Back home again

Had a wonderful day at the Blacksmith Swap Meet. I knew that the host was 'into' knifemaking but I didn't realize that he was an ABS Master Smith and that his work was so gorgeous. He teaches so I think I am going to be spending a few weekends in Seattle this fall. He did a few demos during the swap-meet and I learned a lot -- like his teaching style. Picked up a forge blower with bad bearings -- the unit was built back when stuff like this was meant to be repaired by the operator so it will be a simple matter to disassemble it, press out the old bearings, get some new ones from Applied (and there is a branch in town) and be up and running. I have a sweet old 1/4 horse motor from the 1950's that I have been saving for a project like this. Also picked up some laser-cut 1075 knife blade blanks, three gorgeous and indulgent small blocks of burl and spalted wood for knife handles (when I get good enough to need them, they will be there waiting patiently). The 100 pounds of Hematite ore is fun -- two 50 pound bags and the bags are about the same size as a five pound bag of sugar. Tiny for all of its mass. I will be moving these over to 5-gallon white food-service pails in a few days so it doesn't rust and will take a photo of it with me playing with a magnet.