make an offer on that.

Actually, I think that is called ghosting. It’s caused by the harmonics of the tool. In this case a saw. I’ll try and find some info.

Edit-found this. Good explanation of what’s going on.

If you measure the distance from the edge of the material to the edge of the "eye" along the cut lines, you will find that the distance is always the same. You will also find that this distance is also the same as the tooth-to-tooth distance on the blade of the band-saw used to cut the material. Essentially, the "eye" is just a "ghost" of the material edge shifted along the cut by one blade tooth and will match the shape of the material. Hex stock will make a hexagonal "eye", octagonal will make a octagonal "eye", and square will make a rectangular "eye". 

The teeth on the band-saw blade are slightly offset, in alternating directions from the center line of the blade. This is done so that the kerf (width of material removed) is larger than the thickness of the main part of the blade so that it does not (ideally) rub on the material and build up heat. 

The ghosting happens because as each tooth enters or exits the material, rather than cutting slightly to the side of the previous tooth due to its offset, the side of the blade not it the material flexes to the side causing the kerf to be narrower. On the entrance side of the cut, when the next tooth enters the material, the blade flexes to the other side giving the previous tooth sufficient support to cut offset from the blade center-line like it is supposed to. Once the tooth ahead leaves the material the blade outside of the material again flexes to the side such that the following tooth again rides it the center of the cut. 

If you were to carefully measure the faces of both sides of the cut, you would find that the kerf in the "eye" area is wider that the kerf near the edges. 

If it is really and issue, less cutting pressure (and/or slower down-speed) will also reduce the side-load on each tooth, reducing blade deflection and "ghosting".

In theory, yes, it would work. But, your cylinder ports would need to be oversized and your up stroke is still slow. If you force too much fluid through standard sized ports you’re in danger of over pressuring the rod end of the cylinder.

At least they didn’t have to feed the rototiller every day. 

Farming with a mule is another dying art. My grandfather was good with them. He never set foot on any of my dad’s tractors.

An old store just up the road from me got renovated a few years ago and they found all sorts of stuff. Best of all was an old ledger. One thing that stood out was the purchase of a mule. The mule cost like $10 and the man made payments every fall after harvest until he paid off the debt.

49 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Went and picked up our new Hot Water Heater.

Why do you want to heat hot water. 

Pretty sure he was chopping cotton stalks to clean up the fields after harvest. He always had a big garden and at least one field of corn. Corn was for meal and feed. The corn stalks were harvested and stood upright in the field until needed. They were animal food. He called it fodder.

This one’s also sentimental. It was my grandfathers. He farmed with a mule his whole life. Cotton was his biggest crop in the early 1900’s.

Speaking of horse drawn equipment, I thought this was long gone. I haven’t seen it in 20 years. Found it on the back fence. Horse drawn stalk chopper. Think I’ll get it out and set it up somewhere.

I got behind a grader like that a few years ago in a Mennonite community. Was being pulled by a team of horses. Had plenty of chances to pass it but I was having fun watching. Never seen one before that day.

My folks had to get rid of my sandbox when I was little.

Cats kept covering me up.