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plowshareforge.com
By Dave, February 13, 2007 10:54 am
This guy makes some nice looking stuff. Love his homemade power hammer! More ideas and angles than before. Note on his hammer the slide is made from an old vice body. Neat stuff!
anvilfire NEWS Vol. 1
By Dave, February 11, 2007 11:40 am
Check out this junkyard hammer challange! I like both kinds but the east coast design is mighty cool. On the 4th page (I think) you have to go to the suppliments link to get to the 7 pages about the east coast hammer. Wish they had finished and posted the plans and such about this one… Please note that I had to break this out of the frames on the host site to link to these pages. The AnvilFire main site url is http://www.anvilfire.com/index.htm. Below is a pix of the unfinished east coast hammer. Love the rear end and motor block.
Jesus Hernandez
By Dave, February 9, 2007 11:56 pm
Go, look/read, marvel! Wonderful knives and swords. Love the patterns he gets in the metal.
Zoeller Forge
By Dave, February 9, 2007 11:52 pm
I especially like the Colonial toaster and bent iron rocking chair. If you are into forges, he also has some specialty stuff like the stainless steel flairs for burners. Neat stuff and LOTS of good info!
Real Cajun Recipes : : Beef and Macaroni Goulash
By Dave, February 5, 2007 9:33 pm
Real Cajun Recipes : : Beef and Macaroni Goulash
This sounds good! Gonna try it tomorrow. Or Cat is. 😉
Gates: I’m a PC and I’m not amused | News.blog | CNET News.com
By Dave, February 5, 2007 8:42 pm
Gates: I’m a PC and I’m not amused | News.blog | CNET News.com
“Nowadays, security guys break the Mac every single day,” Gates said. “Every single day, they come out with a total exploit, your machine can be taken over totally. I dare anybody to do that once a month on the Windows machine.”
I thought that is why they have so many security updates. Seems like I hear of a LOT more problems with winblows machines than macs. I got 2 macs and no antivirus stuff on either and not a problem. I am behind a firewall but don’t dare use any windows pc without Avast antivirus running. Maybe Vista really is better but I sure as hell ain’t gonna try it…
The day that was
By Dave, February 5, 2007 8:34 pm
Started out sometime shortly after 10am when the temp got above 36 to see if the air tank still had pressure. It didn’t, so started the compressor and went in search of a portable air tank. Found it and got the tire inflater nozzle put on the air line and started filling it. Put 100 psi in and went to air the right front tire on the yellow toyota up so I could clean the bed out and start using it again around the farm.
Anyway, got the tire inflated and then noticed a belt squeeling on the compressor. That meant it was around or over 140 psi so I ran back to the barn and cut the breaker. Pressure gauge showed 150 psi and I could hear air leaking from somewhere so left it for the moment and went back and tried the truck but the starter wasn’t doing anything. Found a wire loose and after rehooking it had a dead battery.
Carried the battery and charger to the barn and started it charging. Then went to see where the air was coming from. Seems that the one way valve from compressor to tank was letting air back out through the compressor. The valve is a special one but I remembered the inlet valves on the air tanks on the transport dollies. Went to look and see if they were what I remembered and they were perfect. 1/2 inch ip thread male on one end and female on the other. Wrong way around for what I needed but with a closed nipple and a coupling it went in line and no more leaking back through the compressor.
Adjusted the pressure switch down to 140 and started the motor again. Shut off fine. Still got some slow leaks but will work on them at a later time. At least I have air over here again!
Got the tractor out and moved it to the front of the barn quickly to keep the exaust as cool as possible. Was clearing in the cedar thicket the other day and a piece of cedar treetop got hung in the exaust and tore the muffler loose. Actually tore the pipe. Was rusted and all but it was still fairly thick. Was a good piece of cedar. I enjoyed the heat from burning too. Just wish it hadn’t cost me 5 hours or so fixing.
Got the tools and started loosening the nuts. 2 came off fairly easily. One took a while and much rust came out as it came off. Threads were gone on the stud. Took the pipe and muffler off and decided to cut the broken piece out and replace with a much thicker piece of pipe I found in the rack. As the flange at the exaust manifold was bent I then went and got a bucket of coal and fired up the forge. Started it with a stick of heart pine about an inch by inch and a half by 6 inches long broken into 3 pieces. laid it in the middle of the air inlet and piled leaves and dry grass on them and then added small chunks of coal while turning the blower handle slowly. Hard to do with an electric blower. Took about 5 minutes to get it up to a good yellow burn and then put the flange end in and started pumping air to it. Got it up to a nice cherry red in about 4 or 5 more minutes and took it to the anvil and started beating on it. Took reheating it 5 or 6 times but got the flange straight and the wrinkle out of the pipe just below the flange. Then another 3 heats were needed to take a bend out about half way down the first straight run. Really good piece of cedar. 🙁
Then cut the welded end off the muffler and got the piece inside out using screwdrivers and pliers and hammers. Another 4 or 5 heatings on the new piece let me expand the end enough to get it over the manifold pipe. Power hack saw put the slits in the expanded end so the clamp will work right.
A little quality time with the hammer and the muffler end is shaped around the new pipe. Cranked the welder and using a small 6013 and low power setting burned a hole in the muffler. At an even lower power setting welded it closed and got the seams all put together. Even one place where I had used brass on it one time before welded up fine.
Now to try putting it back on the tractor. Went on fine but the nuts that came off were all rusted out and had no threads left. So into the barn and more 3/8 24 tpi nuts are found. Only two of the studs have enough threads to hold. One is just too far gone. So I try to remove it. It has other ideas. Been in there since 64 I guess and it don’t want to come out. So I look for a die to take it down another size. No got. Try a metric one but it’s not small enough to cut good threads. So I look at it and decide to add metal then rethread the correct size. Two rows of 6013 later it rethreads fine. Get a jack and use it to put the pipe in place snuggly and then get the nuts tight on all three. Use the old gasket because I didn’t have a new one. It leaks but will get another one asap.
Use the big slip joint pliers to put the clamp around the new bigger pipe. Get the nuts on it and then make a new center braket that was ripped out. Still got the rear bracket to bolt back together but being as it was now dark I quit for the night.
This makes it sound a lot easier and simpler than it actually was. Spent much time on each and every piece of this mess but managed to get at least something done today. Now I can use the tractor to start moving cars and junk so I can move the entry road to the parking area for the Airsoft games. Gonna add some fencing and move the old trailer to a different orientation along the new road too. Planning to gut it and use it for bathrooms, showers, and a kitchen for the events. Not gonna do all this tomorrow but it all follows a hidden master plan, or something… 😉
Web design tips & tricks
By Dave, February 5, 2007 12:09 pm
Web design tips & tricks
Just that. Worth the link.
Thriving on Happy Accidents – This is my wheel…
By Dave, February 5, 2007 12:06 pm
Thriving on Happy Accidents – This is my wheel…
Steampunk spinning wheel! Basic PVC spinning wheel that has been painted. Neat!
Moulton Metal
By Dave, February 5, 2007 12:04 pm
Moulton Metal
SCA blacksmiths blog with pictures. Cool stuff!
Encyclopedia Mythica: mythology, folklore, and religion.
By Dave, February 5, 2007 11:45 am
Encyclopedia Mythica: mythology, folklore, and religion.
Over 7000 articles. Enjoy!
BBspot – Windows Vista Upgrade Decision Flowchart
By Dave, February 4, 2007 1:23 am
BBspot – Windows Vista Upgrade Decision Flowchart
This flow chart should help anyone that is thinking about upgrading to make the proper choice. FYI – The best linux distro out there that I have found is pclinuxos
Ironmonger Armory
By Dave, February 3, 2007 10:40 pm
Armor and blacksmithing tools. Cool (HOT) stuff!
VirtualBox
By Dave, February 3, 2007 9:33 pm
No, it’s not a porn site and (as far as I know) is safe for work. This is a VMware alternative that is open source and appears to be free. Has a high memory overhead and as such I am not even gonna download it to try… yet. Gonna have to get a bit more memory first. But then will certainly get and try it. Sounds quite interesting. They are working on a Mac OS X version. Say they have it working in Alpha now. Also say Vista (BOO-HISS) runs fine. Supports most versions (?) of linux and they claim even OS2. 😉 Come to think of it, I believe I have a copy of that around here somewhere. Never run it but would be a hoot to see if it would run on my current box. Will see if I can find it…
Linux Genuine Advantageâ„¢
By Dave, February 3, 2007 7:46 pm
For all linux users who want to spend money and do less with their machines (just like ALL Micro$loth users get to do). 😉
P.S. PLEASE NOTE that this a joke site and I DO NOT recomend downloading the software available there. This public service announcement is for those who might actually decide that this is a good thing to do. Like all the idiots that buy Vista so they have less freedom and can do less with their own machines… 😛
Programming in Malbolge
By Dave, February 3, 2007 4:55 pm
Programming in Malbolge
Introduction to Malbolge
Malbolge, for those not familiar with it, is a language designed to be difficult (or perhaps impossible – until recently, there was not even an informal argument showing Turing completeness) to program in. For example, the effect of any instruction depends on where it is located in memory (mod 94, of course), all instructions are self-modifying (according to a permutation table) and both the code and data pointers are incremented after every instruction, making it hard to re-use any code or data. There is no way to initialize memory except to one of the 8 instruction characters, there is no LOAD or STORE operator, and the only available memory operators (both of them) work in trinary and are designed to be opaque. The only control flow construct is an unconditional computed jump, which is also nearly worthless since there is no way (or certainly no obvious way) to set memory to anything except the 8 instruction characters.
Okay, if they say so, but I sure as hell ain’t gonna try it…
Schiva’ blog
By Dave, February 3, 2007 11:49 am
Interesting, but very not safe for work, artwork. Some fantasy, some macabre, some old masters, all interesting.
True Stella Awards: the 2006 Winners
By Dave, February 2, 2007 11:57 pm
True Stella Awards: the 2006 Winners
The 2006 True Stella Awards
Issued 31 January 2007
(Click here to
confirm these are legitimate.)
#5: Marcy Meckler. While shopping at
a mall, Meckler stepped outside and was “attacked” by a squirrel that
lived among the trees and bushes. And “while frantically attempting
to escape from the squirrel and detach it from her leg, [Meckler]
fell and suffered severe injuries,” her resulting lawsuit says.
That’s the mall’s fault, the lawsuit claims, demanding in excess of
$50,000, based on the mall’s “failure to warn” her that squirrels
live outside.
#4: Ron and Kristie Simmons. The
couple’s 4-year-old son, Justin, was killed in a tragic lawnmower
accident in a licensed daycare facility, and the death was clearly
the result of negligence by the daycare providers. The providers were
clearly deserving of being sued, yet when the Simmons’s discovered
the daycare only had $100,000 in insurance, they dropped the case
against them and instead sued the manufacturer of the 16-year-old
lawn mower because the mower didn’t have a safety device that 1) had
not been invented at the time of the mower’s manufacture, and 2) no
safety agency had even suggested needed to be invented. A sympathetic
jury still awarded the family $2 million.
#3: Robert Clymer. An FBI agent
working a high-profile case in Las Vegas, Clymer allegedly created a
disturbance, lost the magazine from his pistol, then crashed his
pickup truck in a drunken stupor — his blood-alcohol level was 0.306
percent, more than three times the legal limit for driving in Nevada.
He pled guilty to drunk driving because, his lawyer explained, “With
public officials, we expect them to own up to their mistakes and
correct them.” Yet Clymer had the gall to sue the manufacturer of his
pickup truck, and the dealer he bought it from, because he “somehow
lost consciousness” and the truck “somehow produced a heavy smoke
that filled the passenger cab.” Yep: the drunk-driving accident
wasn’t his fault, but the truck’s fault. Just the kind of guy you
want carrying a gun in the name of the law.
#2: #2: KinderStart.com. The
specialty search engine says Google should be forced to include the
KinderStart site in its listings, reveal how its “Page Rank” system
works, and pay them lots of money because they’re a competitor. They
claim by not being ranked higher in Google, Google is somehow
infringing KinderStart’s Constitutional right to free speech. Even if
by some stretch they were a competitor of Google, why in the world
would they think it’s Google’s responsibility to help them succeed?
And if Google’s “review” of their site is negative, wouldn’t a
government court order forcing them to change it infringe on Google’s
Constitutional right to free speech?
And the winner of the 2006 True Stella
Award: Allen Ray Heckard. Even though Heckard is 3 inches
shorter, 25 pounds lighter, and 8 years older than former basketball
star Michael Jordan, the Portland, Oregon, man says he looks a lot
like Jordan, and is often confused for him — and thus he deserves
$52 million “for defamation and permanent injury” — plus $364
million in “punitive damage for emotional pain and suffering”, plus
the SAME amount from Nike co-founder Phil Knight, for a grand total
of $832 million. He dropped the suit after Nike’s lawyers chatted
with him, where they presumably explained how they’d counter-sue if
he pressed on.
©2007 by Randy Cassingham,
StellaAwards.com. Reprinted with permission.
Themocracy