Nobody Special Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Afternoon all, First of all, this isn't a post directly about blacksmithing, which is kind of the point. I was planning to go pick up another beehive today, and started thinking about all the nutballs and weirdo....I mean, wonderfully eclectic people I run into in this hobby, and that a large number of them have other hobbies that are a bit outside the mainstream. The more obvious trends I see are of course cooks, hunting, fishing, readers, musicians, and brewers galore (although sometimes some very eclectic music), and almost anything homestead related. On the other hand, I've met guys that build cob houses, sculptors, musical instrument builders, linguists, one guy that built robots. So what else do you guys do? What other weird talents do you have in your skill set? I keep bees and chickens, do casting on occasion, and *gasp* I've been known to knit or work a crossstitch needle. I also like messing with random historical tidbits and recreations. Trebuchets one month, making garum the next, after that, who knows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Teach Jujitsu, tho I am soon about to officially retire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welshj Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Oh boy... did you open a can of worms. I get into alot of stuff. Knives, art, carving, amateur gunsmithing, I do custom cerakote paint jobs for friends and family in my free time. Also get into woodworking, vinyl graphics, stickers and artwork, as well as being a car guy. I live in the country in Ohio- I can go out in my yard, go fishing in the pond, ride 4wheelers, then go shoot, hit the shed and make something or go in and play with toys. Too much fun, not enough time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 I'm boring normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 A butcher, a baker, a candle stick maker, jack of all trades, master of none. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted June 27, 2020 Author Share Posted June 27, 2020 19 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: I'm boring normal. I occasionally see some evidence, sir, to the contrary. Mr. Welsh, So pink.....so very, very pink... I welcome pics, btw. Think of it as a "what did you do outside the shop today?" post. Here's an old one from making mead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welshj Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 1 minute ago, Nobody Special said: Mr. Welsh, So pink.....so very, very pink... I cant account for taste.... my daughters rifle, and her favorite color. Hmm..... mead.... awesome!! I love trying different spirits. I cant appreciate much from them anymore but flavors, as I'm on a medication that... as a side effect- keeps me from getting the most enjoyable benefit of alcohols. No buzz. Sigh. Currently have a quart of legal peach moonshine in my fridge just for the occasional sips. My younger brother is currently trying to make rose petal wine as an experiment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 My wife makes Mead every year. Two of my favorites are one she calls Blushing Monkey banana/strawberry and the other is ripe mulberry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 Welshj: Tell your bro that a lot of the success in making things from rose petals is the variety of rose used. Not all roses are created equal. Probably the best, in my experience, is Rosa Gallica, aka the Apothecary Rose. (BTW this variety was also the Red Rose of Lancaster in the 15th Century) This is the variety that is used to make Attar (or essence) of Roses. Probably one of the worst or least good varieties of roses to use are the modern hybrid tea roses. Generally, the Old English Garden Roses work best although they can be hard to find, wild roses are OK, and modern varieties are the least successful. I believe that it has something to do with the volatile oils in each variety. Most modern roses have been bred for long blooming seasons, color, shape of blossom, and disease resistance and some of the other characteristics such as hardiness and volatile oils have been bred out. My late wife was a rosarian and I managed to pick up a fair amount from her. At our old house we had an impressive garden of Old English roses which looked great for about 3 weeks in early June and just green for the rest of the growing season. I don't know about the newer Knockout roses. Only experimentation would demonstrate their suitability for rose wine, rose water, etc.. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welshj Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 George- I know little to nothing about roses! But I will pass the information along for sure. He sent me a picture of the rose bush in question/use, and a weird picture of the resulting liquid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 I'm reaching into deep memory banks here but this may be an Old Garden Rose variety because it has just 2 layers of petals. Most of the modern hybrids have more layers of petals. My late wife would have probably been able to identify it more accurately with only a bit of research but that is beyond me and all her rose books still need to be unpacked. How it tastes will be the true test of how suitable this variety is or is not. Good luck to you and your bro. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted June 29, 2020 Author Share Posted June 29, 2020 You mention the Rose of Lancaster, and now you've got me thinking of the Mel Brooks joke about the War of the Roses being the only just war. "One day we woke up, and all our roses were gone. Hey, where's my roses, you ain't gonna get my roses, mister." Here's a pic of the hive stand I made this weekend, with the new hive (blue top) we picked up Friday cleaned up, painted, and with a new bottom board and a super added. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 Do honey bees react to color at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 Yes; which is why certain flowers are coloured the way they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 I am a machinist by trade, but plant maintenance at the moment. I bounce around on different hobbies. I have done ceramics, drawing, shooting, gunsmithing, wood carving, leather working, just got some chickens, cars, cars, and more cars. Currently messing with a couple of 1956 Imperial projects. The 4 door is going to be a 4wd with a 12V Cummins, and the 2dr a hot rod. The 60 Windsor 2dr hdt is on the back burner along with the 72 Olds ambulance and 1967 M715. Have some books on soap making, knitting (Mom was a prolific knitter and crocheter), have some industrial sewing machines, want to get a garden set up which is not as easy here in the desert as it was back home, and want to try working with hot glass, My biggest issue recently has been motivation. Several things have been killing it for awhile.. Not sure if the one is full on depression or just sadness dragging me down. Easily distracted to low level activities.....like the internet, and I keep putting off stuff that I know I need to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 I was thinking more of whether the hive colors would have any effect. Bee hives are traditionally white (or tan for woven hives) and I was wondering if the red and blue color scheme would have any effect. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Dear BGD, I can identify because I have been a procrastinator much of my life. About 10 or 15 years ago I went to a psychiatrist and was diagnosed with depression. Depression can manifest itself in that way. It doesn't necessarily mean being sad. He put me on anti-depressants (I don't recall the medication or dosage) and I was on it for several years. I gradually tapered off and while I can still have a tendency to put things off for no good reason it is much better knowing the cause. I wish someone had diagnosed this 50 years ago. However, there were no good long term anti-depressants until the '80s. So, I suggest that you may want to seek professional help, particularly if your employer's insurance will pay for it. It improved things for me. There is no shame in it. This is like having an infection or a cold or Covid-19. Hang in there, Bro. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 I think the covid-19 lock down has a lot to do with feeling depressed, I'm in the same boat about putting off things lately. My first episode was in "89 when my mentor was hit by a car & passed away. This feels the same to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 with all the CV19 down time I keep wanting to procrastinate but I decided to put that off until later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welshj Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 BGD- I fully agree with George's statement... theres no shame in that at all. I've too many a time suffered through bouts and dry spells in depression motivation and drive. I'm an iraq vet, and am diagnosed with PTSD. I take an anti depressant med, and at times- the medication grabs me and I dont get anything done. But, as long as you dont give up entirely- you're slowly winning the fight brother! Btw- drooling and fully jealous of that car list right there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted June 30, 2020 Author Share Posted June 30, 2020 Ain't PTSD fun? I self-medicate for it on occasion. One of the reasons I make mead, although corn whiskey does nicely too. Doesn't fix the insomnia, but it moves it around a bit. Bees see color, and they orient visually. That's why on a sunny afternoon you'll see dozens hanging out hovering in front of the hive. They're new bees orienting so they can find their way home when they forage. In America hives are traditionally white or light tan for temperature control, and also because it's cheap and easy to spot in a field. In other parts of the world, they paint them all kinds of colors, and that's also more common with hobbiests. Up here it rarely gets much above 70, so I don't have to worry about overheating, and they stay warmer in the cool months. You also get less drift (bees going in the wrong hive) when the hives are close together if the patterns and colors are different. Also, it's pretty. You wouldn't believe some of the crazy hives out there. There's at least one top bar hive I saw with a bed and cover built on top. You sleep on top of the bees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Crew Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 I haven't been posting much lately about forging because I have started working on a frame off resto-mod of a 1969 Ford F-250 Crew Cab truck. Here is a picture from when I was still driving it. I have the bed and front clip off and just finished building a 3 inch dual exhaust system with H pipe from the headers back to the bumper. I have a mock up block in it to fab exhaust and do drive train mods. I have replaced the 4 speed standard with a dodge NV4500 5 speed with over drive and a New Process 205 divorced transfer case. power steering and brakes with a disc brake front axle have been installed. Currently I am building 2 new rear cross members and boxing the rear frame to accommodate a 31 gallon rear tank so that the puny 17 gallon tank behind the seat can go away. I found a 1969 428 Cobra Jet motor out of a Torino GT to use in the truck it is at the machine shop now . The motor will be a torque beast when done. I am using a stroker kit for an all new rotating assembly and the heads are getting ported. Going to top it off with a tuned port injection manifold. Next up is removing the cab and getting the entire body blasted and primed. Needless to say my after work time has been taken up. I can post more pics if any want to see them. BTW I miss the cool weather of the pacific northwest where I used to live. Here in Texas it has hovering around 100F YUCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welshj Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 16 hours ago, Old Crew said: I can post more pics if any want to see them. Uh... yeah. Seriously? 428 cobra jet? Drool ..... I wanna see pictures of under the intake, a couple connecting rod caps, the inside of the exhaust manifold, the alternator bolt, the..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 Sounds *neat* but is that a "restoration"? Like the fellow who put a VW Beetle body on a Porsche frame and engine; lots of get up and go; but hardly "stock" anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Crew Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 Thomas This will be my daily driver when done. Thus the need for better power , braking sound deadening and other amenities found in newer vehicles. Thus the term at the beginning of my post Resto-Mod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 Looks great for the Country; I'd avoid the cities in it if I could. (Of course I do that anyway...I shock folks when I tell them I don't live in Socorro NM as "it's too built up for me". I live about 5 miles in the country from it. (Socorro has about 9000 people or about 2 people for every foot of elevation...) So if you are down with modifying things---how about a repousee hood with a Texas Star on it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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