Outlaw Style

[HWHII]

Outlaw Style = COOL

So I have been following the great story of the 4B Nazel Hammer.

Today in my shop I had a client call me and he needs a pin for the hinge on his dump truck. It has to be 2" dia. soild 8 1/2" long. I call around to some friends to see if they have some 2" cr. no one does. Called a supplier and they have some but I have to buy 20' and they will ship from PHX on Fri. pretty pricey. He has to have it right now worried about DOT.

So I realize I have some 2" sq.. I'll just run it through the power hammer and make some kiss blocks and make it round and it works just fine a litle bit rough but it works and he is very happy!

So I realize that I did this OUTLAW STYLE and it is cool. Sometimes you just have to make things work and just get on with it.

So thanks Jesse for the phrase. I am going to use it alot from now on.

In my opinion. If I had a sweet hammer like your 4N I would have done anything to get it up and running. OUTLAW STYLE>

[Timothy Miller]

What you did is just plane old blacksmithing. Making due with the materials at hand much like smiths have been doing since the beginning. I from time to time forge out a piece for exactly the same reasons you did. If you only need a few inches or feet it is better to just forge it than get on the phone. its faster and cheaper if you have a power hammer than running out more often than not.

[Sam Salvati]

Outlaw Style = COOL

So I have been following the great story of the 4B Nazel Hammer.

Today in my shop I had a client call me and he needs a pin for the hinge on his dump truck. It has to be 2" dia. soild 8 1/2" long. I call around to some friends to see if they have some 2" cr. no one does. Called a supplier and they have some but I have to buy 20' and they will ship from PHX on Fri. pretty pricey. He has to have it right now worried about DOT.

So I realize I have some 2" sq.. I'll just run it through the power hammer and make some kiss blocks and make it round and it works just fine a litle bit rough but it works and he is very happy!

So I realize that I did this OUTLAW STYLE and it is cool. Sometimes you just have to make things work and get on with it.

So thanks Jesse for the phrase. I am going to use it alot from now on.

In my opinion If I had a sweet hammer like your 4N I would have done anything to get it up and running. OUTLAW STYLE>

Ditto Harry, well put. Thumbs up to Jesse and others who do things they're own way.

[beth]

yes thumbs up! - we like blacksmiths and we like outlaw :)

[philip in china]

Would it actually be better having been forged than ordinary cold rolled?

[Mainely,Bob]

To me "outlaw style" is an old phrase used by the gear heads of the late 60`s/early 70`s.
It meant getting it done no matter what current thinking,or sometimes the law,thought was acceptable.
Most times it meant working under less than favorable conditions with less than acceptable materials and always blazing a new trail.

I came from a time when custom bikes and cars were made in local garages by the guys who owned and rode them as personal statements of both their skills and their propensity to thumb their noses at conventional thinking.
The way it worked was this,you couldn`t(or wouldn`t)pay someone else to do it all for you so you chose a particular skill and learned it inside and out.You practiced that skill until you were good enough that others trusted your competence and then your skills gained you entrance into the larger fraternity of builders who collectively could build something from start to finish.
You bought a clapped out motor and trans and brought it to your buddy(who`s bike you made parts for) and he hotrodded it for you,maybe trying some new ideas he had been kicking around for awhile.From there you brought it across town to your friend who worked in a fabrication shop and had a torch,welder and frame jig in his garage.Between your machining skills and his fab skills you came up with and brought to life a radical new machine that surpassed anything the rest of the group had at the time.Once the grunt work was done you handed the seat off to your buddy who did crazy cool leather work and he worked together with the painter in the group to come up with a wild design to tie it all together.
Everybody did their personal best and knew they could count on others to do the same when they came knocking.These were shared dreams and together we could all push the boundries alittle further.
Once it was finally done you took it out to wow the guys on the streets,impress the girls and see how many tickets you could get in one night(proudly displayed on the clubhouse wall).

Now THAT was "Outlaw style".Your ideas(with help from local experts) brought to life and made by hand by you and people you trusted.
No engineers,architects,code inspectors or safety experts needed.

[Frosty]

Right you are Bob, well said. Did we grow up together or something? Oh wait, we built outlaw dune buggies where I grew up, water pumpers, NO Vee Dubs thank you.

This kind of outlaw engineering is an attitude rather than something "legalistic". It's about getting together with your pack mates and doing what you do as well as you can do it, then taking it out and seeing what it'll do. ESPECIALLY when you can compare it to something out of a "pro" shop.

It isn't necessarily about blacksmithing but it does speak of the heart of the art. It's about taking what you've got and making it into what you want or need. It makes me feel good just thinking about it.

Frosty the Lucky.