Learning the Morse Code was once a major barrier to getting started in amateur radio. Understanding Morse Code remains a requirement by International agreement for border hopping radio communicators. But today, you can enter domestic ham radio through a code-less Technician license class that only requires you to pass two written tests with a total [...]

Tags: Code, Morse Code
Filed under: Education, Information

If sophisticated metal-working equipment is available, then building a steel forge makes sense. You could build it using a drill and a hacksaw, but you’d go through plenty of elbow grease in the process. An arc or gas welder/cutting rig, a portable grinder, and a metal shear or chop saw will make the job much [...]

Tags: Drill, Forge, Pipe, Solid, Steel
Filed under: Education, Information, Material, Nature

Ancient blacksmiths devised the first forges which were just clay-lined pits in the ground. The blast (or air supply) was provided by the lungs of several apprentices, or later with crude bellows (those included at the end of the article were devised in the Dark Ages). This arrangement works: I’ve used a wood fire in [...]

Tags: Rock, Solid
Filed under: Education, Information, Material, Nature

The requirements for the homestead forge are simple, having changed little since Colonial times. Some of the tools you’ll be using are called “new” because they were developed during the Dark Ages; a smith returning from the dawn of the Iron Age would instantly recognize your forge. You’ll be pursuing a craft that was ancient [...]

Tags: Forge, Glass, Metal, Steel
Filed under: Business, Education, Information, Material