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3:43 pm
January 18, 2011
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I've shown these before but I think they're worth a second look.....One is 1/4 x 1 1/2'' and the other is 2 x 3/8''. They came out of an old HW store in Blackhawk CO in the mid 1970's and I was there. The place had been sealed since the time it closed circa 1925??? I don't know but it was like stepping into another era......A rack along the wall held maybe 75-100 bars of WI in different sizes in 20' lengths and my Mentor Slim Spurling had bought it all. Bins with hot cuts , tongs,hardies,swages...you name it.....Anyway we ransaked the time capsule and nobody had a camera.... [Image Can Not Be Found] .... As far as I know these are the only two bits of WI left from that horde.....They were stamped with the Swedish Royal seal..............
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."
— Dr. Seuss
6:25 pm
NWBA Member
September 25, 2010
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And no camera? It's a great story, I wish I had been there, but then, I was born in 1970, so I wouldn't probably remember it now anyway. 😀
Tim
Let us make a special effort to stop communicating with each other, so we can have some conversation.
Mark Twain
12:49 am
January 18, 2011
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A few other things I remember about the store was the iron and BS tools were stored under the ground floor via a hatch door that became part of the sidewalk when it was closed. Most of the regular HW stuff was on the ground floor and was long gone but the floor above was a gambling parlor with a Roulette wheel and Faro table still there. The small room was lit with an oil burning chandilleir and had the cheesiest wall paper I've ever seen. There were also other smaller rooms that were locked, wonder what they were for???...;-) Blackhawk is a commercial gambling town now and nearly all the old buildings are gone.........
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."
— Dr. Seuss
3:20 pm
March 22, 2010
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Pretty cool Bruce
Whatever you are, be a good one.
Abraham Lincoln
4:27 pm
NWBA Member
September 25, 2010
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Larry L;16022 wrote: [HR][/HR]We need to do our part to ensure somebody 50 years from now has an opportunity to tell a story like that...
Pretty cool Bruce
Wait! Larry, does that mean you'd be willing to lock up your shop for 50 years? :mstickle:
Let us make a special effort to stop communicating with each other, so we can have some conversation.
Mark Twain
5:53 pm
March 22, 2010
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Sure, I would be more than happy too.... someone just needs to commit to cover all the expenses and my wages for the next 50 years and I'll be a happy camper
Whatever you are, be a good one.
Abraham Lincoln
6:44 pm
NWBA Member
September 25, 2010
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Larry L;16024 wrote: Sure, I would be more than happy too.... someone just needs to commit to cover all the expenses and my wages for the next 50 years and I'll be a happy camper
LOL
Let us make a special effort to stop communicating with each other, so we can have some conversation.
Mark Twain
6:51 pm
January 18, 2011
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Larry L;16022 wrote: [HR][/HR]We need to do our part to ensure somebody 50 years from now has an opportunity to tell a story like that...
Pretty cool Bruce
I agree, our history is being made all the time only now we have digital cameras and the internet forums. I ain't gonna write no freakin book but I just like writing (in short) about people like Slim Spurling who was huge in his day and really helped with the renaissance in blacksmithing in the 70's. Writing stories about past People, places, happenings and pics if you got em makes for interesting reading I think..
Here's another on Slim......Back in 74 or thereabouts Skunk Hollow Forge hosted the first Ren. fair ever in Morrison,CO......I was living there at the time an it was mostly just one huge party. Myself,Slim and a few others who were living at SHF overindulged to the max while it was happening.....Wine,Women, whatever...:devil:..Anyway after it was history Slim discovered he had a vicious case of the crabs.....:dance:.... It was too much trouble for Slim to go to the drugstore and get the usual treatment so he got a galv washtub an filled it up about 5'' with mineral spirits (he had a 55gal drum he got from somewhere)and sat in it for awhile and he claimed it did the trick...... 
......Forgive me Slim, I just can't get that image of you sitting in that tub out of my brain, just be thankful I didn't have a digital camera and the internet then........Miss ya Buddy
This coffee mug I have never fails to remind me...
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."
— Dr. Seuss
12:46 am
June 24, 2010
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Here are some marks on display at Osterbybruk in Sweden. I have pictures of the rest of the board (not as clear), but nothing looks like it matches the marks you posted.
3:45 am
January 18, 2011
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Mike B;16027 wrote: Here are some marks on display at Osterbybruk in Sweden. I have pictures of the rest of the board (not as clear), but nothing looks like it matches the marks you posted.
Stands to reason they don't match, mine were obviously for export since the writing is in English. I know much of the WI used at the mines were for banding huge water tanks, I don't recall seeing any round or square bar. Any idea how old the bars in the display are?
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."
— Dr. Seuss
5:26 am
NWBA Member
June 8, 2010
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Bruce Macmillan;16026 wrote: I agree, our history is being made all the time only now we have digital cameras and the internet forums. I ain't gonna write no freakin book but I just like writing (in short) about people like Slim Spurling who was huge in his day and really helped with the renaissance in blacksmithing in the 70's. Writing stories about past People, places, happenings and pics if you got em makes for interesting reading I think..
Here's another on Slim......Back in 74 or thereabouts Skunk Hollow Forge hosted the first Ren. fair ever in Morrison,CO......I was living there at the time an it was mostly just one huge party. Myself,Slim and a few others who were living at SHF overindulged to the max while it was happening.....Wine,Women, whatever...:devil:..Anyway after it was history Slim discovered he had a vicious case of the crabs.....:dance:.... It was too much trouble for Slim to go to the drugstore and get the usual treatment so he got a galv washtub an filled it up about 5'' with mineral spirits (he had a 55gal drum he got from somewhere)and sat in it for awhile and he claimed it did the trick......
This coffee mug I have never fails to remind me...
Thanks Bruce for sharing this... LOVE IT!!!:mstickle:
11:11 pm
June 24, 2010
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Bruce,
I don't know how old the bars are. They were collected to show marks from a number of the surrounding works, so may not be all the same age.
I'm not sure when Osterbybruk itself stopped production, and its website (http://web.vallonbruken.nu/) seems to be down right now. However, a lot of small Swedish steel works closed down in the early 20th century.
4:32 am
March 1, 2011
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Larry L;16022 wrote: [HR][/HR]We need to do our part to ensure somebody 50 years from now has an opportunity to tell a story like that...
Pretty cool Bruce
You, and many here are of few people left keeping the ironworking craft alive through the blight of cheaply manufactured crap.
Through the works you do, that will remain till they rust into the ground you will be remembered.
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