Paul TIKI

Not looking forward to the afternoon. I have had to shave the beard and moustache so that I will get an adequate seal on the respirator. Now I look funny. I get to suit up and sand potentially lead based paint off of window frames so we can paint. Long sleeves, gloves, long pants, and so on going to go directly into the wash when done.

Beautiful Work Alexandr. I managed to get out in the beautiful weather and get the forge lit. I was able to keep the fire hot which was promising. The first thing I worked on was taking the angle grinder to the old, broken tongs and grinding down the bits so they could maybe hold something. they now hold stuff. Not perfectly, but well enough. Then I went back to work on my own first tongs. I managed to get the area from the bit back to the boss formed. Now I need to work on drawing out the reins. Since the stock is roughly 1 inch by 1/4, I'm debating cutting it off and then drawin

OK, thanks so much for the benefit of your experience! So I think I may stick with the helium tank. As is, I think I will have some more options in design. I'm thinking a front opening and a closable back door in case I have a longer piece that I need to pass through to get the heat where I want it. I do know I'd have to buy more bricks for a brick pile, so I'd have to compare that cost with the cost of Kaowool and rigidizer. As to the wind problem I'm currently dealing with, It doesn't so much give me problems with the metal or heat or anything. The big problem is that I don't w

This is a topic to see if I am on a decent track or if I am simply insane. I have just been getting started and have been getting more and more frustrated with my solid fuel forge. I just don't seem to be getting the kinds of temps I want with any consistency. I also can't seem to figure out how to build things with what I have in order to be able to heat different parts of the metal when the piece is long or oddly shaped. I'm also frustrated that wind and the weather keeps me from lighting the forge as often as I'd like. I do understand that this mostly speaks to my impatience and in

Heck, I recently bought a kitchen digital scale from WalMart that would do just fine. Probably not as accurate as some, but if you do not need accuracy down around 1000ths of a gram it should do fine

Frankly I have have always considered wine to be nothing more than spoiled grape juice. The more odd the spoilage, the higher the price tag. The last time I tried a nice glass of red I felt like I had been licking the inside of latex surgical gloves. Latex with hints of talcum. Beer, however, is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy

that Pizza oven is some lovely work! Nice job.

Frosty, I Intended to do just that. Step one was to beat the material in to roughly a 1/2 by 1/2 cross section back to the boss. I did that for both sides. then was establish the curve and the bit. got that for side one but then the sun went down and I had to start dinner

My first bow came from my uncle who taught me to shoot a bow, the finer points of air rifle marksmanship, and how to handle firearms that were much too large of a skinny undersized kid like myself. A .308 Winchester has a lot of recoil for a 4'6 70lb 5th grader. Anyway, I could hit the broadside of a barn, but only from the inside I'm thinking with so much Osage Orange in the area I might be able to make a selfbow out of that.

I got to finally spend some time out at the forge yesterday. We had several days when the wife didn't have anything planned and there was good weather, but then the winds came up, so outside fire type activities were not a good idea. New Firepot shape is working well enough and I'm getting better heat when I don't skimp on fuel. got to practice some drawing out on a leaf stem and then started working on my first tongs. I cut some 3/4 ish strips off of some 1/4 inch plate my son brought home months ago. I established the bit and a curve on one half all the way to the boss (is that the

DennisCA that looks really nice, especially those benches. It looks big enough to drop a 55 gal drum on for a charcoal retort if you wanted to.

the question is, did they hold the material well enough to hit it? that is the sole criteria for my *in process* tongs

We made a rickshaw kind of device for my old dog, long since passed, as a wheel chair using the wheels from those little bicycle trailers. The framework supported his weight at the hind legs and he was able to pull himself around with his front legs. Anyway, point is, the wheels from the trailer would make an excellent wheel for a stump dragging rickshaw. Lightweight. Already has good bearings and axle. Inflatable tires and has a large radius wheel to get past obstacles. If you can find one of those trailers for free, it could help move some stumps.

She was a pretty girl. So sorry for her passing. It's always a crappy time when that happens. They are members of our families, I don't care what anyone says. We lost one of ours not long ago. We had him cremated like other animals we've had from the past. My wife doesn't consider this our forever home and doesn't want to bury anyone here.

Got to Forge a bit this weekend with one of my boys. First, the re-re-re-redesign of the forge worked great. The firepot is similar to a Whitlox style forge. The tuye pipe runs underneath two firebricks with a slight gap between them. The Firebricks are tilted at about 45 degrees. Drilled the holes about 1 1/2 inches apart. I also did not skimp on fuel and got a good heaping pile above the firepot. It took a bit to get the temp up, but I was able to get some pretty good heat out of it and I was able to heat a larger area. After about an hour using just charcoal I started to add som