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SO I know a lot of guys have expressed an interest in home blacksmithing. Some people wanna do stuff as simple as a poker or hook, to as complicated as a combat quality knife, Damascus steel, or other large projects. This thread is to document my building a small, home blacksmith shop on a super tight budget. Like an unemployed budget. I will have help along the way, but I will give you cheap sources for the material I'm using. My dad will be assisting in this build, he has been smithing for 30+ years. So first off you'll need a building. I happened to rent a large farm, that had a workable structure already in place. This shop will be a 9 x 9 building, with 3 open sides. In this thread I'll be showing how to build and setup a cheap forge, with junkyard sourced blowers, wired into a variable switch for air control. I'll also be showing a railroad track anvil, mounted on a large stump, and a few other things. I'll up date as we get stuff done. Right now I'll start with a picture of the building we will be using. Feel free to ask questions, and comments are always welcome. [IMG]http://i535.photobucket.com/albums/ee356/tnplowboy07/2012-11-11_17-13-14_773.jpg[/IMG]

MY guess would be 15% of the population has served in the military

I'd rather keep the hi point and pay the extra $50 to make up for it lol

Im glad you like it. I will take the rounded handle into consideration, and that sheath looks like just the ticket. I hope it gives you many years of good service.

Im thinking packing my bob the way I was taught in the USMC. Use water tight inner bags, trash bags will work. Seal them good and even a heavy pack will float like raft.

Pack your bob so it'll float. Lay on it and propel yourself with your legs. Done it plenty of times in the ocean and it works, even when breaking through rough surf.

Because the greatest thing about living in a free country is the choices. I have some friends that hate both parties, and would rather not, in their words, "contribute to the problem". I voted but sadly I voted against Obama more than I voted for someone. "I have solved this political dilemma in a very direct way: I don't vote. On Election Day, I stay home. I firmly believe that if you vote, you have no right to complain. Now, some people like to twist that around. They say, 'If you don't vote, you have no right to complain,' but where's the logic in that? If you vote, and you elect dishonest, incompetent politicians, and they get into office and screw everything up, you are responsible for what they have done. You voted them in. You caused the problem. You have no right to complain. I, on the other hand, who did not vote -- who did not even leave the house on Election Day -- am in no way responsible for that these politicians have done and have every right to complain about the mess that you created." George Carlin

Me and some friends are putting together a bug out plan. I would rather not go into specifics, but it would start with a certain code word meaning to meet at a rally point within a time limit. Now he lives about 26 miles away from me, and we are trying to figure out a reliable method to communicate these code words. Cell phones would be the best option, but if the system is down, what other methods do we have? CB/short wave won;t reach, already tried that. Gave ham radio some though, but there is a lot of setup, time, and money invested in a system that would have the purpose of waiting on two words. Anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks guys

Scout it on a work day and remove theirs stands. Find where they are driving through the fence, and wait for them to drive through. Then restring the fence while they are hunting and wait on them to get back there. I got a few more things I can suggest, but I'd rather pm them. Let me know if your intrested

Come on folks, feel free to take advantage of this opportunity. Try your hand at forging without investing in any of the tools, or if your already a smith come out and have some fun. A couple of members have booked weekends, feel free to pm and book your own. UncleJak and son: Nov. 17th and 18th Broomhead and dad: Dec. 8th Also I have one spare room with a bed available at my place if you would like to do a full two day weekend, and don't want to camp, contact me for those arrangements also.

Ooh Rah Marines [IMG]http://i535.photobucket.com/albums/ee356/tnplowboy07/2012-10-26_23-36-41_408.jpg[/IMG]

So its not all doom and gloom. What would be on your playlist if you could play backgroud music to a.bug out or even civil uprising? Mine would be lotsa Godsmack but one song in particular is "Awake". What would yours be?

The shop I was working in closed. This is just the beginning everybody. Better strap in and hang on....

23 oz and most of those were full of water. Id never waste good beer.

Crap I thought I posted that. Please sign the deer skin with your name and forum name before passing it along. Maroonandwhite, I'll make sure it gets back around to you brother. Right now the list stands as: Trickynicky (Tested and approved) Maroonandwhite (Tested and Approved) Bjb (Testing) Broomhead Musicman 56fordguy TheBisch

Its that smoked deer hide thats with the knife lol. I was hoping it wouldn't be to offensive, it hung around the camp all weekend before I wrapped the knife in it to ship. Sorry fellas. Have you guys been signing the leather wrap?

The only benefit I was looking at was questions could be answered in real time, and it would be a more flowing discussion

It would be the chat feture of TGO. No need to do it via skype with no internet at my parents place to show the forge. Its has to be pictures anyways

We were discussing this last night. Would anyone be interested in setting aside a day and time and having a discussion/class on different things. I could do a step by step on forge work and blacksmithing. I know Dave S mentioned he might do hide tanning, and I'm sure someone else would do leather work and gunsmithing. Would anyone be interested in having a discussion like this at say 9:00 pm eastern time on Thursday nights? I could start the first class this Thursday by going over basic tools and techniques. Vote if your interested.

I'm a pretty firm believer that the guys who threw away their vote on independents cost us the election. I'm not saying I love Romney, I'm just saying I hate Obama,

So the shop I was working in is closing due to finical reasons. Which leaves me a tight spot. I have a family to support and bills to pay. Does anyone know of anyone that is hiring in the East TN area. I will do anything, though I am trained as a mechanic. IF you know someone looking, please post or send me a PM. If you want a resume, then send me a pm. Thanks guys

Oh yeah hes doing a bang up job.... [url="http://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/static/images/item/fbc-fns-20120902-obamarecord.jpg"]http://cloudfront.me...obamarecord.jpg[/url] http://www.politicalmathblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Job-Gains-By-Presidential-Tenure-Medium.jpg And lets not forget my brothers in arms who got killed in Benghazi, because their Commander in Chief failed them when they needed him the most. Or the fact that his plan for the military includes neutering us when they are needed most. I've seen the messiah in person. He looks at people wearing a military uniform like a piece of dog crap stuck to the bottom of his wifes $10k shoe.

You are correct it is my opinion. I don't ask or expect anyone else to agree with it. It comes from my experiences in over 20 states of this country, plus experience in several other countries. I have met good and decent cops before, there are several on this forum. I have also met way more cops who strap that badge on, and assume that they are better than you, and that you will do what they say because they have the POWER. These kinds of people are attracted to the law enforcement profession for the wrong reasons, and plenty of them end up out in the field. I've never been arrested, I've never been to jail, and I've had one speeding ticket my whole life. So why such a messed up view? Because I've been told that the cops were to busy to come and take an attempted rape report for my sister when she was barely out of high school. They said it was no big deal because the guy couldn't get in the car to touch her. Didn't stop it from wrecking her emotions and scarying the hell out of her. Yep my dad went to the courthouse with that one. I've seen one to many cops flick their lights on to run a redlight, then right back off and pull into a restaurant or etc. I've been passed by to many police officers busting the speed limit with no lights on, talking on cell phones. I've been talked down to by way to many cops for being a younger guy with a shaggy beard and hair. Then all of a sudeen they find out I was prior military, and its all "Thank yous". Why don't they treat everyone with that respect? Your a public servant, you should treat the young man who needs a haircut with the same courteous and respect as you do the veteran. I get sick and tired of cops complaining about how dangerous their job is. You don't like the danger? Get outta the profession. I was a Marine for 5 years, and never once did I complain or expect special treatment because it was a dangerous line of work. I did what was expected of me, and I went home, and came back at it the next day. Cops want my respect? Then try acting like your here to protect the citizens, the ones who pay your bills. You turn yourselves into the bad guys being nasty to the people you meet, and trying to lord over people like your better than they are because you have a plastic badge and a chip on your shoulder. If your a good cop, and you know it, ignore this. If your a bad one, maybe you should rethink your profession for the good of the world.

[quote name='DaveTN' timestamp='1352292911' post='840922'] I’m not a big knife buyer, but I would not be impressed by cutsie names and funny hats. I would want to see close up detail showing blade surface finish and edge detail, handle detail, etc. Unless you want to spend a butt load of money on a new camera and learn some software packages, you might consider finding a skilled photographer locally that will trade photos for knives. Not trying to be hard on you, but you are new, and people are going to have to see close up detail of your work if you expect to sell over the net. Especially when you are asking hundreds of dollars for your work. [/quote] This is understood. And I've actually had several pmed offers just from this thread. Thanks everyone for the critiques, I'm gonna start saving for the equipment, and maybe a class or two at my local community college, and work with a pro for now.

Looks like we better stock.up fellers. Its gonna be a long 4 years and dome stiff drinks will be needed.