Anachronist58 Posted November 14, 2021 Share Posted November 14, 2021 Congratulations, Thomas Powers! Robert Taylor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 15, 2021 Author Share Posted November 15, 2021 I ran the class long Sunday to try to get everyone through all the projects: S hook, 2 nails (a requirement of the fine arts instructor), and a chili pepper from black pipe. Even use the small pipe for the last one we were getting close to 5 pm when done and starting to load the truck. Had a stack of "overly warm" firebrick to take back to the shop. The propane forge on an old propane grill cart can be loaded hot and the bricks go into a steel milk crate---I need to replace the plywood shelf on the bottom of the cart with steel so we can load a crate of warm bricks and not worry about surprises on the way home. It was really nice being able to turn on the outside and inside lights and I rigged up my halogen work lights to bounce off the ceiling for more light. Now to convince my wife I need to go out to the shop every evening.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted November 15, 2021 Share Posted November 15, 2021 Going out to the shop is not something you WANT to do, it is something you NEED to do. GNM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 15, 2021 Author Share Posted November 15, 2021 No; after a day dealing with IT; I NEED to go out and hit something! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 15, 2021 Share Posted November 15, 2021 It's when she starts saying, "Oh just go to the shop!" You'll know you aren't the only one needs de-stressing from your paycheck job. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 15, 2021 Author Share Posted November 15, 2021 I hope it doesn't get to that till hammock weather; anvils do not make good pillows! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 2 hours ago, Frosty said: Oh just go to the shop!" Lately I've been hearing that, seems we need space since covid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 I didn't mean go live in the shop: just get out of my hair for a while, go to the shop. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 Mine would like if I slept "or lived" in the shop sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 16, 2021 Author Share Posted November 16, 2021 Hammock and refrigerator, you should be able to figure out how to cook over a forge... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 Oh, I Could live up there. Already have a mini fridge up there. And a hammock (tho only stored inside but the trees it goes on are right outside the shop.) If I install a woodburning heater I'd be set. There is a ng furnace but with inferior insulation it costs a bit too much to run when not really needed. I even supplement the house heat with a woodburner that is tied to the furnace blower unit. Ng wells all around me and still NG price is high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 16, 2021 Author Share Posted November 16, 2021 When I moved to Ohio I thought real hard about a house that had free NG from a well on it's property. Unfortunately it was a much longer commute to work and the University. I really was thinking of how to get *everything* in the house to run off of NG, gas furnace, gas stove, gas lights, gas forge, gas generator,... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 A good ng generator and you'd be set! I could see you plumbing the house with the old gas lights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 16, 2021 Author Share Posted November 16, 2021 My previous house had one of the original lighting fixtures still in use in the attic---it was hybrid gas and electric. We only used the electric side as it wasn't leaking gas and I had NO confidence that if we opened that 100+ year old gas valve it would be leak free ever again! Knob and tube wiring for the electric side. (Only other dual lighting fixtures I have seen was in the Vanderbilt summer cottage "The Breakers" in Newport RI, USA. (Place cost millions *before* WWI !) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 Haven't seen a duel light-lamp like that. Is that so you could turn on the light to be able to see to light the lamp? Haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 16, 2021 Author Share Posted November 16, 2021 Well back in the old days they were not sure that electricity would catch on and there were a lot more outages---even if you ran your own generator, so the "dual fuel" systems were considered a way to be able to go either way. IIRC they were only in use for about a decade and then folks decided that electricity was the future. I have not seen a: gas/electric/oil lamp one though...My mother grew up on a farm with kerosene oil lamps in the 1930's; the Rural Electrification Act hadn't gotten to them yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted December 3, 2021 Share Posted December 3, 2021 Thomas, You’ve been keeping us all in suspense for so long with the epic journey to electric power, can we see some pictures of the shop now! i keep trying to picture it in my head but it would be awesome to see some pictures of it, like a virtual tour lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 3, 2021 Share Posted December 3, 2021 I stopped believing a while ago. I'm SURE Thomas would've shown us pics, even if his phone is old and doesn't focus so well. I love a good tale but my disbelief only suspends so far. Maybe if I ask Santa for a pic? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted December 3, 2021 Share Posted December 3, 2021 Lol, Frosty (Don’t stop believing!) Come on Thomas ive been paitenly waiting! I definitely wanna see pictures the shop, also I’d really like to see a picture of your big railroad forge I’ve heard you talk about! An all the other goodies your horde you’ve collected over the years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 3, 2021 Author Share Posted December 3, 2021 I'm still waiting for the inspector's sign off---then I can do a bit more as a "homeowner" and move the workbenches back in place. And site the power hammers and screw press and welder and bader and set everything up for use! If you are willing to see it in a grand disarrangement I can do something. (Picture a scrap pile with little trails through it...) Frosty, I don't care what you believe or disbelieve, your judgement is already considered impaired----you choose to live in a place where it's not short sleeve weather right now! I bet you even have mosquitoes there in the summer... We're making tumbleweed "snowmen" out here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted December 3, 2021 Share Posted December 3, 2021 no tumble weeds or snow here by me but I could probably make a snow man outta.. cow pies? sun set over the cow field this afternoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 3, 2021 Author Share Posted December 3, 2021 Note to self: never get into a pie eating contest with TW! While our primary heating is thermonuclear; our backup is indirect thermonuclear---a wood stove. This year sure has been easy on our supply---bought just after last year's season ended so it's been drying for 8-9 months out here in the big dry. My wife is feeling the cold more as she ages and so our wood use is gradually creeping up. I remember when 1 cord was a three year supply! I swept the chimney and vacuumed out the top of the woodstove by putting a shop vac outside and running it's hose through a window and duct taped to a pvc pipe, ran that across the room and duct tapped another vacuum cleaner hose to the other end. No soot getting blown out the exhaust port this year! Wife very very happy. (extra vacuum hose from the scrapyard of course and *free* as they don't charge for "FLUFF". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted December 3, 2021 Share Posted December 3, 2021 Lol, Thomas if you did get in a contest with me then I suggest you roll up your pant legs first, because the bull….pucky can get kinda deep occasionally round these parts On the fire wood note, I’ve got a few questions, first we’re do yall get firewood in the desert? Second what kinda wood y’all burn out there? And last do y’all use the tumble weeds for kindling? The only parts of New Mexico I ever saw were along I40 and it’s been awhile but all I remember seeing was prairie dogs, cactus and some really cool looking rocky terrain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 4, 2021 Author Share Posted December 4, 2021 Generally it's softwoods; we burn a lot of cedar, pinon, juniper; others salt cedar (burns HOT but smells) or cottonwood from the Bosque along the Rio Grande. Mesquite is reserved for cooking. Now down south there are hundreds of sq miles of Pecan orchards, with a regular supply of tree trimmings; but it's pricy. We don't need the sustained heat where we would have to import hardwood for our house---it's walls are made with 2"x6" and well insulated. No; tumbleweeds are 90% air and "stickery" and so while they burn near explosively, I do not want to be shedding stickers all over my carpets. Wood is so dry out here I once lit a 4" cedar log with a kitchen match. I worked a couple of years in the oil patch in OK so I am familiar with the fertilizer being as high as tripping drill pipe! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted December 4, 2021 Share Posted December 4, 2021 The one thing you can say for sure about the winner of a cow pie throwing contest is that no one wants to shake their hand! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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