Scott NC Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 19 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: My mother is from Oklahoma and remembers the dust bowl; when traveling with her she gets quite irate seeing folks getting rid of the windbreaks along the fields. Maybe for good reason Thomas. I thought no-till would help. The greedy ones are actually starting to plant into/close to the ditches along the zillions of miles of gravel roads back home, increasing their "acreage". "Those who don't learn"..... https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2022/05/12/derecho-dust-storm-southdakota-minnesota/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 Things don't change much really, LOTS of modern folks think farming is just putting seeds in the ground and taking the results later. About the same as folks moving west during the land rush days. Written descriptions showed wagons grossly overloaded with utterly useless stuff for the frontier, say pianos, crystal chandeliers, etc. There are places where the rotting remains are still poking out of the dust. Dunning Kruger as applied to . . . everything. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 Lot's of modern folk don't even know food starts with seeds. Even more don't know what's happening to those seeds. On the bright side there's a special 2 fer 1 at bogingles on chicken tenders. Someday it won't support itself anymore. I bet there's some wrought Iron to be had out in the desert. Wagons stuck in sand and all. Or wiped out by certain maurauders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 It was fun to horrify kids I went to school with by telling them you have to KILL the livestock to make the meat they're eating! Seriously, high school kids thought meat comes wrapped and labeled. It was almost as much fun as telling them what part of the chicken the egg actually comes out. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 I was a bit horrified when I walked onto the kill floor. My first job out of the Navy. I didn't last long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 A nice session of trying out ideas and finishing up a couple of half-done projects. Hardened and handled the set hammer I forged yesterday and converted a diagonal-peen hammer to straight-peen: Finished a fork and tried out an idea for a pair of scrolling/bending tongs (would have liked the reins of the latter to be a bit beefier, but we’ll see how well they perform): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KMADDOX Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 JHCC looks like a good day! I like that set hammer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 Thank you! On a side note, the diagonal-peen started life as a ball-peen; I forged the diagonal a few years back to see how I liked it. I didn’t. However, I have been making good use of a heavier straight-peen, so this reforging gives me a lighter one that I’m more likely to put to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KMADDOX Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 I could tell by that profile! I have a ball peen that im going to convert also at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 Had a change in plans; usually we work on the swamp cooler over several days during the cooler parts of the day. However our two Daughters were coming down to help "Mom" clean and sort stuff and it was supposed to hit 96 degF today with 90's pretty much as far as they are willing to guess, one day with a high of 88, 3 days of 95 degF or greater... So My wife worked on cleaning the pad holders while I worked on the roof putting in a new pump, oiling the squirrel cage bearings, cleaning out the water 'tub" and hooking up the water. Then I installed the new pads and soaked them and what a nice difference it made in the house! We may freeze tonight! (Looking forward to it in fact...) However I told my wife that if I was out in the full sun and climbing up and down the ladder multiple times I would be pretty much done for the day and I was right! Next weekend I'll need to go up and clean and drain everything and clean out the spider with some light steel cable, oil the squirrel cage bearings and then it should be good for another month or more! We've had a lot more calcium deposits, CaCO4 and CaSO4, this last year. I figure the drought is making them pump more and deeper from the wells and so we get more mineralized water. So I will be flushing the water supply in the tub more often this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluerooster Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 Out west in the dry country, swamp coolers are the way to go. I made another thumblatch handle thingy, for a gate that I have yet to build. Not sure what I'll use for the finish. I used up the last of my beeswax making patch lube for my muzzle loader. I may just paint it. I still have to make the bolts to attach it. On 5/14/2022 at 5:25 PM, ThomasPowers said: My mother is from Oklahoma and remembers the dust bowl; when traveling with her she gets quite irate seeing folks getting rid of the windbreaks along the fields. Mom, and Dad both grew up in the dustbowl. Mom tells of the time they were headed to Lubbock, and saw cars comming from the other direction all clean bare metal on one side. Granddad turned around and went back home. Later that day the storm hit. Dad said "It was the best of times and the worst of times" (quoting Dickens) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les L Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 Great work everyone! I just got back from the Crossroads Blacksmith Conference in Texas. It was a huge success, and I'm pretty sure it will be the first of an annual conference. I advise everyone to be on lookout for future ones. There were two demonstrators each day and all three days the had free "teaching tent" for students. All material was supplied and the students left with what they made, most were making hammers and hot cut hardies. Brian and Ed Brazeal and Mark Ling were three of the six teachers there. Mark Ling, "The Little Blacksmith" was the Saturday morning demonstrator. Part of his demonstration was on how to efficiently move metal. He made a 2 1/2 lb founding hammer in 4 heats using a striker and a hot cut hardy in 2 heats, then made a large tack, from a piece of 2" round, in 3 heats, which included hot cutting it with the help of two strikers. The first two photos Mark is showing how to make a hexagonal ball on the end of a coal rake, the other three are him beginning the tack, unfortunately I didn't manage to get more pictures or one of the finished product. Frosty, Mark said hi to you and all the other members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 I was just using a pair of Mark's tongs yesterday. Glad to hear he's doing well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 Finished this guy up. Weighed in at ~2 1/2#. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 One of my favorite straight peins started life as a 32oz. ball pein. It was supposed to be a diagonal pein but I'd held it backwards and didn't want a left handed diagonal so I heated it up and just twisted it straight. EZ PZ and it turned out well. You don't see many swamp coolers here but they were everywhere in S. Cal back when. A school buddy lived with his Grandmother who had a really big one on the side of the house. The higher humidity under it made it a favorite spot for spear mint. Mowing the lawn would drive everybody right out of the house but one foot print made the house beautifully refreshing. Mother and Dad's arthritis was too bad so they wanted as little humidity as possible, we never had a swamp cooler and later when they had to we had air conditioning. Cool is nice in the desert, even if we weren't allowed to turn the temp very low. Still not brutally HOT is nice. Can't treat the lime build up chemically, I sure wouldn't want to be breathing or smelling it. I wonder if one of the electronic gizmos that "eliminate" lime build up would work on a swamp cooler? All you guys are having hammer ins, conferences and such goodness. I'm getting jealous, we have bi-monthly meetings and once in a while get a couple of us together. Nice tongs John, how's the flatter work for you? How far did you draw the temper down on the struck end? Pretty hammer Billy I'm looking forward to hearing how it works for you. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 I haven't put the set hammer to use yet, so I can't speak to its utility. Regarding hardness, I only quenched the working face during hardening; for tempering, I put the struck end in the forge and watched the face until the color ran to purple. I am guessing, therefore, that the struck end is still pretty soft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 Purple should be good. Did you chamfer the struck end? A strong chamfer mitigates mushrooming nicely. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 Domed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor84 Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 Oh good morning out there, I haven't done nuthin yet today but I have a quick question to start the day. I'm about to get these finished off today, wink wink, I have oiled these boards with raw linseed oil/terpentine mix. For the steel coat hooks, should those be clear coat or should I just mix up linseed beeswax terpentine mix for them. If they are indoor use. (Blo polymerises quicker right? But raw linseed is food safe I think?) Bare steel, Linseed/beeswax/terpentine, Clear coat, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 Domed is better. I don't believe raw linseed oil is a good choice, it takes too long to polymerize. What do you plan on hanging from your hooks, edible coats and jackets? Oooh, you're a LOT more interesting that I thought. If you want a long lasting food grade finish carnuba wax applied at fresh cup of coffee temp with excess wiped off lasts years and won't stain. There are plenty of wood guys on the forum, I'm sure we'll see recommendations for the wood soonest. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 Frosty, i will let you know on the hammer. But knowing me it will e 6 months before i get a handle on it. For wood i like a stuff called "feed and wax". It is a mix of bee's wax, carnauba wax, and orange oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor84 Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 No of course we don't eat our Coates geez you're silly. I bought the the raw linseed for a couple cast iron pans I want to season so I had it there and like the colour when dabbled a piece of this wood, that's the only reason for food grade coat hooks (not goat hooks) Orange oil, I don't mind spending a buck but isn't that stuff like gold necter? Carnuba wax eh, I'll have to look for it next time I'm at the store, thanks Do you make this feed and wax or us it a premixed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 Bowling Alley Wax and Trewax are the two carnuba paste waxes I'm familiar with, I've been using the same can of Trewax for going on 30 years. It's my favorite finish provided it can be applied to very warm steel. When melted carnuba is very fluid with a very low viscosity so it penetrates virtually open spaces and when cool is really hard. If you don't wipe the excess off thick areas can chip. I have hooks hanging outdoors that have been in the Alaskan elements without sign of weathering since we built the house, going on 25 years. I'm not saying it's the best finish, it's just my favorite. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 18, 2022 Share Posted May 18, 2022 Raw can take a LONG time to "harden" and be ready for contact. Sunlight helps. Food grade Flax seed oil, is good for cast iron; but not so much for wood/steel you want usable in a reasonable amount of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted May 18, 2022 Share Posted May 18, 2022 For the hooks I would use a satin clear coat and for the wood Formby's satin tung oil. Never heard of using Linseed oil to season cast iron pans. I have used bacon grease or Crisco. Boiled Linseed oil is not food safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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