FLEUR DE LIS SLIDE BOLT

The slide bolt you are looking at is a proto-type piece I made hoping to practice tight tolerance work. At first, I got a little too carried away with this "tight tolerance" I had to rework the bolt retainers because I didn't allow enough room for easy sliding. My favorite part was the scroll bolt. Best as I remember this project took about 2.5 hours. (It's hard to keep track of time when your doing something fun!) In retrospect.....exactly when was the time when the home needed to be protected with a slide bolt? If good fences make good neighbors....does good door locks make good burglars?

THE OWL KNOCKER

The picture you see is my first attempt at making a door knocker compatible with peepholes now found on almost all doors. My wife and kids said it reminded them of an owl and I thought that was a befitting name. It's forged out of 3/16 plate and features a twisted scrolled handle with a 3/4" ball. It took about 3 hours to fabricate and was finished with a wire wheel brush and clear powder coat finish.

MY NEW ANVIL

After 2 years of searching....ah I have a anvil worth writing about. Its a 125# ACME brand and rings as sweet as a church bell. I was so anxious to try it out this weekend that I haven't even got a decent stand built for it yet....not to worry though maybe I'll get a chance to fab one shortly. The anvil this replaces was my 75# Vulcan...which has served me admirably and will always remind me of what I started with. I was so tickled to get my hands on this ACME, one of the edges needs a little dressing but the face is as smooth and flat as anyone could ever hope for, not a ding or mark anywhere on the face! My neighbors however may not be as tickled as I am about this though!