Frosty

Yes, Fallen Angel is what I saw on my first look but got distracted by the rest of the photo spread. I'd LOVE to see it installed. It's gorgeous, it strikes it's message straight you your hind brain. Frosty The Lucky

That depends entirely on what you wish to do. A rasp removes material FAST, a double cut leaves a smoother surface gut it's still pretty rough. I don't recall how the tooth size is rated but they run from rough to fine. then you get into single cut files commonly known as draw files which run from serious business coarse to baby butt fine. What shape do you need? There are hundreds if not thousands of different file shapes and purposes. A steam locomotive shop has it's range of files, as does the local furniture hardware maker, not to forget the locksmith, jeweler and think of the watchmaker's files. How about blades? There are files for every basic style blade, you need one type set to make oh hunting and skinning call them basic utility knives. How about the knives on a harvester? That's another world of shapes and cuts. Surgical instruments probably a smaller category but one of it's own nonetheless. Die makers riffles, how could I forget the riffles? Files and file making is a world unto itself. I won't go on for now. But you asked a general question with literally tens of thousands of possible answers but didn't tell us what you want to use the tings for. It's like asking a group at large what kind of cookware should I get? Files are a great subject you just may have spurred a good conversation. Frosty The Lucky

I'm blanking on the name of the artist, "Winter" maybe? Anyway you used to see his little models on sale everywhere. They ran the gamut from cathedrals to peasant cottages and he made a LOT of Gothic style. I knew a few people who collected pieces of one style/theme or another and made towns and villages. Very detailed pieces probably averaging 6" on a side. Everything was made to the same scale and detailed to the extreme. The one thing he was renowned for was hiding a mouse somewhere on the building and you'd see folk standing around the recent release looking for the mouse. Outstanding pieces one of the few things I kind of wished I'd collected. About blacksmith shops, he made quite a few and they ran the gamut of architectural and regional style all fully equipped lacking only the smith: From the: simple leanto smithy to water powered forge factory. Finding a blacksmith kit in a farm building was the norm. I hope someone here remembers the Artist's name so we can Google pics. Frosty The Lucky

HOLEY MACKEREL you guys had a GOOD TIME! Thanks for the progress pics on Andrew's sculpture it's going to be a showcase piece where ever it finds a home. The crawling winged sculpture is kind of creepy but creepy in a hypnotically attractive way. I hope someone here has pics of it from different angles. PLEASE! You guys are doing some high end work. Frosty The Lucky

We were drilling a bridge abutment location during summer so we weren't burning the tree carcasses the track rig generates driving through the woods. It was also bear company so we were packing. I'd just stacked birch rounds in a row to do some slug testing. The Gun penetrated about 14" max from about 20 yds. The 12ga. rifle was a world different, recoil is a punch to the shoulder where the Win 12ga. is a sharp shove. Instead of a shotgun boom it's a BIG rifle crack. The slugs literally toppled the first two birch rds. and stopped half way through the 3rd. The factory loaded copper "solids" I tried are junk, they're over thought hollow points. The business end of the slug is drilled about 1/3 of the way into the slug and the THIN sides are cut into quadrants. Even coming out of the smooth bore they were hitting the target sideways at 30', not yards, feet. Firing one out of the rifle was worse, the "expanding" blades were scattered over more than 1' and the remains of the slug hit going backwards. Junk rounds unless the barrel is in contact with the target and what's the difference in that case. Oh yeah, the tree attack I figure it's some kind of cellulose revenge but hardly for plugging some birch rounds. I figure driving a 47,000lb.+ track rig over thousands of trees a year and making "warming" fires of the Bon type during inclement weather, heating with wood for 40 years, etc. is motive enough. That wasn't the first time I've been hit by a tree, the worst but not the first. We were on a job in S.E. and the hillside we were traversing was too steep to risk just driving the larger trees down so I was cutting in front of the rig while the another guy was cleaning up behind us in case we had to come back on the same trail. I'd gotten so used to killing birch, cotton wood and spruce I wasn't paying enough attention to the bark or I would've realized I wasn't cutting a birch and looked at leaves. Maples grow in S.E. probably transplanted at some time in the past but maple is a TRICKY fell. That was my first experience with a serious kick back. I was standing to the side ready to dodge and it kicked directly at me, hit me in the chest, picked me up and threw me into a hole. I wasn't hurt but boy was that an eye opener. It wasn't a big tree, maybe 8" butt but it had so much energy stored in the trunk it was like a catapult waiting to be fired. Killing trees is dangerous and if you do it long enough it doesn't matter how good you are something you aren't expecting IS going to get you. When it happened to me I was only 3 mins. from EMS. Deb was home and the dogs saw it happen. Yes I'm LUCKY. Frosty The Lucky

Nope no asprin. I was attacked by a great white . . . birch. Charles has everybody puzzled now and then. I think he does it on purpose, another of his endearing traits. Frosty The Lucky

Not if you're the one doing the chambering, I finds it stiffens the knees nicely. Frosty The Lucky

Oh that's a handsome dog, the whole goof thing is an act he's probably smarter than most of the people you see on the road. I like the blackboard cupboard door idea too, a real head slapper. If you were to gasket the doors with stick on weather stripping foam rubber and vent them out the back wall I wouldn't get too jumpy storing low yield volatiles in them. Not gasoline, paint thinner, etc. but sealed oil paint is a maybe. On the other hand not taking a chance you don't have to is a WAY gooder idea. Gasketed and vented floor cabinets might be better. Outside is best though Hmmmm? Frosty The Lucky

Welcome aboard Aditya, glad to have you. We all have a lot to learn from everybody and there aren't many if any places with a longer iron/steel working tradition than India. Frosty The Lucky

A high moly alloy isn't going to move easily HOT, it's tough stuff and air hardening. Frosty The Lucky

Well done. Frosty The Lucky

Only 25 yds? My Win. Defender will only chamber 2 3/4 mag and the 00 pattern at 25 yds. is the size of a salad plate and will punch both sides of a 55gl. drum. Then again that's a SWEET gun, you almost never see fliers. Just a straight pipe an unusually excellent pattern, a lucky find. You'd love my New England Arms 12ga. Rifle. She's a break down single shot but consistently holds a 3"- pattern at 100 yards with punkin balls over iron sights. She'll put a rifled slug through 36" of green birch while the Defender puts rounds from the same box through 14" but not farther. I have no idea what the penetration is with saboted, home machined, copper wad cutters. V8 maybe? I've never known anybody didn't know exactly what the sound of a 12ga. pump chambering a round meant. No dog that's been around humans misunderstands what it means if you bend over and pick up a rock. Your 10 yr. old daughter might not be able to fire a 12ga. a second time but it isn't going to be necessary. Frosty The Lucky

Depends. You can't get a galvy ring shank out of soft wood without breaking the head off. It'll suck the head through the 2"x4" if you pry the boards apart. There's one more downside to square nails, the sharp corners cut the wood fiber so it doesn't put so much pressure against the nail from being compressed. If I'm serious about a square shank holding I simply use a sharp chisel to make teeth across the shank like wide file teeth. Then put a twist on it. You can only destroy the nail and lumber trying to pull it. Burning the wood at least saves the nails, the lumber is toast regardless. Frosty The Lucky

While Alaska has a bad rep for gun violence Nat. news tends to avoid mention when it's a home owner or someone under attack saving themselves with a fire arm. Or local news will report it especially after the last time they wouldn't a couple decades ago. The "victim" bought TV time and reported it herself, she was sponsored by organizations who support the 2nd. Amendment. Local news report such now. Ooh you betcha. One instance 2-3 years ago. 3 thugs kicked in the door when a 73 yr. old man answered the bell. They started beating the crap out of him and rifling the apartment. The gentleman's 71 yr. old wife came through the bedroom door with a .357 Colt Python blazing. One thug DRT, #2 dead and tumbling down the 2nd. floor stairs and #3 arrested at the hospital after being treated for 3 in the back. The surviving thug was consequently charged for among other things 2 counts of murder (his buddies), breaking and entering, assault battery, bleeding in public, etc. The lady wasn't charged, not even close. During the TV interview she was complimented on being such a good shot, five hits and one un-spent round in the pistol. She demurred saying she had to reload, running targets are hard to hit at night. I like dogs, they give you time to chamber a round and you don't have to be too fussy with a 12ga. Frosty The Lucky

Those aren't nails, they're spikes. A square nail has about 22% more surface area for skin friction but being tapered as soon as they start to move they loosen right up. On the other hand if, once you have them headed, you put a twist in them they ain't going anywhere. Nice spikes, well done. Frosty The Lucky

Welcome aboard Smoggy, glad to have you. I grew up in the San Fernando Valley in the Los Angeles area of S. California. An old saying of ours was, "How can you trust air you can't see? No fooling there were days you couldn't see the foothills from under 5 miles. You are SOOOO going to fit in here. How are you at snappy reparte? I personally love a good straight line almost as much as a good pun. Frosty The Lucky

Kumquot marmalade! Mmmmmmmm. Toast is good with anything on it. Well, not that blue fuzzy stuff but if you can spread it, slice it or scoop it it belongs on toast. Frosty The Lucky.

The Louvre commissioned it? Your work is a perfect example that there's no such thing as Junk, just unimaginative people. Your portfolio would sell like hotcakes as a coffee table book. Frosty The Lucky.

I like this one though it's a little creepy but that's fine, it's a good creepy. Have you made scrolling pliers? Same exercise as making tongs with short reins and pointy round bits. If you make two pair you can form these at will, a little practice and it'll be almost as good as bare fingers. Frosty The Lucky.

Here's a surprise for you, Snannon my little sis and I LOVE our veggies! We used to bug Mother for Brussels sprouts, broccoli, beets, etc. Canned veggies nasty stuff. Just thinking about canned cream corn still gives me the willies. . . Eeewww. Canned beans on the other hand are good chow. A good friend from the empire calls the toast condiment jelly and calls Jello, "wibbly wobbly jelly." Frosty The Lucky.

I'm pretty sure Spanky will let you slide this time, she tolerates me. It's really common for folk new to the craft to seriously under value their work. I've been quietly harping on it with Spanky for a while now. With just a little cleaning up I'd be charging 3 digit$ for crosses like your ribbon cross. What your work is worth isn't what you ask for it, it's what people are willing to pay. Never question it if someone WANTS to give you money for your work take the order! There is really no higher compliment than people wanting to pay you for your talent and skill. Part of what we sell in our hand made product is bragging rights. Nobody brags about a bargain basement piece of art. They want to show the neighbors, friends, etc. the REALLY expensive ART they hang on their walls, open the door with, etc. Below is an example. This is my take on a doffer used for prying wool from a drum carder without damaging it. The Doxy finial is a request, I have other finials. I made on for my wife and she entered it in the state fair. Iron work being really scarce in displays I won. Neato but spinners started asking me what I charged. The simple leaf finial and cable twist handles take about 20 minutes using the power hammer so I offered them for $50.00. "Oh, nice." No takers. When I made the Doxy doffer it took considerably longer and I charged the lady $80.00. I can't make them fast enough at $80.00 each for the plain Jane ones, customs can run a couple hundred depending. After all, they're HAND FORGED, finished with lanolin finish and a superior tool!! Bragging rights. Seeing as you're a beginner who came up with a very marketable design idea that are just going to get better, WAY better as your skills improve I think in the $75 range is fair. It won't be long and they'll be going for a couple few hundred to eager recipients. No joking, that is a SWEET design, most of us dream about coming up with such a marketable product. Frosty The Lucky.

Nice shop. Where's the pic of the ugly dog? Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Danny, glad to have you. If you put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance. It's obvious what went wrong. You don't know how to forge weld. There's a LOT more to it than just heating and beating. If you'll stop by I'll be happy to show you how. Frosty The Lucky.

Molten copper has a powerful affinity for oxygen and oxidized copper is junk so it's really important to either keep oxy away and or deoxidize it. Flux in a crucible does two things, it floats impurities to the surface and makes an air tight cover, a prophylactic oxy barrier. Adding charcoal is a deoxidizer it's one of the few things that has a stronger attraction to oxy than copper does. I'm not a caster but that's the general purposes of the two additives to the process. If you join a casting forum you'll have better info available. There are good casting books available as well. I'm sure I'm not telling you something new when I say molten metal is dangerous in the extreme and not something to be taken up casually. Frosty The Lucky.

Nice restoration. It's good to see a fine tool brought back to life. Just no details about any illicit trade you two ply in back alleys. . . Please! Frosty The Lucky.