February 12, 20206 yr George that is really interesting.. We have farm granges here still.. I don't know of any super active ones and I have lost contact with some of the farmers so don't know more.. But we do stil have Grange halls that still have the lights on.
February 12, 20206 yr Organizations like that played a large part in peoples lives back before radio and then TV. Now we all "socialize" on the net. (Our cookbook tends to get a bit weird---but then I have a copy of the Roswell Symphony Guild's cookbook with a whole "alien crash" section---"Body Bag Pork Roast" as well as the chocolate amaretto pie. (I tell my wife she can increase the amaretto content until she can serve it with a straw...)
February 12, 20206 yr I remember reading that somewhere on here before and had intentions on doing that. Just never got around to picking some up. Maybe next time if I can remember.
February 13, 20206 yr KYCATS They are very nice. I can't even imagine the amount of time they take to make. If I was making them it would probably take at least 8 times longer and they would probably look like crap still.
February 13, 20206 yr Kycats: You can often pick up rose oil in health food stores in the essential oils section. I've used it on iron roses and had customers be surprised when they sniff the rose as a joke and then actually get a rose smell. I've thought about putting a small bit of steel wool down in the middle of the rose to hold the oil and scent longer. Pure attar of roses which is distilled from Rosa Gallic (aka the apothecary's rose) or Rosa Damescena is very expensive and used in perfumes. (NOT the deadly adder of roses) "By hammer and hand a arts do stand."
February 13, 20206 yr Wow, those roses are perfect. It blows my mind how life like they are. The raw talent on this forum is very humbling and inspiring. Im glad I stumbled upon this forum.
February 13, 20206 yr I was able to sneak out tothe shop this evening for a little time in the shop. Couldn't work hard, since I hurt my shoulder a month ago (tendinitis) and am still recovering. Cleaning up stumps for secondary anvil and tool mount.
February 13, 20206 yr @Arthur210 tu as acheté l'enclume de Stéphane ? Lui as tu pris d'autres outils ?
February 13, 20206 yr Turned out ok. The top ended up getting away from me a bit since I didn't focus on enough area during the welds up there. Ended up just making them thin. However, it certainly came out much better than my first one so I'm happy with the progress.
February 13, 20206 yr We have a lot of the Square C wire political sign holders out here and find they make nice light baskets. We harvest the abandoned (missing a sign) ones a month after the election. Every year there is a crop and every 4 years a bumper crop! For slightly heavier wire the wire that bundles of rebar are shipped tied up with works well; (also free or at scrap rate). My weirdest basket was made from very old, very rusty, barbwire. Hard to weld with all the rust and thinness of the stock; but the flat barbs sure raise some eyebrows. I need to do some more of them as several ranchers have wanted it as a Christmas tree ornament.
February 13, 20206 yr Frazer, nice job.! Thanks for letting us see. There's a couple of political signs in our ditch. I'll get the wire off those. Our neighbors down the road are involved with the political committee in our community. I'm going to ask them if I can get the hook up on old signs to harvest the wire
February 13, 20206 yr It got to be a real problem when I lived in Ohio as folks would abandon the signs on the public right away and they would fall over and get hidden in the grass---until the mowers came by and they did a lot of damage. The cost of cutting off the steel wire wrapped around the mower shafts was huge. The local radio programs started up a contest on who could collect the most and picking went way down in town. (Before the contest I had a smithing friend who picked up 431 one year...) Then they started going to lighter wire and a different design. I recycled 20 from a dumpster behind the local political committee's office one year and then found an unopened box at the scrapyard; so nowadays I don't do more than tell the folks I'm voting for that they can put signs on my property...*IF* they are the older style ones!
February 13, 20206 yr There was one person running for office once whose signs used 5/16" plain steel rod, again in a square C, I sure voted for them to encourage them to run again! (Never saw that type again...)
February 13, 20206 yr Some of our politicians are using T-posts on their signs now. Those don't make it to election day.
February 13, 20206 yr A lot of the newer ones have galvanized wire in an “H” shape (sign slips over the top, bottom goes into the ground). Those should be avoided.
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