Joshua States

pollinator
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since Feb 19, 2021
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Biography
I spent most of my life on one adventure after another. I've studied classical ballet, music, and driven truck OTR. Rock & ice climbing, mountaineering, and bow hunting have been my primary outdoors pursuits. I have spent most of my professional life in the building trades and currently work as a building code guru. My wife and I have a metal working business where we do a lot of forging, welding, and creating. I also do a bit of woodworking. My primary focus in metal work is knives and other bladed tools.
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Alpine southwest USA
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Recent posts by Joshua States

Borax is the traditional blacksmith/smelting flux. You can usually find it in the laundry soap aisle of the grocery store.
3 days ago
Oh no! Nancy is staring down a rabbit hole and is about to jump in!

About getting a book on the subject, most of the books about this type of smelting are long since out of print. However, there are a decent number of academic papers on the subject that you can download for free at https://www.academia.edu/. (if you can tolerate reading a PDF document rather than a real book).
Lee Sauder is an American blacksmith and possibly the foremost expert on the subject of bloomery iron and steel smelting still alive today. (https://independent.academia.edu/LeeSauder)
You can also find his videos on YT and there was one he did in Africa in a village once renowned for their steel production from ore.  Search YT for Lee Sauder smelting in Africa
Other names from history on the subject of crucible steel are Al Pendray and John D. Verhoeven. They were mostly concerned with recreating the fabled Wootz, or Pulat steel from antiquity. They started with ore in a crucible furnace.

Sometime in April sounds like the same time I will probably start making crucible steel again. This winter has been pretty dry and unusually warm though. I could start up sooner!
Excited for you to give it a go.
1 month ago
I already have more than I think I will use!
If I make 8 knives in a year, that's a lot. My typical year's work is around 4 to 6.
My high point was 10 in one year.
1 month ago

r ranson wrote:Each piece of wood is individual.   Representing that moment in time for that living tree.  It documents the wather, and history of a place.

I can't see how limiting wood blank collection would help, unless you are running out of space.



Well, it's not space that is the issue. It's that a block of wood measuring 1.5" x 1.5" x 5" can cost anywhere from $25-$50. And don't even ask me about the mammoth ivory.
1 month ago

r ranson wrote:

r ranson wrote:I totally forgot my plan to buy some naples yellow oil paint.  Drat this no-buy already.   I don't actually need it yet, it just would be nice to have.



I broke down and bought it.

It's so pretty!   And fills in the missing link I need for a painting I'm working on.



Money well-spent I say!
1 month ago
Well, now. It sounds like you already have a lot of the basics lined out and started. That's great!
The pond might just be viable with a little excavator work. Make it a little (or a lot) deeper and it might just become a permanent pond. I know that way back in time, NYS used to provide stock fish for private ponds. You should check with the Game & Fish agency and find out if they still do that sort of thing. A friend of mine's father had a place in Westerlo and he had his pond stocked with bass and perch.  After a couple of years, he started finding crappie and sunfish as well. They just somehow showed up. If you build it, they will come. Probably bring a bunch of frogs with them too.
I wouldn't worry too much about the septic system. A well-designed septic system will work forever as long as the leach field doesn't become clogged. Our first septic system was already 20+ years old when we moved in, and we went 18 more years without any problems. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The only issue I can foresee is whether you plan to expand the house and add more residents. Septic systems are usually sized per number of bedrooms.  If the current system is sized for one bedroom, adding more to the load may overwork the system.

The sulfur in the water is a common thing with wells and upstate NY is no exception. Lots of folks I knew on wells in upstate had sulfur water when I was a kid. Most folks just dealt with it, but now we have all sorts of water filtration systems available. A simple RO system under the kitchen sink will take care of your cooking and drinking water. If you are looking for a whole-house system, I have had very good experiences with expresswater.com.  Our well here had a bit of sulfur when we first drilled, but after pumping several hundred gallons (maybe even thousands), it disappeared. A whole-house filtration system took it from there. I would suggest a carbon block filter of some sort, just to take the dirt and sediment out. You are pumping water out of the ground after all.

Very exciting!
1 month ago
The Finger Lakes area is a beautiful part of the country. At least for 6 months out of the year! I have very fond memories of learning about sailing on Canandaigua Lake.
I have a very similar situation to yours that recently came to a finish about two months ago after a 7-year effort to relocate to our current home.
We have owned this land since 2006. We spent several years clearing brush and deadfall, but did not start building in earnest until 2017. We lived a 5-hour drive from the land and planned everything remotely.

Here is my advice:
1. After surveying the land make a site plan of the land. Determining where the residence, barn, shop, whatever, will be situated, is next.
Check the county assessor's website to see if they have online GIS mapping of the parcel with aerial photos. If not, check Google Earth.  Assessor's sites will usually show you a rough estimate of where the property lines lay. Google Earth does not.
Either have the property professionally surveyed and property lines staked or see if you can locate a plat for the property at the county recorder and physically locate your property corners. Buy a handheld GPS device and save the corner locations in it for future reference. Get some flagging tape and mark the corners.
2. Start dreaming and when you dream, dream big! You can plan your build in one of two ways, either make a list of everything you want and list them all in order of priority or start with the basic "must haves" and another list of "want to haves".
3. Start with installing the fundamental necessities of power and water.  These will make construction possible and also make extended stays on the property in a camper comfortable. When planning water, think for the future and how the water system will work to feed all the buildings or water use areas. I prefer a storage tank that then feeds a pressure pump on the surface. Place the tank in an elevated area so in case of power failure, you can still use gravity to feed the buildings, stock tanks, garden, whatever.
4. Do the research upfront about any zoning restrictions, Landowner Associations, permit requirements, etc. that you may have to navigate during the building process. Start looking at alternative building practices and any building codes applicable to your land.
5. Get to know your neighbors! This is probably the most important item because, community is everything. The people who live in that area are the BEST source of information about what it takes to live there. Make friends, go to community events, participate in local activities and patronize the local businesses and Farmer's markets. Get email addresses and/or phone numbers and keep in touch over the years. Touching base with some locals during the winter to see how everything is going will be remembered and appreciated.
1 month ago

r ranson wrote:I've been thinking of going on a no-buy for my hobbies starting in the new year.  

Anyone else doing a no-buy for their hobby, crafting,  or art?  What guidelines will you follow?



The whole idea gives me the Willies. even though I know it is sound advice, and I probably should do the same.
I have a semi-no-buy policy that is basically I'm not buying any more handle materials (I'm a knife maker) UNLESS they are a really good price!
I did recently buy a bunch of steel for Damascus making at the end of last year. Mostly because I anticipate the price going up if the tariffs get put in place.
I do have quite a bit of wood and stabilized wood for knife handles already on the shelf.


There is some bone and antler mixed in with all of that.
I also have a few boxes of ivory, oosik, antler, horn, and bone inside the house for the temperature-controlled environment.



For knife makers, handle material buying is an addiction.


1 month ago
I have to admit I had no idea what a Medlar was or is and had to ask the Oracle of the Internet.
I have been adding charcoal and potash to my compost bin for years. I cannot say that it has improved the health or production of anything, but many gardeners I have spoken with love to get charcoal fines to spread around most of the vegetables they raise and swear by it as a basic amendment.
1 month ago