so waht ya doin today?

[Snakeoil]

If the axe is case-hardened, it won't blue. But of truly made from 1095, there would be no reason to case harden it.

Do you know where it is made? I tried to find it on ebay. But not being an axe guy, I thought Bushcraft was a brand name. Now I see it is a descriptor applied to just about every kind of hatchet ever made. I put Bushcraft axe into the seach box and got a billion hits.

My guess is it is not 1095. If made offshore, it's anybody's guess what the steel is.

I saw quite a few on ebay that were coming from Bulgaria. If yours comes from eastern Europe or Russia, it could be made from a piece of Chernobyl. Turn off the lights and see if it glows in the dark

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

Thats all I could think too. 100% Its the ol "guy on the internet said" deal!!

I brought it outside for a look. WOW that wood!!

 

[JonB]

I ordered this "axe" off ebay after seeing a buddies a d talking with him about it. I was gonna buy direct but actually hot cheaper on Ebay as they had a "offer" button.


View attachment 30887
Any idea why? Its supposed to me 1095 steel. I tried heating first too but no luck. But the effect is actually pleasing.




CW

Some 20+ years ago, I bought a similar shaped hatchet from a reenactor blacksmith at Murphy's Landing(at least that's what they use to call it). It's delightful to use to split kindling for my wood fired texas smoker. I believe mine has some harder steel sandwiched inside for edge retention.

The Landing-MN River Heritage Park

Experience life along the Minnesota River Valley during the 1800s. Visit with costumed interpreters in our frontier-era farms and recreated village of Eagle Creek; ride a horse-drawn trolley, enjoy music, and demonstrations. Check our website for special event dates and times...

www.exploreminnesota.com

 

[JWFilips]

Well , not too eventful today ....but put up the turkeys stock in containers and froze & then picked all the left over shin and meat off the boiled bones and chopped it up for feed on the cat ranch. Sured up their reduced winter feeding area ( 4x8ft 1/2 inch painted plywood winter cover ) on our patio table...... The plywood sheet after all those years has a a pow to it and was not flat so Y cut some posts to length to fit under it for support from the winter snows. So for the most part they are all set and we do not have too big of a foot print on the patio this year. there are only 12 kitties in this years round up so that is only half of the previous years! Pretty sure the inbreeding has lowered the head count the past few years... only 2 + year olds left. Daylight runs short fast so I did not get to mulch the last oak leaves today!
Not sure if we will be headed out for whitetail on Monday! BIL texted me that he and his wife got the Covid and it has put them down for the count! Of all things; probably got it in the hospital emergency room waiting area! He had to take his FIL to the er Last week!
I may just take a walk for myself since our area is only 15 minutes away. Just not sure I can drag one out of the woods by myself any more let alone get him in my jeep....but I may try!

 

[Snakeoil]

T

I brought it outside for a look. WOW that wood!!

Yeah, the wood is pretty for sure. But does not look like anything we have in the US. Almost looks like cocobolo, the stuff S&W used when they made "real" guns. My guess is the handle was leftover wood from putting up the barbed wire fence that surrounds the Chinese prison it was made in.

Regardless, it's still a nice looking axe. How does it throw? Always liked throwing hawks. A few CAS stages had a hawk throw or a knife throw. 99% of the shooters thwapped the knife or hawk up against the target where it then slid to the ground. Nothing quite as satifsying as throwing a hawk or knife and have it go "chunk!" into the target. I used to practice. I probably could not hit the garage these days.

And along the same line, has anyone ever messed with bullwhips? I picked one up at a gun show for small money because the end was beat up. Nice whip with a freely rotating handle. Worked with a woman whose hubby was a real cowboy. Sold horses for a living and did all kinds of rodeo entertainment stuff, one of which was tricks with whips. She brought it to him and he fixed it up for me and explained the finer points of a whip. Said it was a nice piece and too bad it had been abused. He told me how to use a whip. Techique is key because you can really hurt yourself when it comes over your shoulder. I would go out in the yard and try to cut leaves out of the low hanging branches. If you look where you want it to go, you will hit your target. It was much easier than I ever though it was. But before you try taking a cigarette out of your wife's mouth, keep in mind that it cracks because the tip is supersonic at that point. It will open the flesh like a razor blade on a weed whacker. The whip is coiled up on the rack above my computer. I need to hit it with Lexol and take it out in the yard to see if I can still hit what I'm looking at. Leaves are gone so it will have to be ends of branches. Need to practice first. Hope I still remember how to do this.

UPDATE: Just had an extra synapse fire. I think the wood S&W use was Goncalo Alves and not Cocobolo. Not sure I even know the difference. Both are gorgeous wood. And I think both are from Brazil.

 

[KeithB]

I saw the first Indiana Jones movie and was impressed by the whip action so I went out and bought a 12’ bullwhip. All was going well (kind of like using a fly rod) until my arm got tired and I missed a motion and managed to flick my right earlobe on the forward stroke with the cracker. It shot my earring out about forty feet away and turned my lobe bright red and the size of a large cherry for several days. So yes somebody has messed with bullwhips.

Someday I’ll tell you about my first set of nunchucks…

 

[KeithB]

1. No reason to case harden 1095.

2. If it is a plain carbon steel no matter how high the carbon content it will start to soften at 400F.

 

[JustJim]

C'mon Keith, lets hear about the numchucks! I used to love to watch people do an instant Bruce Lee impression when first handed them. I saw one guy manage to hit himself in the crotch so hard his Levis were ripped clear up the front. . . fortunately for him, when he swung them back forward he managed to knock himself out, or else he'd have been in some pain!

 

[KeithB]

Mostly just bruised elbows and knees and a couple head shots. Never hit myself in my junk.

Learned my lesson about my own lack of physical skill so I didn’t by the spiked mace I saw at a junk shop.

 

[Mitty38]

At work now on my off day. Waiting on the machine to catch up with me. Have two lab people out sick this weekend. So I came in to do 8 hrs. No OT because of Thanksgiving. Straight time. But it's sumpthin' I guess.
I personally am feeling much better. Whatever I had going on, I think it has mostly passed.

 

[Brad]

Just finished doing one of my least favorite things- stripping a 1911 to pieces for cleaning and lubing. The new Dan Wesson hadn’t been torn down yet and I wanted to make sure it was all good.
I struggle with that damned safety and 3 finger spring every time. Plunger only flew a few times.

 

[Ian]

The sear/disconnector/pin part is what I always struggle with. That and remembering when and how to install the thumb safety lever.

Spent yesterday evening and all afternoon shaping, milling, and scraping the tailstock and tailstock base on my Shanghai lathe kit. It was so bad I didn't even plan on trying to use it, but options for making a new and better one are way too much money and time right now, I want to USE this thing and I'm sooooooooo close to completing it. I did manage to get the tailstock quill square to the world and the base fitted and scraped to the ways but it wasn't easy and I still need to make a permanent, .093" thick shim plate to go between the base and tailstock to make up for all the metal that was removed.

I couldn't stand it anymore so I found a section of 1" Mack leaf spring U-bolt, chucked it up, faced it, center drilled it, put in a live center, turned off the threads and a good bit of the shank. The little machine does pretty well for what it is (a 1 hp mini-lathe with a huge spindle and stretched bed) and while I definitely don't think it's worth the 150+ hours I have in it, it's a lot better than the one I started out with and will do what I need without upgrading to a heavy engine lathe. I was able to make blue chips in tough steel with a brazed carbide turning tool at 900 RPM (wide open) using .008" feed and .040" depth of cut, good enough. Can't wait to get the AXA toolpost mounted and that flimsy, mis-ground lantern paperweight off of there.

 

[462]

Loaded a box of 452-230 TC with 6.2-grains of Herco, for Monday's planned range session to reconfirm the load's accuracy.

Enough is enough -- I am not having Thanksgiving leftovers tomorrow! Well, maybe that last sliver of traditional pumpkin pie.

That I bought Brad's/K Hornet's NOE 311-188, I inventoried the RCBS 30-180-SP stash -- 1200 cast and 300 checked, sized and lubed. I'm pretty sure the RCBS will be looking for a new home.

 

[dale2242]

Well, things are looking up.
The last 3 months have been a bummer for me.
I lost my wife, my sister, one of my cats, and the coyotes got my chickens.
OK, enough whining.
I went to an estate sale down the road about 1/2-mile Friday.
They had a large pile of wood marked $200.
I tried to lowball the guy and said that I would give him $100.
He said no so I offered $150. He said OK.
I haven`t got it stacked yet but I think there is 2 1/2 - 3 cords.
I hauled the first load in my old Chevy pickup.
That would take a lot of trips.
My nephew brought his large dump trailer and his brother for the next 2 trips.
The last load was only a half trailer load.
I gave the last load to my nephew for his help and his brother 2 boxes of 270 factory loads for his help.
That should be enough wood for my shop for the next 2 years.
It looks like there be light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[Mitty38]

Got off work at 8:00 this morning.
They called me from work. Then texted me several times, then had a workmate call me and send other texts.
I just did not answer. I know I have some serious dept to catch up on, but all I seem to do lately is work and sleep.
I slept till 5:30 today.
I told them when I left this morning, my phone was going to be ignored till Wednesday. That is my next scheduled work day.
Apparently they did not take the hint.

 

[Bret4207]

Uneventful

Well, things are looking up.
The last 3 months have been a bummer for me.
I lost my wife, my sister, one of my cats, and the coyotes got my chickens.
OK, enough whining.
I went to an estate sale down the road about 1/2-mile Friday.
They had a large pile of wood marked $200.
I tried to lowball the guy and said that I would give him $100.
He said no so I offered $150. He said OK.
I haven`t got it stacked yet but I think there is 2 1/2 - 3 cords.
I hauled the first load in my old Chevy pickup.
That would take a lot of trips.
My nephew brought his large dump trailer and his brother for the next 2 trips.
The last load was only a half trailer load.
I gave the last load to my nephew for his help and his brother 2 boxes of 270 factory loads for his help.
That should be enough wood for my shop for the next 2 years.
It looks like there be light at the end of the tunnel.

Good for you Dale! With the price of ammo these days they were well paid. Those dump trailers sure take the work out of at least part of the process.

 

[Bret4207]

Got off work at 8:00 this morning.
They called me from work. Then texted me several times, then had a workmate call me and send other texts.
I just did not answer. I know I have some serious dept to catch up on, but all I seem to do lately is work and sleep.
I slept till 5:30 today.
I told them when I left this morning, my phone was going to be ignored till Wednesday. That is my next scheduled work day.
Apparently they did not take the hint.

I know you've relayed about the give and take with your job and the ways they cut you some slack, but man, it sure sounds like a company that needs to revamp their hiring methods. OTOH, if this is a sign of things to come, where the only people willing to buckle down and work are those older folks that simply need the income and actually do crazy stuff like SHOW UP FOR WORK...we're in deep do-do!

We're seeing some of this here in our little towns municipal highway dept. NYS, in their ever constant struggle to make everything as hard and expensive as humanly possible, has passed a law that requires anyone attempting to get a CDL to invest $7-10K in classses...to drive a truck. Now, no offense to truck drivers, I was one and I have a vast amount of respect for good truck drivers. But, who in their right mind is going to borrow upwards of $10K to get a certificate that allows them to qualify for a job paying $15-25 @hour? And that's before taxes! We can't find drivers because the current Teamsters contract has the guys working for $17 and change. Obviously it dates from the pre-plague era. Mind you, the actual cost to the Town is around $60 @ hour when you get done with all the bennies and costs. The guys don't see that, they just see their paycheck. So what do we do? The contract has another year to run, we can't find drivers, at least ones that will work for that $ AND pass a drug test, and the supply of new drivers is simply not there. Nice ball of string we're looking at!

 

[Bret4207]

Wet and soggy here. Spent a bunch of time looking for those manure spreader paddles that broke off the other day. Can't find them, so I'm going to to have to cut out new ones. Had to go to the Amish steel shop today anyway, but I was hoping I'd find at least one of them.

Cleaned up around the house while the thaw was on. Planted about 4 dozen tulips for the spring. Moved a mess of large heavy "stuff" to locations that will make snow removal easier. My battle with trying to keep the barn mow open is failing! Seems every time I locate some "stuff", the only dry storage I have for it is in the barn. Moved round bales yesterday and was kicking the mythical bull in the backside until 60 years of wear caused a tie rod end to devolve into it's 2 component parts...while the tractor was under motion! Fortunately I didn't break a spindle or anything. Not a bad fix, but still another thing to be repaired. The Wuhan Plague cough is still hanging in there. Kicks my butt.

Hope to get some stuff down this week. That steel roofing hasn't unloaded itself, I have a bucket for a loader that needs the mounts narrowed up enough to fit a tractor it wasn't designed for. Gonna need to move both sides in a whole 1/4"!!! No way around it. Still need to make another trip to the late old guys house/bunker and then a trip to the sheriffs office to try and get the ball rolling on legalizing some stuff. Oh! And I have to run power to our towns Christmas display!

Boredom is not an issue here...

 

[L Ross]

Since we did not host a Thanksgiving Celebratory meal, we have no left overs to deal with. However, we saved our deer leg bones, shoulder blades, and a couple of pelvises to make broth from with intentions of canning it. So yesterday we got those bones out their temporary home in a spare freezer and prepped them for the roasting pan with the judicious use of a cleaver. I hauled a chopping block up the hill to the back door on the home made wheel barrow we used for cowboy action shooting, scrubbed it with a wet salt paste, and chopped the bones to fit better in a Nesco roaster. Sue even managed to get a bone flying through the air headed for a SS bowl.

Next they spent 4 hours browning in the roaster, the last two brushed with tomato paste. We boiled about a gallon and a half of water so when we added it to the roaster we would not be cooling it down too far, chopped onions, carrots, and celery, added some salt, a bay leaf, and a scoop of powdered Puff Ball mushroom dust. That has been simmering since 1 pm yesterday. This afternoon we will strain it, chill it, remove the fat, and eventually can it. If I can salvage the meat scraps they will either become pot pie or mince meat pie ingredients. More likely I will roast then grind a couple of neck roasts for the mince meat. If any of you have old authentic mince meat recipes from your family histories I am all ears, or rather eyes. I am only interested in trying to recreate my paternal Grandma's recipe with real meat, suet, citron, raisins etc.

Like many of you I love pie. My Grandma made a couple that are uncommon today, the true mince meat and cottage cheese custard pie. My Dad always said as good as the cottage cheese pie was that we had at home, the pie he remembered from being a kid on the farm was made with home made cottage cheese and was even better.

 

[Mitty38]

Looking at the electric bill. About had a heart attack. It went from 300 bucks last year in November to 500 bucks.
Almost the same usage. Going to have to figure something out for auxiliary heating. Maybe rigging some kind of contraption to keep the heat in the house from the dryer.
Going to fix a couple windows where the plastic needs replaced today. Then maybe figure out a way to close off the mud room and dining area a bit from the rest of the living room. Since it has no plumbing or heating ducts. Cut down a bit on the area heated for winter.

From what I have been told, just now. By a fellow employee that caught me at the gas station. At work, the other lab person did come in for their shift, yesterday evening.
They said, could not do the work because they "were not shown how to use the new equipment". So basically sat there and did nothing all night. Not even the work they could have done without the equipment. Mind you same brand and model number. Just newer and used with a windows 11 computer, instead of Xp.
Thing is..... I came in the night before, caught all the work up in 11 hours. Then took 3 hours to finish configuring the new machine, then the computer to work exactly like the old one did. Except for a few exceptions. Of which I left detailed notes on. Before I headed home.
My call is purposeful ignorance. I hate to think what I will be walking into Wednesday night.
Ps. We get paid a minimum of $17 an hour to start, in the lab now. Which in our area is about $3 more then most positions that are lumped in the " lab tech and data processing category". Of course we do a bit more physical labor then most lab techs. But still, $17 bucks an hour for a job that normally pays $12. In an area of the country that still has one of the lowest costs of living. Ya think that might be incentive enough to try and figure out if you could do some kind of work in your shift . Instead of just sitting in the lunch room because something changed.
Ok Rant over.