MEMBER ITEMS FOR SALE
Custom Knives | Other Knives | General Items
-------------------------------------------
New Posts | New PhotosAll Photos



Go Back   The Knife Network Forums : Knife Making Discussions > Knife Organizations and Club Boards > Texas Knifemakers and Collectors Association

Texas Knifemakers and Collectors Association Dedicated to promoting custom knives and knifemakers.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 06-25-2007, 02:51 PM
Don Halter's Avatar
Don Halter Don Halter is offline
Guru
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Katy, TX
Posts: 1,261
BBQ this weekend

We are hosting a pre-4th of July BBQ this Sunday here in Bryan, TX starting around 5:30pm. All are welcome. I got confirmation we'll have the full scale Civil War cannon as well as my 6" bore mortar for some noise making. Fireworks are fine...bring them if you have them! (no skyrockets on sticks, though! everything else goes).

It's pot-luck so bring something to feed about 4. If you need directions, shoot me a PM or email.

P.S. I never was able to recover my knifemaker-email list when I changed services, so if someone on the list could forward me an old message with the whole header I'd appreciate it!


__________________
Don "Krag" Halter

Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 06-28-2007, 01:28 PM
Chris Daigle's Avatar
Chris Daigle Chris Daigle is offline
Master
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 814
Well, I won't be able to make it but will be there in spirit Donnie. And it sounds like you'll be bringing out the big guns too!!!!!

If you lost my contact you can always get it through my profile here. Shoot me a line when you have the chance.

And take pictures of the cannon!!!!

Chris
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 06-30-2007, 04:30 PM
Don Robinson's Avatar
Don Robinson Don Robinson is offline
Hall of Famer
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Brownsville, Texas
Posts: 4,873
Don, send pics and story for the newsletter.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 06-30-2007, 10:09 PM
Don Halter's Avatar
Don Halter Don Halter is offline
Guru
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Katy, TX
Posts: 1,261
No problem....We'll have lots of pics, but it's really not a knifemaker event...more of a redneck with cannons, knives, beer and brisket event! I'm sure I'll be showing knifemaking to some interested newbies, though.


__________________
Don "Krag" Halter

Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 07-01-2007, 01:28 AM
TexasJack's Avatar
TexasJack TexasJack is offline
Super Moderator
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Southeast Texas
Posts: 2,919
Sorry that I can't make it, Don. Fuel pump died in the Blazer last night and I've got to be the taxi to get my son to work and back.

See if you can blast the rain out of here for a few days!


__________________
God bless Texas! Now let's secede!!
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 07-01-2007, 02:33 PM
Don Robinson's Avatar
Don Robinson Don Robinson is offline
Hall of Famer
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Brownsville, Texas
Posts: 4,873
Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Halter
No problem....We'll have lots of pics, but it's really not a knifemaker event...more of a redneck with cannons, knives, beer and brisket event! I'm sure I'll be showing knifemaking to some interested newbies, though.
So I'll use it to show knifemakers how they could be having fun instead of filling the next order.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 07-02-2007, 10:10 AM
Don Halter's Avatar
Don Halter Don Halter is offline
Guru
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Katy, TX
Posts: 1,261
The weather was pretty nice...another 1" of rain early, but clearing the rest of the day. Unfortunately, we couldn't roll out the full scale mountain rifle since the ground was so soft and muddy (I didn't want all my purty grass ripped up ). We did have hours of fun with a coehorn and got to fire the first shots out of my 6" mortar I'm using for the Sikh project. I built a makeshift platform from large concrete slabs, cinderblocks and limestone rocks. We started at 2 oz loads and worked up to around 3.3 oz. (3 oz of black powder is roughly a slightly heaping third of a cup)

Highlights of the day were the inaugural firing of the cured ham...sure to become an annual event. We found a cured ham in the back of the trailblazer last week that missed getting brought in with the groceries the week before. Cured or not...a week of 100*+ temps in the back of the SUV deemed it unfit. I had to trim it a bit to get it to fit, but it slid ever so slowly down the bore. I used 3 oz and figured the ham would expand and seal the bore. It had an excellent report and it was quite spectacular to see a ham bone spiralling about 200 yards up in the sky. It rained pig fat out over the fields for the next couple minutes as well.

We also discovered a new way to fertilize the fields. A 6" cheapo plastic flower pot (the thin black ones that come with plants) fits perefect down the bore. Filled with sand, it gives just enough backpressure to give a real nice report. I had a bag of weed & feed that got wet and wouldn't work in the spreader, so we launched a pot full with 2.5 oz. Gave an excellent spread and was a whole lot more fun than walking behind a spreader!

The final load was 3.3 oz with about 3lbs of damp sand in a flower pot over top. Mortar recoiled (264 lbs) and cracked one of the thin cinder slabs being used as an elevation device in half! Seems like 3 oz is going to be the magic load for when is on a carraige...lots of uumpf and noise but not too much recoil onto the carraige.

I got to fire some maiden shots from some new gonnes as well. I think I got some of the neighbor's hooked on cannons now as well. Although one did inform me that he was out cleaning his stalls when a big one went off and he "almost crapped his pants", but he was polite about it and bore no ill will and even thought it was interesting after we discussed it (the 6" mortar, not the pants) for a while. I think I will reserve the large bore stuff around here for the 4th and new-years and take it over to a buddy's with a lot more room for other days! The rest of the evening was roman candles and sparklers with all the kids. I got a kick out of one kid. He comes up and asks "Mr Halter, the cannons are cool, but do you have any non-adult fireworks?" They were quite excited to see me pull a case of roman candles from the back of the car.

Later we had a show and tell of quite a few knives I have that are mostly finished. The small nessmucks were a good hit. Probably end up with a few orders out of it. Hmmm....the whole thing could be classified as a "tupperware party for real men" in an odd sort of way! Instead of sitting around drinking tea and chatting...we BBQ meat, shoot crap out of cannons, then retire to the TV room to look over the knive products. I think I'm onto something!!! KragAxe Partys are sure to become a hit across TX. All you need is a wide open space, a BBQ pit, and very understanding neighbors and local law enforcement!

All I took was video, so I'll have to convert it, edit it down and pull some still shots before I can post pics.


__________________
Don "Krag" Halter

Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 07-02-2007, 01:09 PM
TexasJack's Avatar
TexasJack TexasJack is offline
Super Moderator
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Southeast Texas
Posts: 2,919
Brightened my otherwise soggy day!


__________________
God bless Texas! Now let's secede!!
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 07-02-2007, 02:09 PM
Chris Daigle's Avatar
Chris Daigle Chris Daigle is offline
Master
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 814
Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasJack
Brightened my otherwise soggy day!
No doubt! Let it be known that Donnie's get togetherrs have never been classified as boring.

I love the tactical ham story.

Chris
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 07-02-2007, 03:48 PM
TexasJack's Avatar
TexasJack TexasJack is offline
Super Moderator
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Southeast Texas
Posts: 2,919
If I'm not mistaken, the last time he blew up the kid's Barney toy. And the kids were offering up other toys to destroy!

Yup, never boring. Just watching Donnie light his forge is an adventure in flames and singed hair!


__________________
God bless Texas! Now let's secede!!
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 07-02-2007, 03:59 PM
SBuzek's Avatar
SBuzek SBuzek is offline
Skilled
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Waller,TX
Posts: 293
DANG Day late dollar short again.
Yep one thing about don's get togethers it's never HO-HUM


__________________
www.sbuzekknives.com
aspire to inspire before you expire
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 07-02-2007, 05:23 PM
Don Halter's Avatar
Don Halter Don Halter is offline
Guru
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Katy, TX
Posts: 1,261
A 30" ceramic Tigger...not barney. My kids have never, ever owned a barney anything.

...and Tigger had it coming!


I'm hosting an armour making event Aug 25-27th. I wonder if the store would give me all their old hams for free? Ya'll are all welcome to come up for the armour-in. We often do hot-raising and forging in the evenings.


__________________
Don "Krag" Halter


Last edited by Don Halter; 07-02-2007 at 05:26 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 07-02-2007, 10:40 PM
Don Halter's Avatar
Don Halter Don Halter is offline
Guru
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Katy, TX
Posts: 1,261
Here's some still shots from the day:

The Ham shot. I wish I was quick enough and my camera good enough to have got the hambone up in the sky twirling around!


Next was the heavy load with the sand-filled flowerpot. I just love the smoke rings the mortars create! Next time we'll have to shoot during sunny weather and not during monsoons!


Here's my youngest son's reaction to most shots, right before he starts asking for "more guns daddy, more guns".


Here's a new gonne I was mesing with. I made some sights for it using some copper rivits. Everyone laughed at them until I drilled to beercans dead center at 20 yards. ;D




__________________
Don "Krag" Halter

Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 07-23-2007, 09:37 AM
CPT_JIM CPT_JIM is offline
Enthusiast
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 56
Donnie,
Drop me an email to my Yahoo account. Everything Ive emailed to you has bounced back.

Jim
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 07-24-2007, 02:11 PM
Don Halter's Avatar
Don Halter Don Halter is offline
Guru
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Katy, TX
Posts: 1,261
I wondered about that. I always got the first message, but never any responses to replies. A few others here had similar problems with my old peoplepc.com email addy. For some reason, MS Outlook always defaults to that one for replies regardless which I sent one from. The krag@kragaxe.com will always forward to the proper one.

I'm a few rat-hairs west of BFE out in the Nevada high desert right now with spotty internet here at the mine site, but I'll be back in Bryan Sunday. PM me here with your phone number and I'll shoot you a call Sunday afternoon. I have some neat stuff you ought to like.


__________________
Don "Krag" Halter

Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
forge, forging, knives


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:00 PM.




KNIFENETWORK.COM
Copyright © 2000
? CKK Industries, Inc. ? All Rights Reserved
Powered by ...

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
The Knife Network : All Rights Reserved