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I was at Zippy Prints in Seymour Tn. and saw this clamp for gluing paper together. More info is at this page.

I developed this brush while restoring a very old steam locomotive. It fulfilled it’s task very well, and is still used in places where a regular wire brush can’t reach.

You can order it online from ebay at THIS LOCATION
More pictures and information is at THIS PAGE.

I’ve found that oiling boots is a chore that keeps getting put off, because people don’t want to go get the stuff needed to do the job, and most methods are time consuming. Well, this method is really fast and easy.

The trick is to use a brush instead of a cloth, and to keep the brush in a pan of oil all the time. The pan is a low cost, like less than $2 new, baking pan. The oil is Neatsfoot oil that I buy by the gallon. It’s a better price that by the quart. The brush is a cheap bristle brush that most people consider disposable. This one has lasted for months immersed in oil, with no sign of falling apart. The aluminum foil is a folded over double layer, this is to keep dust out.

This will extend your boot life, and is wa-a-a-ay easier than anything else I’ve done.

I’ll be making pages about East Tn history. I should have done it sooner, because on some of them, they’re a record of a question I asked on social media, and the answers are better than the information I get from online searches. The first one is about Green’s Store, and Green’s Rolling store. I got some really neat replies.

The second page is about why tree trunks were painted white in times past. Some good answers there to, I’ll be looking up how to make lime paint.

The third page is about buildings in the East TN area. Only one picture so far.

I stopped in to an old school shoe repair shop the other day. It was really neat, like a step back in time. You can read about it, and see more pictures, HERE.

Cameras don’t always record things well. I noticed in the stove ashes some perfectly formed tree bark, from a log that burned. The first picture is a close up of those ashes. I made a gif from the lights on and lights off pictures. Both pictures are the exact same camera position.

Here’s a link to the gif: Ashes & Embers

While preparing to make a mural on my newest truck, I’ve been taking a closer look at trees. This has led to making a new page where I add observations I have about trees and wood. The page is at this site, and is here.

I use oxy-propane instead of oxy-acetylene for my cutting torch. My shop space is small, so I don’t store it inside. For a few years, I’ve had it under a new plastic trash can, but it looks bad. I finally made a cover for it, from scrounged metal a friend had left over from a job. The winds always blow north or south, so it only needs the side walls. It rained a few hours after I made it, so it’s already been tested.

I’m painting a large RR coach right now, and the paint booth that it’s in is only available for a limited time; so I have to concentrate on that job. There are still things going on with the Quill and Blade business.

I’ve been thinking about how to make a steam bender for wood. Initially, I planned on using a large section of round metal duct work; which is a dark grey color. I want the project to have an old time look. Then I saw a guy online who has one in his shop. It was a long box, not a round tube. His is made of wood, and I realized that metal would be too difficult to heat, and the square dimensions are smarter for putting in squared wood.

I also lubed my collection of manual jacks (not hydraulic) and made better handles for them. It’s the first time in months I’ve had the forge fired up. I’ll use these to lift my wood building up for transportation.

Here’s a few winter scenes from the recent snow fall. My blog posting will be sparse the next several days.

A neighbor raises cattle, one of his calves got stuck in mud, and its mother abandoned it. My kids pulled it out and brought it home. It’s winter, and we don’t know how long it was left there. The first picture shows my daughter trying to give it warm fresh milk from our own Jersey cow, while it’s still in the box we brought it home in. The calf didn’t drink much, and couldn’t stand up. It was determined that it probably wouldn’t make it.

But it was given a warm bath, which changed it’s condition very much. It’s now drinking milk, and standing.

I came out one recent morning, and the moon was still bright, but just about to go down behind the trees.