Iron Skillet Rehab

Susan is needing another iron skillet in the kitchen, so she sorted through some we had stashed in an outbuilding and found one she liked. It was dirty and rusty. She washed it, but it was still mighty nasty. I put some good white oak pieces in the stove, put the skillet on them when they had charcoaled up nice, and opened the draft.

The rust crumbled up nice and the stink was gone after the coals were burned down. I started washing and was amazed by the dark rust that came off. 

 

I finished up with a stainless mail scrubber. It looks like a good one. 

 Seasoned with beef tallow and ready to go to work. We will have to post pictures of food next!

Brassman Bart: Gladiator March

Tuesday Torque: Wheel Horse Re-Works

 Wheel Horses should get more of these conversions. They have a heavy duty trans-axle and a good frame. We used a  Wheel Horse for many years to mow our lawn, and now I sorta wish I had kept if for a retirement project. Oh Well. The first one is a Bradford engine, and the second one is an IHC. 

A Double For Monday!

Susan and I were in Mt. Vernon and whipped into this filling station to have a gander at this neat setup. The guy with the beard had just acquired these two Fairbanks-Morse engines and two grinders on a nifty wagon. These were in an estate auction near Louisville on the Indiana side of the Ohio. He's ready to get Back To The Old Grind!

 

Weekend Steam II: Pomona, California

 Thanks for the museum visit, Merle. We are getting better at traveling vicariously!  I figure I will never get to California again, so this is a nice little trip.

"Steam engines on public display in Pomona, CA. These giants are among the last surviving examples of their kind. The bell and whistle in the Santa Fe 4-6-4 Hudson are operable. Some of the engines on display have working bells/whistles, which are all fed by a large air compressor at the station."

Weekend Steam: Steaming Up The 7 1/4 Inch Feldbahn

 This video is a whole lotta fun, from rolling out the little tank engine to backing into the shed after a fine outing.  Many Thanks to Merle for finding this one!

Quick Method Of Taking Down A Springpole

 Wood floating up in the air isn't really a trick. The trick is getting it down, and if it is in a place where there are people, you must bring it down. In this instance, the top of a tree we cut was being held up by an understory black walnut, and that tree was made into a springpole by the weight of the wood it was holding. Springpoles and extreme leaners need to be cut in special ways so they don't break and smack you in the face, so I did a face cut, a vertical bore cut to establish the hinge, (The walnut was too small in diameter for a conventional bore cut.) and a release cut. Chainsaw trainers will teach you to repeatedly shave the compressed side of a springpole, and that is fine on sapling size trees, but when they become large saplings or bigger, shaving and nicking can become very tiresome, and fatiguing your arms while running a saw is a bad thing. I have been using this vertical bore cut method of dealing with springpoles for several years now, and it works for me every time. On small diameter trees like this little walnut, as you punch through, the tree will settle a bit and pull your rpms down a bit on the saw. Be ready for that, keep it wide open, and pull back a bit, then finish. Pull out and sever the backstrap.

Dope Out The Compression And Tension When You Buck

 You need to evaluate downed trees and limbs before making your bucking cuts and figure out which side is under compression and which side is under tension. A stem that is suspended on both ends is easy to dope out, and with no side pressure, this is an easy job.

More Fun With Fire!

 Back in 2017 we had this tree taken down with a backhoe because it was hollow and leaned severely. We worked up the easy parts for firewood and the big old hulk was just lying on the north side of they yard looking ugly. We will be cleaning up the remains for several days and then till and seed this spot. 

A Couple Of Simple Drops

 Here are a couple of simple pole sized trees to drop. If you thin your timber you will be cutting many trees of this size. They are great to work up into firewood, and just need to pass through your splitter one time. Evaluate where the tree wants to go by its lean and weight, and aim it that direction with your open face. Bore it to make the back of your hinge, and then cut out through the backstrap. Remember to escape from the stump as soon as you finish your release cut.