I'M BAAACK ya buncha wienies !!!

Mark Williams

Mark Williams

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Nov 28, 2000
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First of all, Getting to meet Don , Mike , Larry and Ted was a great pleasure. Thanks for coming down and sharing your time . For those that couldn't make it , well, maybe next time. The campgound was very nice and they treated us well and stopped to talk often and ask questions. Got to swap some steel and lies for too short a time. You almost need a good 3 days to get time to do some good forging.

Hey Don that mystery steel is fun stuff huh? From accounts and legends it's concrete hopper grate or something like that. You need to find a hammer to fit your LITTLE boys hand to work that stuff. I've heard 1095 modified. I wish I had a few tons of the stuff. I forgot to tell you that the blade was at full hardness :footinmou . Hope you did'nt wear yourself out on that thing. I love the hawks and will always keep em handy. I think if you produce the one with the removable spike you'll even be busier that you already are.

Larry Nowicki is a great bladesmith and the guy can whip up the finest grub so fast it makes your head spin. Had a blast at the cutting competition. We all made it over the empty can hurdle so I guess we all win :D Straw matts everywhere should quiver when we pass by.

Had the pleasure to meet Ted Merchant. Very knowledgable fella and nice guy all around.

We just got in the door. No fun unpacking all this crap as usual. I'll bet some pictures up asap.
 
You were gone? :D

Hurry up and get some pics up -- the unpacking can wait until later. ;)
 
Sounds like you had fun Sunday Mark. I also enjoyed meeting everyone. Mark's work looks even better up close. Larry is a great guy and a fine smith. He took some time and showed everyone the correct way to wrap. I just can't believe I've been doing it wrong all this time. :o I thought it was the cheap lacing I was using. :footinmou

Ted is very knowledgeable and a super guy. He walked over and the first thing he did was pick up one of the blades Mark and I had traded and say" got it too hot on one side" :D I think Mark was tired of hearing that by that time. You could read it in his eyes "I know it ...give it a rest.

Ted gave some suggestions for heat treating that I hadn't tried before. BTW Mark, I tried the edge soak over a coal forge on that blade yesterday and it worked like a charm. I was afraid the thing would have some memory but it stayed put when I tempered it for each of the 10 or so cycles! :D

If anyone out there wants to have their lawn mowed for the next 20 years or so, I know where you can trade a Katana :D :D :D <Private joke>

Anyway, even though the turnout was a little light, it was fun.
Mark, Michael went home and started forging the next morning (That's my little boy!

Here's Mark banging out a blade in record time:
mark%20forge.JPG


This is Mark, Ted and Larry. Ted's the one at the forge!
three.jpg
 
Hay Guys, Great Weekend. Tiring but great. You guys that missed it missed a great time. I hit a backup on the way home, concert near DC and they closed some roads. Now I can say that country music makes you late. By the time I got unloaded it was near 10:00. Work at midnight came too early. By the way Mark I found that flee market but it was closed, maybe next time.
Good to meet everyone and share. New stuff to try and some tools to get or make.
Don don't forget that etching recipe.
Mark, don't forget to post picts of the hawk when it's finished. That handle with the silver wire inlay will make it great. Going to try some hawks soon.
Deb, practice that wrap. We're not watching.....really we're not.
When I get a handle on the knife I was working on I'll post picts.
And yes I have found a new use for those empty soda cans.
Time to make some grub.
Later
Larry
 
Dang Larry, I wish I had half of your stamina. I dont know how you can drag yourself to work after that ordeal. If you want I can get our neighbors at the campsite to pick up a some of those components from the flea market and send them to you. The shipping would be expensive I would imagine just because of the weight. Had a blast doing the cutting. I hope we can get together again. Just ring the dinner bell and we'll show up in a hurry. I think you are in the wrong profession. As fast as you can whip up a meal and sling a knife like that you need to open your own restaurant. You've already got good start on staff :)
 
Thanks for the pics -- looks like a good time. Get any strange looks from the resident "blue hairs" in the campsite?
 
Hey Mark. I like to cook for family and friends. It probably would not be fun if I had to do it for a living. Its also why I got into knife making...I couldn't afford the real good knives I wanted so I learned to make em.

If you want I can get our neighbors at the campsite to pick up a some of those components from the flea market and send them to you.
Maybe that can be my excuse to do it again next time.


Just for fun when I got home I tried some 2 liter bottles filled with water. They were as easy as the cans when filled with water. The tough ones were the empty ones.
 
Get any strange looks from the resident "blue hairs

No but the kid that cuts the grass wants a Katana and someone is gonna make it for him or ....ELSE! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

I have a video here somewhere Larry, of me cutting swinging 1 gal water jugs (filled) with a Kat.

I taped one that I had sitting on a hay bale. When I cut it, it stayed full right to the brim. One of my better moments. :yawn:
 
I taped one that I had sitting on a hay bale. When I cut it, it stayed full right to the brim. One of my better moments. :yawn:[/QUOTE]


I'll have to try that one tomorrow, class tonight.
Larry
 
hey ?? :confused: why is the forge up around the moon :footinmou
is it to keep the leaves from catching on fire? :D

looks like a great time for sure guys..
 
hey ?? why is the forge up around the moon

Look at the size of Mark....Dan. He's as big as my baby boy.
The forge is waist high for him.

Ted needed a ladder, Larry and I just used a stepstool! :D
 
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