Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 1 hour ago, BillyBones said: real men use mercurochrome. My wife calls that monkey blood, if you blow on it, helps with the sting. One of my slingshot ammo to run the squirrels out of the bird feeders is acorns (wouldn't want to hurt the little darlings). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Crew Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 I used to shoot anything and everything out of my wrist rocket and had a lot of fun. But I was a pyromaniac in a permissive or unknowing family so my favorite was a small ball that I made myself. I melted equal parts table sugar and ammonium nitrate in to a taffy consistency and molded it into small balls with a little tail. Once hardened I could light the little tail with a lighter and shoot a firey ball !! It was good fun in a different time. I could buy the ammonium nitrate at the drug store as a young teenager and I was in the pacific northwest where it rained more than the sun shone so I didn't cause any fires either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 We used # 57 gravel for sling shot ammo. Larger and heavier so it packed a lot more punch than factory ammo, and a whole lot cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyanchor Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 2 hours ago, Frosty said: Rusty: You might want to read that first paragraph again, it sounds like you clean wounds with dirt and grime if you're feeling edgy. I'd work it into a snappy remark it's a good straight line but I feel it stands on it's own humorous merits. I am usually too lazy to mess with little cuts and scrapes, so I do end up with dirt and grime rubbed in. Big owies, yea they cleaned up. I cannot go thru the door of the shop without getting cut, scraped, or otherwise banged up. My emergency first aid kit is paper towels and Scotch 33 tape. Duct tape is for amateurs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 21 hours ago, Randy Griffin said: pnut, do you still shoot? Not so much for the last three years since I moved. I don't have a safe place that's convenient enough for my level of laziness hahahaha. If I can remember the next time I go to my storage unit I'll grab a few of my slingshots and slings. I have some pretty good examples of all three types of slingshots (through the frame, over the frame, and pickle fork) I prefer the normal through the frame wrist rocket type but if you can get the technique down the other two varieties are deadly accurate too. You're more likely to smack your knuckles while learning though (ouch). When I had a spot to safely do it I used to shoot for hours. I've been fascinated with slingshots since I watched my first episode of Dennis the Menace when I was tiny. I like making and shooting atl atls, ancient slings, stick bows, blowguns, or basically hitting a target with anything. It definitely makes the rest of the world go away and makes you exist in the moment while you're doing it. Pnut 17 hours ago, lazyassforge said: Pnut, on the inner tubes, the red stripe tubes contained natural rubber and were much more lively and shot further than the strips cut from blue stripe inner tubes which were made from butyl rubber I tried to stay away from cut bands. I broke my nose when I was a kid because I made a cut that wasn't smooth. I punched myself right in the nose when it broke haha. I've had good luck with machine cut flat bands like the ones used for tourniquets. I used to stack them up about four thick. I had a source for unlimited medical supplies when I was growing up. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 9 hours ago, Daswulf said: No one else ever zinged pennies with their slingshot? Yep, they curve nicely. Never could control it though haha they make a cool noise too Pnut 10 hours ago, Frosty said: sounds like you clean wounds with dirt and grime if you're feeling edgy. Is this that homeopathic medicine I've been hearing about? Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Griffin Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 punt, if you've got 30 ft. you can build a catch box from cardboard and shoot safely. Another reason for shooting bb's. I haven't tried ttf or pfs yet. Yeah, I shot the stick bows, ancient slings and blow guns. I was serious with the stick bows. Killed a lot of deer with them. Wish we had met up back in the day. We could have had fun shooting targets. 3 hours ago, pnut said: I tried to stay away from cut bands. I broke my nose when I was a kid because I made a cut that wasn't smooth. I cut all my bands. Use a rotary cutter and make one cut without stopping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 Never messed with a sling till i got in the Army. The irony i think is that it was while i was in the ME. Quite near where David slew Goliath. (well not real close but much closer than here in Ohio) It was boredom though that made us make them and try them out. Boredom is also how our trash pit ended up 4' long, 3' wide and 30' deep. Just kept digging for lack of anything else to do. On a sad note my long bow cracked. Hand made locally by a guy i traded a tomahawk for. Hickory backed by bamboo. About 50# draw weight. I was reading about the bows found with the salvage of the Mary Rose. The lightest had a 100# draw while the heaviest had a 180# draw. I could not even imagine what it would be like to draw a bow that heavy. Pretty intersting read about bows and strings. We used to make arrows out of horse tails with a horse shoe nail for an arrow head. The fletching was green pine needles. The long soft type. They worked amazingly well for being so simple. The atlatl is another i would like to one day try out but never have. And blowguns, nothing will fear me with a blowgun except maybe by standers, but definitely not the target. About like my golf game. I remember a couple years back a guy who was an Olympic javelin thrower went bear hunting. There was a big stink raised over it becuase he took down a bear with a spear. My self i do not want to come across a bear with a large caliber gun much less just a spear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Griffin Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 I've never been bored enough to use a shovel. I hate that your longbow cracked. Longbows are fun to shoot. My hunting bow is 73#. I shot a 100# bow once. That's too much bow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 I have never been good enough with a bow to hunt with one, just a little better than a blowgun or golf, meaning i can hit the broadside of a barn. In Ohio you can not hunt with a rifle that takes a shouldered cartridge so i usually hunt with shotgun or muzzle loader. My daughter on the other hand can take the head off a turkey with an arrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluerooster Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 No shouldered cartridge!? Wow! So a 45-70 would be just fine then. I like muzzle loaders too. But Black powder is becoming scarce around here. I'm not too sure about using pyrodex never having used it before. As to the flip, I made one from a pecan fork, and a piece of heavy elastic donated/stolen by/from my mothers dress shop. I was mabe 11 or 12, and squirrels didn't stand a chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 22 hours ago, BillyBones said: was reading about the bows found with the salvage of the Mary Rose. I watched a PBS documentary about it. They were also doing DNA testing and facial reconstruction on some of the crew members. Turns out it was an international crew. Pnut On 2/20/2021 at 8:17 AM, Randy Griffin said: punt, if you've got 30 ft. you can build a catch box from cardboard and shoot safely. Unfortunately I have neighbors that call the police. While it's legal I try not to do anything that will cause problems for the landlord. They called the police when I was shooting my air rifles. I have a bunch of them and while some do sound like an actual firearm this was a .22 break barrel that's pretty quiet. The police officer was thoroughly impressed with the pcp rifles though. They are the same neighbors who called the county and city because of my smithy in the woods. If it wasn't for them I wouldn't have to have a permanently portable smithy that I have to set up and repack into my vehicle every time I want to work on a project. It's seriously limited the amount of forging I do. It's better to leave that sleeping dog lie since the landlord still lets me Blacksmith out back. I have to choose my battles wisely Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonnytait Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Got a handle carved and fitted to this latest hammer. Hickory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyanchor Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 (edited) 18 hours ago, bluerooster said: No shouldered cartridge!? Wow! So a 45-70 would be just fine then. I like muzzle loaders too. But Black powder is becoming scarce around here. I'm not too sure about using pyrodex never having used it before. I use 777 (Triple 7), it works just fine, I have never used real black powder though. Edited February 21, 2021 by rustyanchor Removed pic as it could be insensative for some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 My dad used 45-70, but he is getting on in years now and dont get out to the woods anymore. We do get to the river bank occasionally together still. I myself havent been hunting in about 3 years now so i can not say how hard it is to find powder but i know shot gun shells are pretty plentiful. Common ammo, .45, 9mm, .308, 5.56, etc., is kind of hit or miss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Shooting a war bow is more like a career than a hobby. The English had laws passed mandating regular practice for people who made up the archer levies. (And banning other activities that would entice people away from practice.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deimos Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Where people not also "forced" to own a bow and a certain number of arrows? Found some loops I made when I was learning to be a metalworker. Kept them for no good reason for over 17 years now, they look pretty good on the anvil stand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Archers were also drawn from the yeoman (farmer) class, who were more likely to have had a lot of the requisite upper body strength anyway, especially in an era with practically no labor-saving machinery. There’s an English bowyer/archer named Joe Gibbs who has been known to shoot a yew longbow with a 200 lb draw weight. Here he is (shooting a 160 lb bow) in a demo of the comparative rates of fire of a longbow and a crossbow: Nice stand, Deimos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deimos Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Thank you, love that channel btw, both his skill in crafting as his knowledge about medieval weapons is pretty amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kexel Werkstatt Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 Only a couple hours in the shop this weekend, but update on my first Yakut. I ate dinner with it tonight. Sliced through the Chicken Breast and Tomatoes like butter. Hardened/tempered, handled, basic sharpen. More work to do but getting there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HondoWalker Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 Been a couple weeks since I hit the forge. While the last couple of knives have gone their own ways I felt it is time to up the difficulty a little. This one will have a guard and a pommel. And no rivets. Also my belt sander has gone useless on me so I'll have to figure another way to shine it up right. Harbor Freight tools seem to only last 3 or 4 years if you use them a lot. Got an angle grinder that is 7 years old and it died. Started using it a bunch and poof it got dead. Belt sander, bandsaw, angle grinder, oscillating saw, mini lathe and air compressor. I think that is all that have died so far. It's enough though, isn't it? I'll spend whatever time I get free this week and make it presentable. Also made my first fork. It didn't come out too good. Going to need a lot of practice at it. I make knives, bowls, spoons and now I am branching out to forks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 16 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: . The English had laws passed mandating regular practice for people who made up the archer levies. (And banning other activities that would entice people away from practice.) I just read an article recently about a clergywoman in the UK who attempted to unilaterally enact this law in her parish claiming it hadn't been repealed. She extended it to all people not just "men of all sorts". I thought it was interesting. She was unsuccessful by the way. I don't think anyone could figure out why she thought she even had the authority to do so even if the law hadn't clearly been repealed. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 My only completely accurate response would violate all three of the TOS provisions against discussing religion, discussing politics, and using bad language. Let’s move on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 Verbally trashing Harbor Freight Tools is pretty safe, albeit well trod territory... 10 hours ago, HondoWalker said: Harbor Freight tools seem to only last 3 or 4 years if you use them a lot. If your lucky! "I bought an electric hand drill once and..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 On 2/20/2021 at 7:16 AM, BillyBones said: My self i do not want to come across a bear with a large caliber gun much less just a spear. Just the thought of bears arming themselves should frighten us all! Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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