K. Bryan Morgan

Ya we got our first TV when I was 8.

I'm with you Frosty thats all I want my cell phone to do too.

Modern technology is a wonderful thing, until it stops working. Then its back to sticks and stones. I mean what did we do as kids and only had 3 channels and a big TV was 19" and only in black and white. If you wanted to make a phone call you waited until you got home or found a pay phone. We had no internet and man had just started into space. Were we so deprived? Or is modern society so spoiled?

The weather doesn't care that your a blacksmith and want to light a forge. Snowing -2f and no one in town will purge a new propane tank. Talk about frustrated.

At the risk of getting my head bit off. Here use this. These SketchUp plugins will do everything you want and even tell you how much stock to start with. All free to use, including SketchUp. Here is the URL. http://www.drawmetal.com/ I've been told all my adult life. Work smart not hard.

I don't know if this really happened or if the writer was just good at spinnin a yarn. But every time I read it. I laugh.

Pocket Taser Stun Gun a great gift for the wife

Just try reading this without laughing till you cry!!!

Pocket Taser Stun Gun, a great gift for the wife. A guy who purchased his lovely wife a pocket Taser for their anniversary submitted this: Last weekend I saw something at Larry's Pistol & Pawn Shop that sparked my interest. The occasion was our 15th anniversary and I was looking for a little something extra for my wife Julie. What I came across was a 100,000-volt, pocket/purse- sized taser. The effects of the taser were supposed to be short lived, with no long-term adverse affect on your assailant, allowing her adequate time to retreat to safety.
WAY TOO COOL! Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home. I loaded two AAA batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button. Nothing! I was disappointed. I learned, however, that if I pushed the button AND pressed it against a metal surface at the same time; I'd get the blue arc of electricity darting back and forth between the prongs. AWESOME!!!

Unfortunately, I have yet to explain to Julie what that burn spot is on the face of her microwave.

Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn't be all that bad with only two triple-A batteries, right?
There I sat in my recliner, my cat Gracie looking on intently (trusting little soul) while I was reading the directions and thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh & blood moving target. I must admit I thought about zapping Gracie (for a fraction of a second) and thought better of it. She is such a sweet cat. But, if I was going to give this thing to my wife to protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised. Am I wrong? So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand,and taser in another. The directions said that a one-second burst would shock and disorient your assailant; a two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a major loss of bodily control; a three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water. Any burst longer than three seconds would be wasting the batteries. All the while I'm looking at this little device measuring about 5' long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference; pretty cute really and (loaded with two itsy, bitsy triple-A batteries) thinking to myself, 'no possible way!'
What happened next is almost beyond description, but I'll do my best...

I'm sitting there alone, Gracie looking on with her head cocked to one side as if to say, 'don't do it dipshit,' reasoning that a one second burst from such a tiny little ole thing couldn't hurt! all that bad. I decided to give myself a one second burst just for the heck of it. I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button, and . . . .

XXXX XXXXXX XX XXX ...WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION . . . WHAT THE XXXX!!! I........... ......

I'm pretty sure Jessie Ventura ran in through the side door, picked me up in the recliner, then body slammed us both on the carpet, over and over and over again. I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, with tears in my eyes, body soaking wet, both nipples on fire, testicles nowhere to be found, with my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position, and tingling in my legs. The cat was making meowing sounds I had never heard before, clinging to a picture frame hanging above the fireplace, obviously in an attempt to avoid getting slammed by my body flopping all over the living room.
Note: If you ever feel compelled to 'mug' yourself with a taser, one note of caution: there is no such thing as a one second burst when you zap yourself! You will not let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by a violent thrashing about on the floor. A three second burst would be considered
conservative .
XXX XX X XXXXX THAT HURT LIKE XXXX!!!

A minute or so later (I can't be sure, as time was a relative thing at that point), I collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up and surveyed the landscape. My bent reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace. The recliner was upside down and about 8 feet or so from where it originally was. My triceps, right thigh and both nipples were still twitching. My face felt like it had been shot up with Novocain, and my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs. I had no control over the drooling. Apparently I XXXX myself, but was too numb to know for sure and my sense of smell was gone. I saw a faint smoke cloud above my head which I believe came from my hair. I'm still looking for my nuts and I'm offering a significant reward for their safe return!!

P. S. My wife loved the gift, and now regularly threatens me with it!
'If you think Education is difficult, try being stupid'.

Thanks Phil, much appreciated.

No, I haven't done a rebound test. How do you do that?

Thanks Artwerkz, I'm having a blast and enjoying getting things done. I got my gas forge yesterday. It's a beauty. Well ok its a metal box with special bricks and ceramic boards in it. But better than anything I would be able to make for a long long time. Two burner with a side opening door for bigger things. I went to the fireplace store today and got some fire bricks for the openings and to set it on the bench with. I'll make a stand for it with wheels that will make it easy to maneuver around the shop. Also got a 40# propane tank today too. I think that just about is everything I need at the moment. Got the anvil, forge, good stump. Need to bring the coal forge into the shed and get it vented outside at some point. That for the future. In a few months anyway. I'm getting a CO/Co2 detector for the shed. And also getting durarock for the floor so I don't burn it up. So getting things set up. Easier to work inside for sure. Once I get everything set up tomorrow I'll take some pics and post them.

Oh no your not the only one by a long shot. Are we two are the only ones who will admit it though, I wonder. There is a support group though. There's a thread about it here somewhere.

Thanks for showing that to us Brian, very nifty. I won't be able to do it so neatly but its a goal to shoot for. What size rod were you using?

Thats what I get for not waiting a few seconds.

I would like to thank everyone for their responses. I am learning a great deal.

Steve, 2mm is about a 1/16"ish which is about what I had in mind for most of the edges and I will be keeping some of it sharp as well.

Youngdylan, Its been done and I know of at least two smiths that have done it. I sure as heck don't want to screw this up. That being said I could always get a small hand held belt sander and use that. And I may just do that.

Don A, I already learned my dustcatcher lesson. I melted a hole in my bench sanders 6" disk dust catcher. I was squaring up a piece of steel. I smelled this melting plastic smell and was wondering where the heck that was coming from. Then I saw the smoke. That upset me. I better not have messed this brand new tool up already. When I found out what was smoking I took it off and cleaned it up. It was too late. There was the hole. Red hot sparks burn stuff.

Tate, Ya the more I'm thinking about it. The more I'm going to use a hand belt sander and do it slowly, carefully and not wear out my files and arms. The Reffinghaus anvils look real good. But dang they cost alot.

I understand Jake not a problem. If worse comes to worse, after break up I may be able to make a road trip to you. It is deffinatly an option. Or, you can mail me whatever you like to. Lots of possibilities. No worries on this end. I am going to get a chop saw and can use a cut off blade in it. That will work just fine. I've done it before cutting steel for construction. And this was the hard c-channel stuff used for comercial buldings. So if it will work for that, it will work just fine on wrought. Just let me know what your schedule looks like and I'll make arraingements on my end. I could always use my hot cut hatchet head in the vise hardy thingamajig. It does get the job done.

That is a nice simple way to do it. I've been thinking about a similar set up but the channel for the dies made out of angle iron. That does give me an idea. I would also have to bolt or rivet it all together. I really need to learn how to weld.

That is one nice piece of work there. Very gothic in its styling. What type of finish are you going to use on it?

When will you be coming down to Fairbanks? I still haven't started radiusing the edges of the anvil. It's just too cold to work in the shop for me yet.

Philip and Bentiron thanks for the responce and the input. I am very happy with the new anvil. Unfortuanately the weather isn't cooperating. Still too cold to do anything yet. I am hoping for a break in the tempratures later this week. I have a very good stump ready to go. Some ideas for a tool rack for it. I'm going to use angle iron and lag bolts to lag it to the stump securely. I just need a nice big piece of chain to keep it quiet and will get that today.

Bentiron, I plan on doing just that. Use files and sand/emery papers to get the radii that I want. Take it slow and don't over do things. If it takes alittle while to get done, thats just fine by me. I know there are alot of working smiths who would do things differently. I am a hobbiest. So if it takes a while, it takes a while and no harm done.

Here's an idea from the American Blacksmith and Motor Shop magazine from 1919. Pretty innovative if you ask me. The plan and description are on page 24. I love google books

http://books.google.com/books?id=1rrmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=Homemade+blacksmithing+post+vise&source=bl&ots=EVR76Ez5Az&sig=C7tcgwyeY2kaheOZ5XxQvcWMGK8&hl=en&ei=XyuMS9mfEY6isgPpmZWGAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CCcQ6AEwCTgK#v=onepage&q=&f=true

The owner of the company sent me an e-mail describing how he radiused his personal Rhino anvils. So much here and so much there. He also stated the reason they don't come pre-radiused is because that is a personal preference that most smiths would like to do themselves. That made sense to me. I'm thankful for all the help. I guess I will get it on the stump as soon as the weather warms up some. -15f here today and just to cold to go out to the shop and work on anything. So, I am gonna sit by the fire with my girlfriend and drink schnapps. Ok so she's working, I'll just sit by the fire and drink bourbon. :rolleyes:

Thanks for the tip Brian, I was trying to figure out a good way to do that. Would 100 grit be ok or would I need something rougher.

Sam, I know. And right now I'm not even worried about the radii. Its more about the technique. I may just use sandpaper and buff it like a par of shoes for all of them. I faced a hammer that way and it turned out real nice. One of those cheap Mexican Tupper's. It was the first smithing hammer I bought. 3 pounder. Did the peen that way to now that I think about it.

Youngdylan, I understand what your saying. Just so you know. I do this for fun. Not to make a living. Not yet at least. Almost every time I tell someone I blacksmith as a hobby they ask if I can make something for them and how much would it cost. I tell them, let be get better and I'll get back to you. So, you never know. It may just turn into a work environment. But in the mean time I'm gonna have fun with it. After saying that you may wonder why am I spending so much money on a brand new anvil. I believe in having good quality tools. I usually only buy them once or twice in a lifetime when I do that. That, and anvils are almost impossible to find in Alaska. People just don't let go of them.

So, I just got back from the lumber yard and got the biggest stump I can pick up for the anvil. I placed it on it just to check it out and I think I got a good one. I may need to shim it level but that is about it. After I use it a while I will make improvements as I need them. Some of you guys do some really innovative things with stumps and stands.

First I would like to thank everyone for their opinons. Having experianced smiths being helpfull to some one who has less hammer time in is very heartenting, and I think a credit to the craft. Now as to what to do with the edges of my anvil. I can see what Jake is saying quite clearly. I understand the physics involved. There have been quite a few other who agree with him as well.

I think that Don A has a good aproach as well. Take your time and get it right. That is a philosophy that has served me well over the years.

I would also like to thank Brian Brazeal for the information about the hardy hole. I hadn't even thought about that. If my hardy tool has a radiused edge and I put it in the hardy it could spall out because it isnt sharp like the hole edge is. And you will get a better fit. I also imagine that most will have a filit that is either ground down, or not. In either case you have a tool that is rocking in the hole, not good, or you are damaging the hole, also not good.

So I will be knocking off edges as time allowes and will take my time and do it right. I have some very good Nicholson files. I can do some draw filing on it and get some of those real sharp edges, and they are very very sharp, down to a 1/8th round. At least to begin with. I will be leaving some edges sharp. But in places I won't be using heavy blows with. Over time I bet I will work it to a good working tool.

How do you go about making the radiuses and how do you make sure your getting it round and not a bunch of flat facets?

Thanks Phil.. I have read that one..I will re-read it. There seems to be quite a bit of difference of opinion on what to do..some say yes by all means radius it.. and some say why would you want to do that. It's difficult to know what to do.

Thanks Jake, Its 242#. I'm going to go to the lumber mill tomorrow and get a stump for it. Then I can use my RR rail anvil for the oliver hammer I'm going to build in the near future. How would you go about radiusing the edges..with a belt sander or a flap disk ect?

Well I finally got my Papa Rhino anvil. If it wasn't 5 deg. F I would light the forge and use it. I don't care that its not on a stump yet. Has no radiused edges or is still on the 2x4 pallet. :D

Wow, you guys are brutal. But that is some seriously funny stuff. :lol: