ThomasPowers Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 I was off camping and didn't see if there was any updates on the possibility of Dr Jim giving a course on advanced Pattern Welding in Nov in NV. As I was first on the list I figured I'd re-start the thread while waiting to see if it can be restored. Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPH Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Thomas: I am still pondering this over....it looks like it will happen..just gotta figure out dates. However I just got notice that my NG unit might be called upon for "border duty" so I might be pulling personel...I dunno.. Anyway I will look at dates..seems everyone is all over as to whether this should be during the week or over a weekend. It will be the first part of November, I do know that much... Well I am back to re-arranging my studio... JPH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellen Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Well, I was number 3 on the list, so I just wanted to get back in here; anytime Dr. Jim wants to have the class fits my schedule. Heck, I'll make it fit. I am still rereading and re-viewing all 3 of the bladesmith books and the VHS tapes. I have my 15n20 and 1095 in transit, just bought 40' of 1 X 1/8 flat steel to start practicing my billets, and John Larson is building a 115# air hammer for me. Needless to say I'm excited! Hope the flypress page and the Augustus page are not both gone; the power hammer page I just started only had a couple of posts so that is an easy one to restart; my flypress tooling, the pictures are still on my computer so I can repost them to the gallery. Sorry this had to happen; mighty fine site here and I look forward to it getting back up and running. I sure missed it when it was down! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPH Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Ellen: Yeah we had a good solid discussion going on ref the fly press/Augustus subject. I finally got mine installed, man I HATE drilling holes in concrete..my teeth got rattled by the rotor hammer but hey, it's bolted down. Still need to do the bench and then a general clean up of the studio. RPFS really has an impact on this old man...I have been swinging a hammer now for close to 40 years, full time since October 84...I figure I have another 25 years of good work left in me before I slow down a bit... I just can';t wait until I get some tooling done for Augustus..still have to figure out what to do for a base plate holder..I dunno if I will go with a hardy kind f arrangement or use the 1" dia bolt that the ram needs... In fact methinks I will move this subject back up to the general blacksmithing heading... JPH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellen Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Howdy Jim, Well I have a new Fly Press page going under Blacksmithing, and have referenced Augustus Squeezer there, so let's let 'er rip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 2, 2006 Author Share Posted June 2, 2006 If you peruse a map you will find that both Ellen and I reside in states that have a border that you might be sent to patrol my old card read "have forge; will travel"... Sounds like a road trip to me! Of course this would be more like migration era smithing...but I bet a dandy "Border Patrol" knife could come out of it. Anytime I'm on a business trip I get forge withdrawl. Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellen Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Jim, sometimes our Thomas has good ideas, I live about 150 miles from the border, have a guest bedroom, and a messy shop but lots of nice tools in it. Feel free to make this your home away from home if you get sent this way. My power hammer won't be here till July, but lots of other goodies here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 2, 2006 Author Share Posted June 2, 2006 I'll sleep in the barn if the horse isn't too picky! Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredlyFX Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 I'd be very interested in the class if you offer it Jim. Please add me to the list. I'm only about 4 hours from you, and have an Aunt in Henderson who I'm sure would let me crash. Weekends are better for me, but even if during the week I'll take vacation time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellen Posted June 3, 2006 Share Posted June 3, 2006 Thomas, there are all sorts of possibilities. The guest bed is a king, so it would hold two or three if Jim were here at the same time. Otherwise, a cot can be set up in one of the other rooms, the barn is o.k. but warm this time of year, even in the evening, likewise the shop, since it is steel......so not a problem. When I was into bike racing I would sometimes have ten overnight guests, bags and air mats rolled out everywhere, gets the job done. We are not fancy here, but we're hospitable, just don't look for fancy cause it's not here.....grin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandpile Posted June 3, 2006 Share Posted June 3, 2006 I have a custom show in OKC, OK. on the 4th & 5th of November. If I can't make the deal. Maybe THOMAS or ELLEN will be kind enough to clue me in??Grin. Chuck Bennett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellen Posted June 3, 2006 Share Posted June 3, 2006 Not to worry Chuck, what are friends for? I will be at the workshop, taking notes and nice pictures to post, Thomas will be at your house, paying his respects to Mrs. Chuck (Helen), and cleaning out your workshop for you so when you get home it will be nice and empty, and clean and ship-shape, Bristol fashion. You're lucky to have friends like us! Thomas never charges more than $50 for this service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandpile Posted June 4, 2006 Share Posted June 4, 2006 Heck, that ain't such a bad deal. If'n he would PLUMB clean it out. There is parts of this barn I have not seen in two years.Grin. Just leave the stuff alone that is still outside. chuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellen Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Chuck, he, uh, starts his cleaning with the anvil, then the blade and tool steel stock, hand tools, belt grinders, post vises, you know that sort of pesky dust collecting junk. He's so charming about it all the MRs. usually fixes him a nice lunch of chicken fried steak, pie, all the trimmings. He does a good job. Fast too. It's good to have solid friends like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandpile Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 THOMAS P. might get in a small jam if he goes from the barn to the Knife shop. All the higher priced goodies are in the Knife shop and a 170/90 lb Greater Pyrenees takes up most of the floor space during my absence. He has a disgusting manner of attack. He just barrels forward kind of like a German tank and bites a chunk out of whatever he runs into. Sometimes this a gut hold and sometimes on taller people than my self, it is quite a bit more painful and lots more permanentBOG. Chuck P.S. At the present time, there are 17 dogs in and around our place. Only ones pinned up are 6 Pyrenees pups.grin. Most belong to my oldest daughter. We also have her 10(ten) horses here, as we speak. NO grin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 5, 2006 Author Share Posted June 5, 2006 So not only do I get a powerhammer but a nice fur rug for the floor too? Thanks for the warning---of course I heard rumour that while I was cleaning out your place someone else would be cleaning out mine with the net result of a bunch of smithing stuff gradually travelling westward... GP's are one of the sheep dog breeds that are "designed" to stay with the flock and cause trouble for predators rather than small fast dogs designed to herd sheep. Llamas are being used a lot for this task nowdays. I used to live in OKC; but don't get over that way much my "ex" girlfriend lives there and 20+ years later my wife still doesn't think I should visit my friends there. Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPH Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 And people wonder why I built a redoubt between the house and the studio krall, some 8 ft high from mealy bags with firing steps on the inside.....I can hear the singing now...Oh there soldiers stop your dreaming..can't you see their spear points gleaming.???... Where's my red coat, Martini and Webley?? Already got the Gatling in position to support the redoubt... JPH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 6, 2006 Author Share Posted June 6, 2006 Better the Fuzzy Wuzzies---"a first class fighing man" than to roll to your rifle on the afgan plains when the women come out! If you catch my "drift". Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPH Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 Thomas: I had a thought that you "Kip-pelled" a bit...just like a British soldier... Whahahahaaaaa Now where'd that regimental beastie go?? Din!! Din!! JPH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellen Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 "and heres to you fuzzy wuzzy with your hayrick head of hair, and here's to you fuzzy wuzzy at your home in the Sudan, and here's to you fuzzy wuzzy for you broke a British square" or something like that. It's been a while. Churchill made some fine points in "The River War" if you ever get to read the uncensored version.....he describes what might happen if technology should come the way of the inhabitants of the middle east...... Anyway, I'm not about to clean or help clean anybody else's shop unless invited and supervised. Life is too short, and my own shop could use a good cleaning.....but not the Thomas style of cleaning; he's already been kind enough to offer.....grin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 6, 2006 Author Share Posted June 6, 2006 I used to live in a "bad" part of town in Columbus OH and having the shop cleared out was an on-going fear till It got full up of scrounged stuff and then fear of being sued when someone broke in and hurt themselves trying to relieve me of my junk. The basic rule was that all tools that would fit in a 5 gallon bucket lived in the basement and only when used would they go out to the shop. I had a break in a couple of times---had to fix the doors but nothing stolen. I particularly liked the one where they pulled open the doors to where I had several thousand pounds of wrought iron plate stored, plate that had been throughly mangled by a demolition contractor to be sort of like a large scale rusty slaw shredder---I checked for blood but I guess they were smarter than you would have thought... Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPH Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 THomas: I also use to live in a less than ummmm "savory" area in Los Angeles but I never had to worry about anything vanishing or break ins..Seems there was a rather viscious rumor going around about this crazy guy who lived at my place who could bend red hot steel in his bare hands and a few other things.. Couple that with the fact I still had hair back then and being the petite little one that I am..no one bothered me....hummmmmm.. Anyway to get this back on subject I havedecided that it will be 5 folks...each will bring three bars of laminate..sizes I will fgure out for patterning.. I will show a simple surface manipulation that can serve as a base for many more patterns..a simple basic twist and then how to twist and weld a multi piece composite... Folks will need to bring their own hammers...hammers being a very personal thing.... More info will be available as I come up with it.. JPH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellen Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Sounds mighty fine Jim. I have a billet ready to weld tomorrow AM. For practice, but the good stuff should be here soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 7, 2006 Author Share Posted June 7, 2006 I have some bars I welded up for my helmet project sitting around waiting to be twisted and welded together---doing the chevron pattern thing. They could be "sacrificed" though they are pretty long and not too big in diameter. (5/8+ ?) Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellen Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Well, first practice billet went in the forge about 5:30Am-ish. Managed to break my quart bottle (glass) of supersaturated borax flux first off,so ending up fluxing the old fashioned way...a long handled spoon and powered borax..not anyhdrous. This was an 8 layer biller of 1018 wired together after having been ground to get rid of mill scale and so forth so I started with bright metal, baling wire and a billet 8" long by 8 layers thick. It welded up o.k. took me a few trys to get the places I missed, and I should go back and get one or two more heats just to make sure. I took a rest interval and added 1" of additional kaowool to the forge, plus a nice coat of ITC 100. Figured it might help some. I'll pick up a kiln shelf in town today as the bottom of the forge catches hell with the liquid borax. All in all for a first try I was quite happy. My goal is to weld up one or two billets a day, more as I get better, and next week the "good stuff" will be here....1095 and 15N20 so I can try for pattern effect. I bought 54" of 10" sq heavy walled steel tubing last week, so will weld it up for a deeper quench tank. I also ordered some 5160 in 2" width by 1/4" thick from Admiral and hope to try my hand at a claymore. They run in the family and I would like to make one, crude though it may be. Jim, what thickness of bronze wire should I get for the handle, and should it be phosphor bronze or alloy bronze? Both are available from McMaster Carr and I want to start wrapping handles. Thanks! I'm excited! I can twist it with the electric drill set up you show in one of your books....... sorry to be a pest. You can take your frustration out on Thomas. He's used to hard knocks. Grin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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