It followed me home

[JHCC]

Mail call!

 First package: another addition to the library. 

Second package: some new blacksmithing-themed T-shirts.

 

[JHCC]

Another mail call! A new folding brass ruler from Blacksmith Supply. 

 

[JHCC]

Yet another mail call!

Three cam dies for the Hossfeld, which I bought on eBay and discuss in detail here: 

 

 

[JHCC]

Three new additions to the library:

[gewoon ik]

The art deco book seems nice

[Frosty]

I need to get a better mailman! You get some really good looking stuff John, it almost makes me wish I had the money and free space I did when I was single. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Shainarue]

John, where did you order the line art T-shirt from?

[JHCC]

TeePublic. I’ll text you the link. 

[Frosty]

PM the link to me too please if you'd be so kind, John. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[JHCC]

Will do, Frosty. 
 

Also, more mail:

(The astute observer will have noted that I’ve been getting a lot of things in the mail lately, mostly books. This is the natural consequence of having picked up a few commissions and therefore having more ducats than usual to invest in tooling and the library.)

[Frosty]

Ah, buckets of ducats is nice, I remember those days and have the library to prove it. In boxes in the basement. <sigh>

Frosty The Lucky.

[Davor]

Peening hammer and a screwdriver. Very happy about the screwdriver, I've only seen them on the internet. Scrap yard find.

[Scott NC]

  Does your Book Cataloging App have expandable storage.

[JHCC]

The paid version does (NB: a one-time fee, not a subscription). I discuss the app in THIS THREAD.

[Scott NC]

  I read that some time ago, that's why I knew you had one.  I should have looked again before I asked.  

[JHCC]

Yet another mail call! First, another addition to the library:

 Of which Lola seems to approve. 

Also, a bag of some new shop rags that I wanted to try out. These are recycled “hucks”, used cotton surgical towels that have been cleaned and sterilized. 

I’ve been having trouble lately with lint from my regular rags getting into the finish on the yarn bowls. These are apparently extremely low lint, so that shouldn’t be a problem anymore. We shall see. 

[Frosty]

I'll be interested to know how the hucks work, I just finished making new hand rails for the stairs and could've used some low or no lint rags. Is "hucks" what surgical towels are called or just the used / recycled ones?

Frosty The Lucky.

[JHCC]

I believe that that is the name of the towels themselves. After use, I would assume that the hospital personnel would simply call them “trash“.

here is the video from which I first found out about these:

 

Another package arrived today, this one from England:

[Frosty]

I'll have to visit the local hospital and ask.

Frosty The Lucky.

[JHCC]

Another eBay purchase: a no. 20B5 center pin for the Hossfeld bender, for bending 1/2”, 5/8”, and 1” eyes. 

[JHCC]

I spotted this book in an antique mall in Maine last June and almost immediately regretted not buying it then. I’m back Down East for the first time since, and not only was it still there, but it was on sale!

I also stopped in a used bookstore, and the moment I walked in, spotted a copy of Practical Blacksmithing cheek by jowl with a copy of McRaven’s The Blacksmith’s Craft. Unfortunately, I already owned the first, and the second was priced about twice what I would have been willing to pay. Ah, well.

[Gazz]

I used to buy lots of scrap steel at Kleins as well as selling them some.  I certainly would have bought that book if I had come across it.  What town was the antigue mall in?

[JHCC]

Brunswick; the Cabot Antiques Mall.

There were a couple of booths with some old tools for sale, but since they were charging an “antique premium” for pieces they clearly expected to be used for decoration, I gave those a pass. 

[Gazz]

Thanks for that!  Next time I'm up that way I'll check it out.

[JHCC]

Mail call, from Canada this time: a guillotine from Cloverdale Forge. Looking forward to giving it a try.