[TheForge] The mind 1st to go

[Jerry Frost]

Who hasn't done that sort of thing? Come on, let's see a show of hands!

I've misbid many times but fortunately not in a way to shut the doors. What 
doing so did was teach me more than what doing the job required. Education 
costs no matter the teacher.

Got any pics of the gladius, Wes?

Jer
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Wesley Marquart" <marquart at arlinn-tower.com>
To: "'Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA'" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, October 15, 2010 7:28 PM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] The mind 1st to go


> Jerry you are [so] right on this!
>
> I've learned that once again this fall...  I got asked by a friend if I
> could build him a 'functional replica of an early period Roman short 
> sword'
> in other words a Pompeii style Gladius...  He requested a brass
> quillion(?)/guard and pommel.  He also asked it be forged out, not cut and
> ground.
>
> I figured, 'No problem!' (famous last words there!) and quoted him a low
> ball price since he is a buddy.  Blade came together quickly but when it
> came time for the brass work I decided to go ahead and try casting the
> blanks...
>
> Big Mistake(tm)...  I wasted almost 3 weeks messing around with it and 
> never
> did get a decent casting for either part...  Donna finally said "Quit 
> trying
> to create it all yourself - just go and buy the brass chunks and carve 
> them
> out!"
>
> So... made the 2 1/2 hour round trip to buy the $25 worth of brass... 
> came
> home and roughed the pieces out in < 4 hours...
>
> Should'a done that in the first place...  then I would still have my store
> of old brass pieces and chunks and been done a lot faster.  Lesson was
> definitely learned.  (AND next time I build one of those I will not be
> hurried into a price quote and will check supply prices better.)
>
> Wes
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Jerry Frost
> Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2010 6:53 PM
> To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] The mind 1st to go
>
> <SNIP>
>
> In the same vein another example: New vs. Scrounged materials. There's 
> been
> I don't know how many times I've taken on a fab job and had plenty of
> material I'd scrounged on hand but bought new anyway. Why you ask? Because 
> I
>
> already had time invested in the first pick and pack, then I'd have to 
> clean
>
> it and otherwise prep it before putting it under the saw. The new steel
> though got loaded on my trailer by the supplier's fork lift and went
> directly from my trailer deck to my cutoff saw. On the fab table 
> everything
> was not only straight and the right dimension it was clean and all I 
> needed
> to do was tack and weld it. Bearing in mind the ONLY thing we're born with
> is time, which do you think was more profitable?
>
> </SNIP>
>
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