peejman

My wife got me a strop for Christmas. She found it at a small woodworking place in Townsend, Smoky Mountain Woodcarvers. While I have never been in the place, my wife said it looked like he had at least one of every wood carving tool known to exist. My wife said he as a super nice guy and he also gave each of my boys a hand made wooden car and wouldn't accept payment. He just smiled and told them "merry Christmas". That alone means I'll be back at some point.   :up:    First off, I've never been good at sharpening knives. Free-handed, I can easily make a dull knife sharp as a spoon.  I bought a Smith's sharpening system a while back and after bunch of sharpening, I think I've gotten the hang of it. I could even shave a bit of hair off the back of my hand when finished, so I considered that success.   I started with my cheapo pocket knife which is my guinea pig for trying stuff, mostly because it was free and if I bugger it, oh well.    I presume the blade is made of one form or another of cheap stainless. The edge wasn't bad to begin with, but I touched it up with the fine diamond and the Arkansas stone just because. I'd watched a couple videos on youtube about how to strop a knife so I decided it was time to have a go....   Wow. :stunned:    Now I know how people get those beautifully polished edges I see in pictures. It was reasonably sharp when I started but what a difference! Instead of feeling like I was half scraping the hair off the back of my hand, it was actually cutting it off with little effort.   Encouraged by that success, I raided the kitchen knife drawer and went to work. While sharpening those, I discovered that stropping a thin-bladed kitchen knife isn't so easy. The cutting edge is so small that it was hard to see if I was holding it at the correct angle. I had to re-sharpen the first one twice before I got the angle right so I didn't dull it with the strop. I had to cut up some chicken for supper last night and those knives sliced that bird like butter.  :woohoo:   Now I may tackle a couple other kitchen knives that just aren't quite as sharp as they used to be.  :cool:

We have a blue heeler mix and what they said about the cattle dog breed is very true...   They're very smart and that tends to make them very stubborn.  They're a lot more work to deal with than a typical "people pleasing" breed like a lab.      In my experience, animal shelter people aren't especially reliable with regard to dog breeds.  It's hard to tell with puppies anyway. 

      I would assume that like lots of things, it's considered secondary enforcement.  If you run across a LEO in a bad mood, or do something silly and they decide to throw the book at you, it'll be on the list.   My guess is the cops in Maryland recognize you as a tourist and choose not to hassle you about it, unless you give them reason to hassle you. 

Welcome!

  I think this is the ticket.  I've also got a fixed blade with serrations.  Generally one puts MUCH more pressure on knife when cutting with serrations compared to a plain edge.  That seems to work a lot better with a bigger knife than a pocket folder.    I also sharpened my serrated knife over the weekend.  While it wasn't especially dull, it sharpened up easy enough with the diamond round file that came with my Smith's kit.  It'd be pretty tedious to do a long, fully serrated blade (like a kitchen knife), but it's not real difficult. 

    In TN no, in VA yes.  TN seems to generally ignore the window tint laws.  If you get pulled over in VA with blacked out windows, expect some hassle.     Another thing to keep in mind....   window tint laws apply where you are, regardless of where the vehicle is registered.  It doesn't matter if the vehicle has FL or AZ tags where the legal tint is 10-20%, if you're in another state where 35% is the max legal tint, you can get a ticket for it. 

The ECU software must be windows based...

I had walking pneumonia between Christmas and New Years a few years ago. It was pretty miserable. Had to sleep sitting up and generally didn't sleep for more than 3-4 hrs at a shot for a good 10 days. Takes a long time to get better when you can't rest. Hope you get past it soon. Stuff I've read about the flu that's going around is its H1N1. Don't know if it was included in this year's vaccine.

I've got a knife with a partially serrated blade but rarely use the serrated part. It's really only useful for sawing stuff... rope, wood, bones, etc.

Welcome!

Cool info, thanks. I didn't immediately think of X-ray diffraction when you mentioned X-rays. Seems like residual stresses would be only one piece of the puzzle for verifying a Damascus barrel was ok for use. I'd want traditional X-rays and penetrant inspection as well. I'll keep your mom's company in mind. I work on aircraft engine parts and residual stress determination occasionally comes up.

I view helicopters as a bucket of loose parts flying in formation. Those pilots have utter faith in their machines. One burp of the engine or if the cable snag, they're dead before they'll have time to say "uh oh." That said, heli-logging is fairly common in the northwest and Canada. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UAqe7FeBdOs

Welcome!

Wood stove emissions have been regulated for a long time. Past emission requirements drove technology that made significant improvements to efficiency and reduced fuel usage that likely wouldn't have happened otherwise. http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/hoepareg.htm The 2015 version is just another update. And it's not like they're outlawing old stoves or even phasing them out. But I do agree that surely they have something better to worry about.

    Care to elaborate?  X-rays don't show internal stresses.   edit... nevermind, apparently x-ray can be used to determine residual stresses... interesting.  Now I'm curious who did it?

I really like my Remington 552 Speedmaster.  It's a somewhat picky on ammo as it doesn't feed uncoated/unjacketed lead hollow points real well.  Anything round nose or coated/jacketed works fine.  It's got irons and an integral scope rail on the receiver.    That said, CZ's and Henry's are excellent too. 

My Dad has his grandfathers damascus barreled shotgun.  Yes, you could make some very low power hand loaded shells with either black powder or smokeless powder and probably be fine.  I won't do it with that shotgun because its too intrinsically valuable to risk it IMO. 

    Agreed, the levels of radiation are of no consequence.  But they're greater than zero and the media knows they can prey on the public's ignorance and irrational fear to get a few extra hits on the story. 

Agreed, there's a big difference between a machinist and a CNC operator.  While I know how to program a few CNC machines and design tooling and such, I'm no machinist. 

    heh.... me three.

  They already have.  The cloud of radioactive dust that was thrown up into the atmosphere crossed into North America not too long ago.  I've heard stories of unusually high level of radiation detected in snowfall out west.  

    Being brand new, obviously take it back to the dealer but I agree with the above.  The noise and the smoke point to cracked exhaust manifold.  Unless it's uber steep, the slope of the driveway should have nothing to do with it.    Pop the hood and spray the COLD exhaust with some soapy water.  Have your wife start the truck and you watch the exhaust.  It should make bubbles if there's a crack.  And it'll  burn off quick so you'll have to be alert.

    I'll agree with this.  If it's non-functional, it's not worth a whole lot to IMO.    But the value determination is up to you Tanker.  If you want it, get it.  Personally, I'd accept a little short term debt and give myself a little time to recoup the money.

        Hardened Steel - I have no idea what this is.  There are literally dozens upon dozens of types of steel that are considered "hardenable".    HBAR Chrome Moly - HBAR stands for Heavy Barrel and has nothing to do with the type of steel.  An HBAR barrel is simply thicker in some areas than a "government profile" or "lightweight profile" barrel.  Chrome Moly is a subdivision of "hardened steel" but still could be one of several types.  They're generally high strength steels and make good barrels.    Chrome Moly - see sentences 2 & 3 above.   Melonite Nitride - is a surface treatment for various types of steel.  It leaves a very thin but very hard surface layer on the metal and is typically applied for wear resistance, corrosion resistance, and/or improvement of cyclic fatigue life.  The degree of fatigue life improvement depends largely on the base steel which isn't specified.    Chrome lined - Similar to the above, chrome plating leaves a very thin but very hard surface layer and is typically applied for wear or corrosion resistance.  No effect on strength or fatigue life per se.    Stainless Steel - again, this is a very general category of a large number of steels.  Some make good barrels, some don't.  Obviously stainless is chosen for its corrosion resistance and aesthetics (aka, it's purdy.)      The ignornance of people who use these terms as buzz word selling points and have no idea what they mean annoys me.     All that said... My statement above still applies... they're all functionally the same for the recreational shooter.  Get what you want and fits your budget. 

Think it was loaded with wad cutters?