[TheForge] OT rant (armor)

Tue Dec 14 13:13:20 EST 2004

Justin,  my wife has "adopted" a soldier in a K9 Unit.  She corresponds and
sends "stuff".  Both seem to have received a lot from the exchange.
I do not believe there is any money to be made but one could certainly adopt
a soldier or unit that needs armor.  Buy material. Make it.  Send it.
Ron
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Justin Fellenz" <sunironworks at yahoo.com>
To: "Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2004 11:44 AM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] OT rant (armor)


> One mouth needs a lot of hands, not the other way around. Thanks Chris.
> Basically, my thinking is that if I can say to someone, somewhere
> (finding that person'll take some doing, but...) that there exists a
> group of skilled smiths across the country who are willing and able to
> build what needs to be built--a production force that can look to the
> government like "an entity"--someone might see a need. As a small group
> we can be more nimble and responsive than the enormous bureaucracies
> that lie at the heart (if you'll forgive the inaccurate metaphor) of
> huge companies. Productwise, I just kinds stole Reis's idea of making
> armor for trucks. The shapes are pretty simple, a bend here and there,
> a weld or two, a few holes for bolts. I'm thinking an armor kit that
> you can box up and ship over to fit on a given truck. We'd need a truck
> of a given type to make a blueprint that could be distributed to the
> group. COuld be that certain shops have certain abilities and not
> others--one with the material handling equipment to manage big pieces,
> one with machining ability, one with an ironworker, one with TIG for
> aluminum, maybe. Maybe everybody does whole pieces, or some of both.
> But thats getting WAY ahead of where we are. Mostly, if a few of you
> actually have the time and interest and facilities to participate, then
> it's something I can try to shop. No point shaking the tree if there's
> nothing behind the plan.
>
> JRF
> --- Chris Kilpatrick <crimsonkil at lycos.com> wrote:
>
> > Justin,
> >      I'll lend a hand, but I have not the skills to be the head or
> > mouth.
> >
> > -Chris K.
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Justin Fellenz" <sunironworks at yahoo.com>
> > To: "Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
> > Subject: Re: [TheForge] OT rant (armor)
> > Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2004 06:04:22 -0800 (PST)
> >
> > >
> > > You know, guys and gals...
> > >
> > > (this is semi-serious)
> > >
> > > Reis got me thinking, and Frosty got me thinking bigger. It seems
> > like
> > > there are a few of us on this list who are either underemployed,
> > with
> > > skills but no shop, or who run their own shops and maybe are
> > looking
> > > for some work. Just talking off the cuff, it occurred to me that we
> > > could sort of band together in a loose coalition of sorts and make
> > > armor for the boys across the pond. Like Reis said, many of us have
> > the
> > > equipment to do it, and there are hands that could help. There
> > needs to
> > > be a head to the beast, some point of contact with the government,
> > ok,
> > > that's not too tough, I live here in the navel of the political
> > > universe (ugh) and have a little time and like doing that sort of
> > > thing. Or maybe someone else is more qualified and connected--if
> > so,
> > > please step forward. I am a little bit familiar with small business
> > > regs for contracting and tricks like 8a (woman/minority-owned
> > > businesses). The problems as I see it are 1. figuring out a way to
> > > actually get product to the people who need it, which means finding
> > the
> > > decision makers here in town; 2. getting everone organized and
> > working
> > > out who does what and how everyone gets paid; and 3., a lesser
> > problem,
> > > figuring out what to make and developing standard templates.
> > >
> > > It's real possible that all these are, singly or together,
> > > insurmountable problems. But I am curious, just kinda woodshedding,
> > if
> > > any of you would be interest in such a venture. All of us together
> > are
> > > still only going to be able to produce a pretty small amount of
> > > stuff--there's no replacement for a huge foundry. But if the guys
> > are
> > > scrounging scrap piles, maybe it would help. And there is a place
> > for
> > > "small business" in government contracting, by law. It might
> > generate
> > > some work in the good ol US of A, put some government money in the
> > > hands of us citizen-types, and it would allow us to actually *do*
> > > something for our guys instead of just bitching or *saying* "I
> > support
> > > our troops".
> > >
> > > I dunno. Maybe it's too big to organize, maybe there's no point in
> > it.
> > > There's a good chance there's no real way into the government, the
> > war
> > > will be over before the first piece of iron ships. If everyone's
> > busy
> > > or y'all think I'm nuts, then there's no product. But I think we
> > all
> > > agree that work is good, money is better, and whatever you think of
> > the
> > > war our troops deserve everything we can do for them. Seems like
> > > everyone wins. Thought it might be worth a try, anyway.
> > >
> > > If any or enough of y'all are at all interested I can go sniffing
> > > around here and see if I can actually get connected to the right
> > > people.
> > >
> > > Thoughts?
> > >
> > > JRF
> > >
> > > --- Andrew Vida <osan at netlabs.net> wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Justin Fellenz wrote:
> > > > > Always thinkin big, Frosty. Gotta respect that.
> > > > > > I'm a gummint contractor...it's our job to generate bloated
> > prose
> > > > for
> > > > > money and then go to meetings about it. Oh, and occasionally we
> > > > build a
> > > > > thing or two, but mostly it's bad prose and meetings.
> > > > > > Maybe we can get haliburton to build it. Put us all to work
> > for the
> > > > > next 5 years. Please post salary requirements offlist. New
> > tools
> > > > for
> > > > > everyone!
> > > >
> > > > It would serve them right, given they stole all the rest of the
> > > > jobs. :)
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > -- No virus found in this outgoing message.
> > > > Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
> > > > Version: 7.0.296 / Virus Database: 265.5.2 - Release Date:
> > 12/13/2004
> > > >
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