Matt Walker

And I thought I was the only one in the region. They make a handy rubber hammer. You can machine them on your lathe by mounting a die grinder (carbide tool) on the tool holder.

Great, Best I remember a golf ball gives a decent tone in that size bottle. I have some hockey pucks if you want to experiment. That's a rare item in East TN.

As always, Impressive work Alan! Link sent to current owner of the bottle inventory. Maybe he will be inspired. They are nasty to clean up aren't they. If you burn them a little in the forge it makes the powder coating softer and a little easier to remove. All the ones I had were in fact air bottles, from a local fire dept. Scraped when they went to all composite bottles several years back.

A good place to start looking https://abana.org/affiliates/affiliate-map-list/#!directory/map If the nearest group is too long a drive, think about starting a local group.

One of our local guild members has just started a new website. Please check out this impressive young man when you have a few minutes to spare. https://www.harvestgapforge.com/about His parents drove him (around an hour each way) to our monthly meetings for several years before he was old enough to drive! IMHO, he shows the value of starting young and being dedicated to the craft as well as having people around who support.

Hood ornament?

I agree Rob. I see kayaks in the summer but not much in the winter. The problem is the water is coming from a deep mountain lake and runs around 50*F varying little year round. A dip in the summer is shocking, a dip in the winter is a life threatening emergency. The draw for this river is a study some years back indicated 9500 fish per mile! I think what shocks me about the price is comparing the equipment and an experts time for a day to the equipment many of us have and the fact that some of us could be considered expert. I guess not many of us could make that rate in a days time

Yeah, and I bet it didn't cost him much either. The going rate for a guided day trip (drift-boat) on the river near me is around $450 per day and I'm told they expect $100 tip when the trip is over.

I don't have a fishing story but a boat story: When I decided I wanted to fish our river some people told me about people building river boats by using a jet-ski drive in a jon boat. Did a little research and too quickly bought a jet-ski and a 14-48 jon boat and went to work. It turned out pretty good and I decided to take it to the lake for a try out before it was really completed. Just a temporary board to sit on. A small crowd gathered on the ramp to see what was going to happen. In the crowd was my wife taking video and a man with a boy around 4 years old. Having never been

If you swing by that ramp mid day you'll see, Word is already out! They were parked in the grass yesterday. Tags indicate mostly NC but I see vehicles from everywhere. Very few TN usually.

Anyone fishing tailwater below a dam? I live 0.5 miles from a new ramp on the South Holston River in East TN. Have an outboard jet and trying to learn how to fish this river. Last fishing I did was for bass 30 years ago. A 2400 cfm river is a whole different ballgame. People are visiting here from all over the country, it's supposed to be one of the top trout fisheries in the East. Most are fly fishing using drift boats. I've been having good luck just throwing minnow shaped plugs. Random video showing what a nice place this is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA6OCye6ogQ Ano

Many years back, a number of people helped me with pattern welding. None had Ron's depth of knowledge and generosity to share. If he knew a fellow was serious he had no secretes!

https://www.swagoffroad.com/SWAG-Portaband-Tables-Accessories_c_35.html

Copper jaw covers have worked well for me. Copper is more grippy than steel on steel.

Thanks Jerrod, All good points. I really can't find much difference with a hammer. A hard ball (1.25") drop beside a crudely calibrated 10 " stick is showing some spots a little harder maybe. Here is what I'm seeing: As cut and cleaned face 30% rebound with minor denting. If I work over an area the size of a quarter with a hammer for a minute or two I get +40%. On the treated piece I'm getting 50% to 60% and no deformation on the treated piece. So yeah, I think it's probably is worth doing for a guy with a torch already or a person with a few extra bucks. On the other hand