Paul TIKI

SinDoc, I feel ya man. I have no problem at least attempting any of the aspects of home maintenance except Plumbing. Electrical, drywall, even repaired some of the ancient windows this place has, but Plumbing? Also, I can do water lines as long as I can cheat with PEX and sharkbite connectors. The drain lines are something else though. They scare me.

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 drawing it out, or maybe doing something else. I don't know. Then I was able to use a 12 inch spike to draw out and make a leaf thingy from start to finish (without breaking the leaf part off). This is kind of a first for me, so I was pretty happy. So one down, 99 to go

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 want ash and firefleas going everywhere. Local farmers frown on people setting the crops on fire. Also, when local authorities say "no Burn", they mean it. Even grilling is frowned upon. I don't think I'd set anything on fire, but polite behavior means happy neighbors. With some basic shop plans running in parallel with a propane forge build I think I'll have a more weatherproof solution. The shop will be some 4x4's sunk in to the ground with corrugated metal walls and roof. Super easy and cheap. It's good to know I'll need a decent regulator. I suspected as much, but I just really wanted to make use of what I have. so, I guess I need to do some cost comparisons and start gathering supplies.

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 inexperience, but.... I'd like to build a gas forge for as little monetary investment as I can, using mostly what I have lying around. There are several things I know I will have to buy and I do not want to skimp on safety. So here is what I have in mind. The forge body, I think I have an old party Helium tank in the basement. It's a bit smaller than a propane tank used with most common gas grills, and the metal is substantially thinner. It's empty, or nearly so and I can bleed it off before cutting. I think I will leave it standing upright as a forge, unless there is a benefit to turning it on it's side. I will line it with rigidized kaowool, probably 2 layers of 1" according to the instructions I have seen pinned on this thread. I'll have to buy the liner materials, obviously. For the shelf, I have some soft firebrick on hand. For the Burner, I am thinking one of two things. The Frosty t-burner is one option, though I will have to buy the bits and bobs to make one, or two, according to the final volume of the forge body. I need to do a lot more reading on this subject. The other Idea that just recently occurred to me would be to create a naturally aspirated ribbon burner. I might be able to carve out an existing firebrick or two. Another Idea that may or may not be possible, feasible, or advisable would be to use the rigidizer material to cast it. Depending on the cost of the needed casting material, I may just do that instead. In short, use existing firebrick, cast with stuff I'll have on had from lining the forge, or buy actual casting material. Or just go with the tried and true T-burner. Here is where the main sanity check is: The regulator. I have the connections and hoses from 2 different gas grills already on hand. the Hoses are not cracked or anything. the connection to the propane tank is in good working order. Is this a decent kind of regulator, or do I need to spend the cash to get one with dial so I can tell how much pressure I am getting. I just don't know enough about these things to be able to judge for myself. Can I use what I have or is it plain and simple safer to buy new stuff. It's going to be a long process, probably taking most of the summer to get there as I buy the bits a little at the time. And yes, In the mean time I'll keep practicing with the charcoal forge. I have also thought of using firebrick to build the whole body of the forge, but I have zero welding skills to make a framework What do you guys think? Am I missing something and is the proposed reuse of the existing connection materials from the gas grill nuts.

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 right word, where the rivet goes through). I intend for these to be bolt jaw tongs. Next time I'll work the other half and begin drawing out the reins. Noticing I still need to work on the hammer control. I guess that will come with time and practice, just like any other skill. Slight aside. Indoor projects have been with a lot of wood, and even though I'm still at the 'wood butcher' stage of carpentry, I am improving and I have been watching some youtube videos on archery. do we have any bowyers out here? From what I have been watching, that particular art looks interesting too.

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 some corn to keep the height of the pile up and it would 'coke' up nicely at the fire compacted down. less residue and the smoke from the corn was pretty nice smelling. Didn't bother the wife's asthma as bad as a pure charcoal did. A lot less fire fleas too. I did have to stop occasionally to clear the channel to keep the air moving, but that quickly became a part of the routine. The routine we settled on at around hour 3 was heap up with charcoal. As things burned down, heap up with just corn the next 3 times to maintain the height of the dome. Then clear the channel to keep airflow going and heap up with more charcoal. After that, it became a matter of practicing drawing material out. And a little practice on tapers. I have a favorite material to work with now, and that is 12 inch by 3/8 non galvanized landscape spikes. I can get a box of 4 for 2 bucks or 25 for $11. It's small enough to heat fast and it's already a pretty convenient length to begin with. I'll try to remember to get pics of the forge redesign after it stops raining and I clean the remaining ash out.

great score! I need to start a quest for a better anvil. My old pig iron one has taken a beating. I still need to save up to have cash on hand to start the TPAAAT, so Improvised is the way to go.

Throw away society irks me. There is so much that people can do, including "upcycling", that trendy word meaning to take something old and make something else out of it. My favorite Music Machine is Ampenstein, which is an old Cerwin Vega car amp powered by a computer power supply and the tunes come from my phone or an old mp3 player. I have a set of bose speakers hooked up to it that belonged to dad. The on/off switch is an old fashioned 2 blade knife switch, a little brother to the big ones you see in old mad scientist type movies. I have a desk fan that used to be a fan in an old microwave attached to a different power supply (just to the switch, the rest of the PS is dead. I love to do stuff like that.

I have a buddy in Las Cruces who put in for an elk and an Oryx tag. He likes the Gila area for Elk, although I don't know where he went when he pulled an Oryx tag a couple of years ago. I think at one point he went to an area very close to the White Sands Missile range.

Sorry, but unless you are letting it go for around $5k, I can't afford it at the moment :). If you are, well....

There is a place in Bryan near College Station called HeliBacon. Helicopter Boar hunts. I'd like the privacy though I might like the income from a deer lease too. I'd want a much bigger chunk of land for that though.

No bag limit as I have heard. There area I saw them on the side of the road was on the long road (hwy 277) from Abilene to Wichita Falls passing through the intersection of No and Where. you notice the roadkill because all you see is miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles. I understand the feral hog population has gotten bad in some areas and they are tearing up lots of good farmland and even causing issues with deer populations.

Now THATS the way to do it! and better 12 deer than the wild hogs ya'll have been getting. Last time I drove to San Angelo I saw at least 4 of those as roadkill and a disabled dodge truck next to one of them.

Used to get flash floods in Albuquerque. Fast moving water can be terrifying. One year a boulder the size of a volkswage got bounced up on the roadway of a bridge over an arroyo (I was a kid, so it's probably much larger in my mind than it really was, but it was enough to cause a lot of traffic problems). There is a whole network of arroyos and there were a lot of them were lined with concrete, so were favorite places for skaters and BMX types. seems like every couple of years some poor kid would get killed by one. One of the weird weather things was that we'd get rain storms but the drops would evaporate before hitting the ground. as the storm passed into the mountains a whole lot of water suddenly hit the ground and would fill the arroyos higher up and that would all come rushing into the city on its way to the river. So some poor kid would say "hey, lets go skate, it's not raining" and then get carried away when the water got there in huge amounts. Flash flooding like that is scary. I can't imagine what a dam breaking would be like.

Had't really thought of the El Paso area. Should have though. There is lot's of little communities and places to go around there.