SteveChuckFrank
Close Enough*
A woman that works for me has a son in grade school that is 100% virtual right now. She said instead of snow days they were doing half virtual days
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An Unexpected Journey: A Newbie's Walk In Wet Shaving
- Thread starter Blade-meister
- Start date
I saw that too and wondered how the kids felt about that. A lot of schools here had snow days and no virtual learning which made me scratch my head because they were virtual learning anyways so why even have a snow day?
SteveChuckFrank
Close Enough*
The first thing I thought of when the virtual learning started, was that it would be the death of the snow day. Not only are the kids going to miss out and be disappointed, but the teachers didn’t mind those days off either haha!
I wear a mountain man neck pouch most days. The other day I picked it up and found the most awesome scent..................my Bay Rum aftershave combined with the smell of worn leather. Are you listening soap makers? A combo of Bay Rum and leather would be a great soap if you can nail it with not too much clove. In fact, leave the cloves out. I'd buy a big old tub of that! Perhaps name it something pirate oriented with accompanying sticker. Pirate Swag!
Speaking of mountain man, I had some birthday money left over so I found an 1800's mountain man knife I just had to have. 8 1/4 inch long blade and from the west which lend believability that it was likely used by the fur trade trappers. It also adds more believability to the fur trapper angle because it is a NY knife making company that hand forged thier early 1800's knives up through until about 1870 when when got power hammers. Up until then, they were blacksmith and anvil made. You can tell the old knives by the size of the pins. Small multiple pins mean old usually. The larger brass rivet type pins date knives from 1890 through the earl 1900's and beyond which means they probably skinned some buffalo if they are the right type and design.
Trappers generally carried butcher knives like the one I purchased. The trading posts (usually named Fort whatever) only sold "scalping" knives to the Native Americans. They were smaller and made with less care. Few self respecting mountain men carried the scalping knives because they were so cheaply made compared to the butcher knives.
Pictures will be posted as soon as I get the knife in the mail........................
Trappers generally carried butcher knives like the one I purchased. The trading posts (usually named Fort whatever) only sold "scalping" knives to the Native Americans. They were smaller and made with less care. Few self respecting mountain men carried the scalping knives because they were so cheaply made compared to the butcher knives.
Pictures will be posted as soon as I get the knife in the mail........................
Can't wait to see your "new" knife. Its provenance should be fascinating.
Excited to see that new to you blade!
Well folks, my knife is officially parked at the Santa Clarita USPS facility and it says my package is in transit and arriving late. That's equal to we have no clue where your package is. It was supposed to arrive Monday. I called the post office and they are blaming the ice storms and COVID of course, but I think I could have had the seller tie the package onto a woodchuck and it would probably be almost to my house right now.
Imagine for just one minute if we all did our jobs that way. "Um yeah boss, I know I said I was supposed to get this report to you Monday and it's in the works, but I have no clue when the report will land on your desk." Yup, you guessed it, I'd be fired. My apologies to all the mail carriers on this forum, it's not your fault but the system that gets it to you to deliver it. Oh well, that's my rant for the week. Perhaps the knife wants a reunion tour of the months it took by wagon and horse to make it out west?
I may have used that excuse this week...if I didn't, I certainly will next week!
Lately in between shoveling and raking my house and cabin rooves, I have been working on some manly stuff. I haven't quite finished the handle for my great grandfather's single bit axe, but I did finish getting handles on all my chisels that I bought at my favorite junk shop. I have maybe $30 or $35 wrapped up in them total. I added a chisel my dad gave me a few years ago. I hadn't used it much because it was missing the ferrule on the end of the handle. For those that don't know, a ferrule is just a ring that goes on the handle of a chisel or a file and it keeps the handle from splitting out. In the case of my chisel, it keeps the handle from splitting out when you tap it with a wooden mallet. I used a piece of copper pipe for mine. This isn't a hard thing to fix, but one of those things you forget about when you have free time. I included a mortising chisel (far right) that I grabbed from my grandfather's workshop when my uncles let us go through the stuff they didn't want. Nothing fancy, but these tools are now ready to be put back to work. Some guys make super fancy handles out of exotic woods and the handles sure are pretty. From left to right the handle wood is: Chestnut Oak, Black Locust, Black Locust, Chestnut Oak, Maple, Black Locust, Black Locust, Hickory, and the mortising chisel is an unknown wood. In fact, I used a few chisels in the picture to work on some of the later chisel handles. You can see that I've also added a few more from the junk shop. There might be one more there that will find it's way to my home. Time to sharpen, hone and strop!
In between the chisels I had a spare blacksmithing hammer sitting around and knew of a young budding blacksmith who needed one so I made a nice hickory handle for it. I forgot to take pictures, but it turned out great and when I handed it to him he was happy to get it. He went right out the next day and forged with it in the snow! It's good to pay it forward sometimes. He'll have that hammer for his whole life practically and perhaps he'll do the same for another young blacksmith.
The really good news is that all of a sudden my mountain man knife appeared at my local post office today! It took 12 days to ship from CA to NY. It's a Foster Brother's knife and they were a NY knife maker that hand forged their early blades on an anvil. This is one of their earliest blades and man was I happy with is. It's a little over cleaned, but still mountain man gritty. It's got a wicked 8 1/4 inch blade with the overall length being 13 1/2 inches. Now that's a knife! It took 171 years for this knife to return to NY and man I wish I could hear the stories it could tell. Perhaps it never saw the mountain man life, or perhaps it was carried by a fur trade era trapper through the mountains. We do know one thing for sure, it made it's way from NY to CA. Now it's time to make a fitting sheath for it so I can wear this thing out when I go to Walmart I sure know @dangerousdon would want me to try. I can't believe this thing showed up! I'd already figured in my mind that I'd be contacting the seller and asking for a refund.
That's your dose of manly vaccine for all those who spent too much time in the cubicle this week, or maybe you spent time holding the wife's purse while she used the restroom. This vaccine is proven to grow hair on the back of your knees and restore depleated manly hormones. Side effects include: grunting, scratching, excessive hair growth, and the sudden urge to eat red meat. If any of these side effects persist, please enjoy and don't call your doctor Your Minister of Manliness
In between the chisels I had a spare blacksmithing hammer sitting around and knew of a young budding blacksmith who needed one so I made a nice hickory handle for it. I forgot to take pictures, but it turned out great and when I handed it to him he was happy to get it. He went right out the next day and forged with it in the snow! It's good to pay it forward sometimes. He'll have that hammer for his whole life practically and perhaps he'll do the same for another young blacksmith.
The really good news is that all of a sudden my mountain man knife appeared at my local post office today! It took 12 days to ship from CA to NY. It's a Foster Brother's knife and they were a NY knife maker that hand forged their early blades on an anvil. This is one of their earliest blades and man was I happy with is. It's a little over cleaned, but still mountain man gritty. It's got a wicked 8 1/4 inch blade with the overall length being 13 1/2 inches. Now that's a knife! It took 171 years for this knife to return to NY and man I wish I could hear the stories it could tell. Perhaps it never saw the mountain man life, or perhaps it was carried by a fur trade era trapper through the mountains. We do know one thing for sure, it made it's way from NY to CA. Now it's time to make a fitting sheath for it so I can wear this thing out when I go to Walmart
I sure know @dangerousdon would want me to try. I can't believe this thing showed up! I'd already figured in my mind that I'd be contacting the seller and asking for a refund. That's your dose of manly vaccine for all those who spent too much time in the cubicle this week, or maybe you spent time holding the wife's purse while she used the restroom. This vaccine is proven to grow hair on the back of your knees and restore depleated manly hormones. Side effects include: grunting, scratching, excessive hair growth, and the sudden urge to eat red meat. If any of these side effects persist, please enjoy and don't call your doctor
Your Minister of Manliness
Love it!
I do have a minor correction. I called all of the above chisels for ease of posting, but in fact the two on the left are technically called gouges. The essentially remove wood just like a chisel, but more of a scooping of a rounded piece of wood when it comes off.
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With the ground finally starting to show, I got the metal detector out with my girls and we had a lot of fun with it. My house was built in the early 1940's and the clothe's line went to a tree on the edge of the property so I knew right where to look for coins. My girls and I found our first coin spill of 56 cents. The oldest coin was a nickle from 1964 followed by a quarter from 1966. We were out for only an hour or so but they just couldn't believe seeing the "free" money in the hole where I dug my plug. The surprising find was something round that looked like a coin but said "head light" on it. I did a little research and found that 1940's work clothes had buttons on them that said "head light". This was really cool because it's likely those that built the house or the first people who lived here lost that button off the work clothes as they hung out to dry on the clothes line. I like finding that stuff more than the coins. Most of the lawn is still covered in snow and I got a silver signal but the ground was still too hard and frozen in that spot to see what was there. The best sound of all was the sound of the honking gease I heard returning to the area. It's been a long, cold, snowy winter here so this was a welcome sound to hear.
Below is a picture of the finds. Dates are clockwise from the top: 1989 Rosevelt Dime, 1985 Jefferson NicKle, 1966 Washington Quarter, 1984 Lincoln Penny, 1964 Jefferson Nickle, 1988 Rosevelt Dime. Middle is the 1940's head light button. More will hopefully follow as I get to explore more of the property this year. I have a lot to learn though. As you can see in the picture my shovel clipped the 85 Nickle and if that had been an 1800's silver coin I would have taken all the value out of it. To my defense, these coins were scattered in a small area so it was tough to know where one coin ended and another began. I'll get better. Lots of fun though. If you've got a metal detector sitting in the closet, get it out and have some fun.
Below is a picture of the finds. Dates are clockwise from the top: 1989 Rosevelt Dime, 1985 Jefferson NicKle, 1966 Washington Quarter, 1984 Lincoln Penny, 1964 Jefferson Nickle, 1988 Rosevelt Dime. Middle is the 1940's head light button. More will hopefully follow as I get to explore more of the property this year. I have a lot to learn though. As you can see in the picture my shovel clipped the 85 Nickle and if that had been an 1800's silver coin I would have taken all the value out of it. To my defense, these coins were scattered in a small area so it was tough to know where one coin ended and another began. I'll get better. Lots of fun though. If you've got a metal detector sitting in the closet, get it out and have some fun.
Another hobby that pays me..................albeit a small return
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
Must be quite a fun way to pass some time...never know what you’ll find!
Yes, and you have to be the type that this excites or your detector will eventually make it's way to your back closet corner. The other thing you have to accept is that you aren't likely to get rich or find super valuable coins. I think people jump into this type of hobby thinking that they will find lots of gold and 1700's coins when the fact is you can find those things, but you have to dig a pile of trash along the way. I personally enjoy the trash because you learn a little bit about the people who lived there before you. I took my girls out again today and went down the turnpike and covered more of the front yard where the snow melted today. Here's what we found:
Left to right: I think it's a modern 16 gauge shotgun slug that was fired but only hit a tree as it was almost out of steam, an early 1900's NYM Co silver plated fork, 2/3 of a 1960's Ford Falcon name badge, part of a belt, a 50's toy army jeep, a steering wheel to another toy car, and some old chinaware. The turnpike so far is a big disappointment. It was paved at the end of the 1800's so perhaps it's not allowing my signal to get down there. I found the Falcon name badge on the side of the turnpike and a small dump where the fork was. No coins today and the pro's would call this all junk, but I thought it was pretty neat especially the fork. Nothing wrong with the fork so it makes you wonder how it got there. It was in some broken glass and with the metal bottom of a very old light bulb. There's more there in the little dump, but my girls were starting to fight over who got to carry the big shovel so I moved on.
Had a beautiful shave this morning. Mystic Water Bay Rum and everything just felt and went right. I cranked the Parker Variant up to about 4.3 and plowed through a great beard that had a day's growth. Feather blades tend to laugh at any sort of stubble I can grow.
Spring weather sprung here and that means I got out to the cabin to take a look at things. I had a pine tree come down and it missed my cabin by a few feet. The way it fell and where it fell, I have to give credit to God for directing it away from my cabin. There's no other explanation for how this fell. The tree was healthy too but snapped off about 7 feet above the ground. We had some pretty good wind here last week, but nothing that would seem to do that. I'm very thankful.
With the good weather I also got out to do more metal detecting. I found a 1935 Wheat Penny (known as a Wheatie in metal detecting circles). One of the coolest things I found had me scratching my head. I got a large signal that rang like a coin. I dug and I dug and finally at over 8 inches I pulled out this large piece of metal. It looked like it came off a piece of machinery so I set it on the steps of my workshop and kept going. The sun dried it and when I looked at it I realized it was horse shaped. It turned out to be a solid cast iron bookend shaped like a horse from the 1920's - 1940's. I looked for the other one but didn't find it. It may yet turn up. I plan on cleaning it up so I'll post a picture of it after I do that.
I also found something that I thought was just a piece of junk metal and almost threw it in the trash, but I looked at it again and saw it was a piece of the old turnpike pavement from the late 1800's and it had a small shell casing stuck in it. I cleaned up the head of the shell and found an "H" stamped on it. A little research shows it's from an 1890's Henry Repeater rifle in the .22 caliber. This would make sense with why it was embedded in the pavement piece. I'm thinking the old turnpike must have at one time ran right through my property because I found a bed of it right in a section of my lawn.
I also found a Ford ignition key. My thought at the time was "This is some key to a piece of crap Ford Escort." A little research shows that it's an ignition key to a 1940's or 1950's Ford car. Pretty cool to find this stuff and it makes you wonder how things got where you find them.
Spring weather sprung here and that means I got out to the cabin to take a look at things. I had a pine tree come down and it missed my cabin by a few feet. The way it fell and where it fell, I have to give credit to God for directing it away from my cabin. There's no other explanation for how this fell. The tree was healthy too but snapped off about 7 feet above the ground. We had some pretty good wind here last week, but nothing that would seem to do that. I'm very thankful.
With the good weather I also got out to do more metal detecting. I found a 1935 Wheat Penny (known as a Wheatie in metal detecting circles). One of the coolest things I found had me scratching my head. I got a large signal that rang like a coin. I dug and I dug and finally at over 8 inches I pulled out this large piece of metal. It looked like it came off a piece of machinery so I set it on the steps of my workshop and kept going. The sun dried it and when I looked at it I realized it was horse shaped. It turned out to be a solid cast iron bookend shaped like a horse from the 1920's - 1940's. I looked for the other one but didn't find it. It may yet turn up. I plan on cleaning it up so I'll post a picture of it after I do that.
I also found something that I thought was just a piece of junk metal and almost threw it in the trash, but I looked at it again and saw it was a piece of the old turnpike pavement from the late 1800's and it had a small shell casing stuck in it. I cleaned up the head of the shell and found an "H" stamped on it. A little research shows it's from an 1890's Henry Repeater rifle in the .22 caliber. This would make sense with why it was embedded in the pavement piece. I'm thinking the old turnpike must have at one time ran right through my property because I found a bed of it right in a section of my lawn.
I also found a Ford ignition key. My thought at the time was "This is some key to a piece of crap Ford Escort." A little research shows that it's an ignition key to a 1940's or 1950's Ford car. Pretty cool to find this stuff and it makes you wonder how things got where you find them.
Yeah, I can't imagine walking out and finding that thing demolished. I guess that's why people clear 100 yards of trees when they build them.
Many would look at the finds and think it's just a bunch of junk, but I enjoy history and every little piece recovered like this tells a story that has long been forgotten. Who knew they paved roads in the late 1800's? I didn't until I did some research. It's a really weird consistency too being more stone and pure tar than the black top we are used to seeing today. Larger rocks too due to them have to take what they could get and not having the modern crusher machines we do today.
What you identify as a belt. Could it be a rifle sling? That's what I thought upon seeing the pic.