What did you do in the shop today?

[ThomasPowers]

I went the other way and have a larger head with a beaked end. I hot shrunk it onto a sucker rod handle---squared and twisted.  It's been through a lot of refrigerators, washers, junked cars so far; made it about 30 years ago and the head is still absolutely tight---I made the tenon long so I could rivet it up when it loosened up; probably the next owner or two...

[Kexel Werkstatt]

I'd love to see a picture of it if you have time.  This is my first one and will be going on a Hickory shaft.  I have not yet decided if I will put guards on it. The Hickory I have for it is 29" long, so realistically it will be about 28" long. I do plan to put one main rivet right through the side of the body.  If I do the guards I'll lap them over the top and use multiple rivets.

We'll see how it all goes. I have no idea what exact steel it is (it was a Harbor Freight ball peen hammer), so I'll give oil quench a try and file test it, go from there. 

I'm almost wondering if I might go shorter on the handle, and keep it in the truck as an "emergency convincing tool" for fun.  I know I would definitely not want to get hit with this thing. 

I also started my first Yakut knife today from an old file.

[BillyBones]

The heater i have can run on diesel, K-1, fuel oil, and i even put jet fuel in it once. JP-8 aint much more than K-1 though. I use diesel becuase that is the cheapest right now. 

I dont use propane any more so it has been a while since i bought any. When i was it was a bit over $17 to fill the tank on average. Also a lot of the exchange tanks are only filled to 15#. 

[Donal Harris]

I really need to look into building a shop. All I did was walk out to the forge and scraped some of the snow off and said, “Nope. Think I will to copper work in the garage.”

[Chimaera]

Sorry Frosty. I knew that but didn't do a good job communicating. How much are you willing to pay for an Irish Elk tenderloin? Now, what do I have that might fool an old curmudgeon like him... Those things were beasts, but their antlers are the cool part. Up to a 12'+ antler span.

[Pat Masterson]

Yesterday I finally finished my brothers birthday present. Had to draw out the bar stock under the rams head and get it to the fit around his tow hitch. Then a heart for my mom for Valentine’s Day - kind of embarrassing how long it took me to make that. Funny part was that the only pair of tongs I had that would work with it were the first ones I ever made and were so terrible I swore I’d never use them after I got some good ones. 

 

[Daswulf]

Nice work Pat. 

Never know when a tool will find a use, even a bad one lol. If they are that bad you now know a size you need so maybe time to remake them. 

[ThomasPowers]

Pat; now epoxy a pair of the foil lined screaming red beads into the eyes so they will light up when headlights hit them!

Kexel---check your local laws about carrying weapons in your car!  I carry a socket set, ratchet and large breaker bar and also my rock hammer---as a geologist owning a 17 year old pickup; I think those would be considered "reasonable".

[BillyBones]

Definitely check the local laws. Here i can keep a gun in my truck, but my pocket knife would be a concealed weapon. Some really strange laws on the books in many places. It is fun to look them up sometimes.

A couple of my favorites: It is illegal to fish for whales in Ohio, but only on Sunday. It is illegal to kill a housefly within 160 feet of a church without a permit. Women are not allowed to wear patent leather shoes. 

[ThomasPowers]

I protested a "concealed carry law" being considered in Ohio as it would NOT apply to knives.  So you could get a permit to carry a Saturday night special concealed; but the US$5000 dagger you put in your briefcase because it was raining out would be a felony.  I claimed the law's name should have been "concealed carry of hand guns" as there is a regulation that a proposed laws name must me accurate and not misleading. 

Yes they considered me crazy... Much like when I was in college and in the SCA and went and talked with the local police about how the concealed deadly weapon law could apply to the SCA.  I was told that anything that had previously been used or could be used to cause grievous bodily harm and was not visible could be considered a "concealed deadly weapon"   My counter was that my heavy physics text book in my backpack would then qualify... 

Now that I think of it; I know where my daughter gets some of her orneriness from.  She once read her NM high school's dress code and  explored some of the loopholes.  I believe there are 3 additions to it because of her. (Her Arts & College Prep magnet school in Ohio didn't have a dress code moving to NM was a bit of a culture shock.)

[Scott NC]

  I find a tire iron to be a ubiquitous and versatile "tool".  

[ThomasPowers]

Especially if it matches your lug nut size!  (After reading here about how good steel is in them I've started collecting them  at the scrap yard to make tongs from.)

[Kexel Werkstatt]

I can keep it in my truck no problem.  I can't carry it into a movie theater.  That's the gist of it.

[BillyBones]

During my time in the Army, with them and some extracurricular training, i was taught how to use some of the most mundane items as weapons. The reason that i always have an ink pen and my lighter with me. 

[Frosty]

17 hours ago, Chimaera said:

Sorry Frosty. I knew that but didn't do a good job communicating.

Don't apologize, I didn't specify living deer so I was fair game. Better still I looked it up to check my facts, there were a LOT of cool deer and other critters in the pleistocene. Heck I learned the correct name of Alaskan moose and it's range. it was well worth the time looking, I should thank you. 

We're better than good. 

2 minutes ago, BillyBones said:

i was taught how to use some of the most mundane items as weapons.

In the "self defense" classes I took we learned early on there are no dangerous weapons, only dangerous people and to a dangerous person everything is a weapon. Say a sheet of rolled up notebook paper.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Pat Masterson]

Glowing red eyes - awesome idea

[ThomasPowers]

I've used that trick on some dragon heads  (and yellow vertical "pupil for  rasptlesnakes) before.  Inside ones I haven't found how long the epoxy will last, decades so far.

Made the proprietor of the bead shop open their  eyes a bit with me sizing beads to the forgings.  Hopefully we can get up to the bead shop when it's time to finish off the dragon headed coat hooks.

[Paul TIKI]

Frosty, 

Paper can be dangerous.  Just look at the damage caused by well meaning politicians over the centuries.  Also, paper cuts hurt.

the winter blast we go last week has pretty much kept us all inside.  It has warmed all the way up to -1 Farenheit so far today.  There has been much soto voce swearing at the dogs because they won't settle down, and I can't walk 'em and I can't just turn them loose outside.  Poor baby's came inside with a limp from packed ice in the paws.  Last night, one of them flat refused to go out for the last of the night potty breaks out there.  How would one train a 120lb dog to use a litter box?

 

[BillyBones]

57 minutes ago, Frosty said:

no dangerous weapons, only dangerous people

Truth. A weapon is only as dangerous as the person using it. I know some here are LEO's or former LEO and they can attest to the ingenuity of those in jail to fabricate weapons. I once saw a bow and arrow made from newspaper and underwear. Weapons, tattoos, and toilet wine...MacGyver's of the underbelly. 

7 minutes ago, Paul TIKI said:

Poor baby's came inside with a limp from packed ice in the paws. 

Paul, you can get them dog boots. I bet Frosty has seen a few pair, or would that be quads, up in his icy kingdom. I first saw them on sled dogs but now i see them around here. My dog hated having his feet touched so they were out of the question for him. If you grabbed his foot he would attack you and i mean really attack no playing. So i would of course act like i was going to grab them and get him all riled up. Now i am getting all teared up. My dog passed a couple years ago and he really was my best friend. I miss him everyday. I still have not been able to clean the fur out of my truck or his nose prints off the window. 

[Paul TIKI]

We have 4 doggos.  One old lady, a White German Shepherd dog who does not seem to care, She's 13 and kind of a cranky old lady.  Two brothers of the same litter, lab mutts who seemed really surprised at the cold between the toes, and then the big boy, a Lab/Newfoundland cross.  He was fine out playing in the snow for about 5 minutes and then the cold started seeping in.  Boots are not an option for him.  He's a rescue and even though he trusts us for the most part, he drew blood on my arm when I pulled a goat head sticker out of his paw and we have to drug him if we need to trim his nails. 

I get what you mean about losing a pet.  I still miss our first dogs that my wife and I got after our twins were born.  Bear made it to 16 and Ellie to 18, Border Collie mutts.  Bear looked like a cross between a Chow and Rottweiler.  

[Frazer]

1 hour ago, Paul TIKI said:

Paper can be dangerous. 

"there is here wherewithal to kill a man more sure than if we waited at the corner of a wood to assassinate him! I have always had more dread of a pen, a bottle of ink, and a sheet of paper, than of a sword or pistol."

-Caderousse

[Paul TIKI]

Well, for those who do not have garages and are in the middle of this lovely arctic weather, remember to tend your vehicle batteries.  I just found out the hard way that severe cold can kill a battery.  In the middle of yet another furbaby crisis (one of the wife's cats may have to be put down today), both of our vehicles have completely dead batteries.  The last time it got anywhere near this cold, we were living in a house with a garage, so it was not a problem.

I need to move farther south.  Like maybe to Las Cruces...

[Red Shed Forge]

3 hours ago, Kexel Werkstatt said:

I can keep it in my truck no problem.  I can't carry it into a movie theater.  That's the gist of it.

You cannot bring it into IL public schools either if the blade is any longer than 3", according to the American Knife & Tool Institute. This is also true of any building or land supported at least in part by public funds. More specifically, you cannot even be on a "public way"(street, sidewalk or road) within 1000ft of the boundary. However, the state does have to prove that the violation occurred knowingly. Meaning, if you did not know that the property was partly supported by public funds, you must prove that. 

Knives that are legal to posses in IL:  

• Balisong or butterfly knives;
• Disguised knives such as cane knives, belt knives and lipstick knives;
• Throwing knives; and
• Bowie knives and other large knives

Legal in IL with a Firearms Owners Identification (FOID) card

• Switchblades; illegal without FOID card. Law gets confusing when considering automatic assist blades.

Illegal Knives in IL:

• Ballistic knives

All other knives are unrestricted absent unlawful intent. 

[Buzzkill]

Another fun fact regarding illegal weapons in IL:  Brass knuckles (or similar items constructed from any solid metal) are illegal to carry or even own.  That goes so far as to include paperweights or jewelry shaped like brass knuckles.

[Daswulf]

Hmm. That makes the ww1 US mark 1 trench knives illegal then?