February 21, 20251 yr That depends on what you're brewing doesn't it Billy? You can't make rum without brewing molasses beer first. Not saying I want a nice frothy mug of molasses beer. I grew up in a suburb of LA, one that nearly burned a little while back, missed by about 2 blocks. Though the first place was on a commercial acre but Dad needed room for a metal spinning shop, a 2 car garage, big swimming pool, patio larger than most 1bdr. apartments, big lawn and room for a couple few horses. Frosty The Lucky. Looks like a comfortable reading chair, Alex. What is the transition at the front of the seat, round bar and knotted ropes? Frosty The Lucky.
February 21, 20251 yr 27 minutes ago, Frosty said: Looks like a comfortable reading chair, Alex. What is the transition at the front of the seat, round bar and knotted ropes? Jer, absolutely right, there are such plans. There is also a rope frame below.
February 21, 20251 yr I figured it had a woven rope seat and see how the front is tied. At my age I need to have my feet reach the floor or the front of the seat makes my legs ache and that would kill me if my feet hung above the floor. I like it a lot and it gives me thoughts about methods of tying one to suit my stumpy little legs. Frosty The Lucky.
February 21, 20251 yr On 2/18/2025 at 9:48 PM, Daswulf said: A lot of great work, wish I'd have kept up on mentioning it. It's inspirational. I have an extra anvil hanging around my home shop that I might be able to use at work in the body shop. I'd thought about putting together a forge at work as well. It would be a big help in fabrication of custom parts, and repair of others. Along with making specialty tools that are needed right now.
February 21, 20251 yr 5 hours ago, BillyBones said: It is quite easy. Take 1 pork but and smother it entirely in molasses. I might have to make it with sorghum syrup and call it East L.A. barbecue, aka, East Lower Alabama barbecue, aka Northwest Florida barbecue. Here's an authentication test for whether someone is a true southerner or just a poser. Ask them how to pronounce "sorghum syrup." If they say anything other than "sah-gum surrup," they're fake, and call them a d@#m yankee!.
February 22, 20251 yr Bluerooster, that's my thoughts. My boss isn't opposed to it either. Well he's been in a good mood since I've been building him an offset smoker he really wants.
February 22, 20251 yr "Put these trotters in a poke and take them down yonder to Ms. Lou, just caddy corner at the stop, and bring back a peck of them half runners she got." If you know what i said there you may have a little hillbilly in you.
February 22, 20251 yr 59 minutes ago, BillyBones said: If you know what i said there you may have a little hillbilly in you. I was born in the way beginning foothills of the Appalachians in northeast Alabama, a little town called Anniston. It has one hill. As far as understanding what you wrote, well, I used to could, but I've been living in Florida too long. Now, I'm fixin' to go light up my forge and make sumpin.
February 22, 20251 yr I caught much of that Billy, caddy corner is where the caddies hang out hoping to catch a gig with a golfer. It's usually kitty corner of where the golfers have their putters . . . Nevermind. Not likely but not impossible there's a hillbilly hanging in my family tree, though maybe on the Bill Cody side. The only one I know spent time in the South was pretty devout IF any of the local ladies would've had anything to do with him. General William Tecumseh Sherman still isn't popular below the Mason Dixon line. No relation to General Joseph Hooker! I grew up in a few cities close to the industrial areas, a burb of Los Angeles from about 1959, say 7 yro and or so. Frosty The Lucky.
February 22, 20251 yr I love having a festival. We usually do an all day cook in a 50 gallon copper kettle Apple butter and also cider pressing. My brother does maple syrup and that is fun but we live too far south and don’t have many maples or the right weather to collect much sap. I thought it would be fun to make sorghum syrup as I can grow that. So I got an old sorghum mill and rebuilt it some years ago. The other day I made a scoop and wanted to give it to a friend and I thought I should make a quick hook so she can hang the scoop too. Looking through my scrap bin I came across a 3/4 inch bolt that corroded in half inside that old sorghum mill. I quickly drew it down on the power hammer to the stock I needed and made a hook and took a few pictures because it’s my favorite thing about smithing. Taking something old and ruined that you have and seeing it’s rebirth into something new and useful that you want.
February 22, 20251 yr I snagged a decent Ford wrench on eBay. I sand blasted the rust off and made a handle resembling the wrench's handle. I think it turned out pretty nice. I'll take any suggestions on how to finish it. I was thinking bluing it then keeping it oiled. I had to square up the jaws because they weren't parallel, and I rounded the sharp edges so as not to leave marks.
February 23, 20251 yr Nice scoop. Another word that give an idea where people are from is oil. I have a set of double doors going into the master bedroom. They are hinged in the middle so closed they act as one door swinging out, but open one door swings in. Anyway the one when open as a regular size door does not want to stay open. So i made a cabin latch for it. KInda proud of the weld, i did it with square bar, kept the size and did not create a shear. Not real happy with the eye and the twist is a little tighter on one end. But it is for my door and it will be alright. Camping season starting so making a little inventory so i also made a trammel hook. A little tight but should loosed up with use.
February 23, 20251 yr Melted that will be a handy twister. I’d just wipe it with an oily rag when it’s just hot enough to smoke. Then a little wd-40 to take the gumminess off. It won’t rust unless your shop is outside Billy I love the trammel. In fact I watched a video on YouTube from thak ironworks of a similar trammel and thought that is on my list.
February 23, 20251 yr I actually got the idea from a youtube video on "The Woodland Escape". After watching the video again i did it a bit different and upside down from thiers. It was a fun build.
February 23, 20251 yr 51 minutes ago, Momatt said: It won’t rust unless your shop is outside Uh oh! I spray everything down with this lanoline anti-corrosion spray I get from Lowes. I also cover my anvil and knee vise with smoker covers to keep the blown in rain off them. Billy Bones, Nice work! I like those a lot!
February 23, 20251 yr Being a rainy Sunday, I piddled a little. I finally bolted down my leg vise stand. I used Redhead drop-in anchors and bolts so that if I ever have to move it, I won't be tripping over all-thread sticking out of the concrete. It is solid as a rock. Now I can twist real good.
February 24, 20251 yr Redheads are good, I use them or the epoxy anchor bolts, depending on the circumstances. Frosty The Lucky.
February 26, 20251 yr That is a good idea. Frosty came up with his gozinta (spelling?) system and I have been planning to put some in my shop. The neat thing about them is they work on a crushed rock floor like mine along with concrete floors. I can’t control the wind. All I can do is adjust my sails. ~Semper Paratus~
February 26, 20251 yr I didn't come up with the idea I copied it from the floor anchors in a frame shop. I called them gozintas because the inserts goz inta them. I don't recall the size square tubing I used but it is large enough 2" OD square slides in freely. I had to make a broach to remove the weld seam on the sockets. They're all connected under the floor with 3" ABS pipe to make them useable for removing smoke, exhaust, etc. The gozintas are welded to the rebar at 4' intervals and flush with the finished concrete floor. Each one has a steel cap on a short section of light wall square tubing. One of the main reasons I welded them all to the rebar was so I could use them as grounds anywhere in the shop, turned out it doesn't work well at all. I did straighten one of the wide flange posts for the shop using 2" solid square bars to block the beam and anchor the porta power ram. I have a couple pedestal power tools on posts and my 50lb. LittleGiant is kept in place with a peg in a gozinta. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to try more of my ideas or even finish the shop. I tried catching a falling birch tree with my head and plans changed. One of my dreams was a down draft exhaust table for cutting, welding, painting, etc. Exhaust fans in shops can only clear the shop of smoke, etc. by exhausting all the warm air which replaces it with exterior air. No problem in summer but in winter the air replacing the bad air is winter in Alaska cold. Just exhausting the smoke and a little extra not only reduces how much firewood I have to burn it draws the smoke and warm shop air through the floor warming it on the way out. Whew, I'm exhausted but I found the files! The first pic is the compacted subfloor with the main exhaust tubes laid out without the gozintas themselves in place. The second is a detail of the rebar, gozinta w/cap and hydronic tubing. The exhaust tubes run parallel with the hydronic tubing in the pics. The last pic is me installing the hydronic tubing. Deb snuck the pic while I wasn't looking. It was exhausting stepping over the rebar. This was probably around 2007, the birch got me in 09 and I had it closed in but not insulated, wired or finished. Frosty The Lucky.
February 26, 20251 yr Every now and then I'm able to really compare what I did when I first started against now. Tonight was one of those nights. Made a at of tongs for 3/8ths. Need to finish making the wolf jaws on them but compared to a set I made 5 years ago, heck even a year ago. Always keep your stuff from starting wheen possible. I did do about a minutes cleanup on the jaws with the grinder.
February 26, 20251 yr Over the years when i need a hook for something in the shop i make one, a lot of my tools hang on the wall. So i have many that i look at now an see a huge difference in how much i have improved. Nice tongs by the way.
February 26, 20251 yr The weather warmed up enough for me to finish the cleanup of the table legs and put on a couple of coats of primer.
February 27, 20251 yr I’ve been trying to get some inventory forged out for an upcoming festival and decided to try the sawtooth trammel hook: It didn’t turn out too bad and I learned a lot from it… One of those things was to pay more attention while forge welding: First pass and the bracket was on backwards. Then, I struggled to get it back off… Keep it fun, David
February 27, 20251 yr David, one thing to watch out for when making a trammel hook (ratchenkrake (sp?)) is making it the appropriate size for where it will be used. I have seen ones that need to be on a tripod or cross piece that would have had to be 5-6 feet tall to have the adjustment height above the fire to be actually useful. The other side of the coin is too small for its hanging height. Yours is a nice outcome. Most of the ones I've made have holes in the adjustment half rather than "saw teeth." How long did it take you and do you know how much you will charge for it? GNM
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