Hey let me say right up front that I might be completely full of it here or history may well prove me wrong. But some how I doubt that I am the first to entertain the thoughs I am preparing to present. So fair reader, judge for yourself. Examine the hypothesis in it's own light and the light of what you yourself have certain knowledge of. Make your own decisions. Praise, condemn, interweave or be the formulator of another idea...but don't be ambivilent or uncertain.
There has got to be a split, but it becomes more clear at least to me that BOTH parties are faceing the same crisis of division. The Democrats over extreamist points of view, ie communists challenging the Democrat establishment that will become increasingly incompatible the the main stream Democrats.
As to the Republicans they are still dealing with the Never Trumpers neocons who are rapidly losing influence and the dedicated and yes sometimes fanatical supporters of President Trump.
So what then is really preventing the Never Trumpers from abandoning the President and the "allegedly" moderate Democrats abandoning and discrediting the extremeist elements and expelling them from the party only to try and defuse the growing populism in both Trump and the extremist communist. Then joining together to form a new party of national unity.
The thaughts are of course if that they can purge the out of the closet communist from the Democrat party and the Trumpite nationalists from the RINO neocon Republican party. I think they are mistaken however. Yes the Young blood that is moving into those positions held by those of the Vietnam war era is far more radical. As such they will be much more impulsive and egar and willing to fly under the banner of the Democratic Socialists and say to hell with the Democrat Party.
There are no doubt plenty of Trump supporters who would gladly cast off the likes of Paul Ryan Jeff Flake and Mitch McConnell among others and they should. But I think there is a greater percentage of Trump supporters who will negotiate with the party to secure greater control over Congress.
Saturday, June 30, 2018
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Another Project From The Back Yard. Rev 1. (New material about material and construction.)
Having been born into the Episcopal Church oh so many years ago I was early in life instilled with a respect and reverence for the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. That and being of English ancestry also brought me a love of antiques.
Close to thirty years ago I joined a newly formed church attached to the Anglican Catholic Church, primarily because they adheared to the old Liturgy that the Episcopal Church has abandoned. While there I completed the call to service bell I mentioned in an earlier post.
Shortly after one of my fellow parishioners asked me to restore an old Sacramental Tabernacle she had found. It was in terrible shape after decades of the worst kind of neglect. Rust was eating at the wrought iron frame and some of the sheet metal back panels were rusted through. Parts of the brass outer panels were deeply pitted and corroded.
I harbored no illusions that it was going to be anything but a daunting task.
I started with disassemly and preliminary primer painting to try and stop the rust. Then as the old the saying goes life happened while on my way to do other things.
It has remained under cover in my storage building for all these years.
Once I neared the final stages of my latest bell I knew this was an obligation that had to be completed.
In the intervening years some clever soul created the metal impregnated nylon rotary brush. I had been doing much of the fine detail work with stainless steel brushes and lots of elbow grease.
These new brushes accelerated the process greatly when it came to removing the remaining laquer rust and corrusion. There was still fine cleaning to do in those places a power brush could not reach but I saw my path becoming much shorter.
Next came lots of masking tape before I could paint the iron frame. This came out quite well.
Once this was completed I had to wait several days for this to completely dry before I could mask the new paint so that the newly cleaned and polished brass with clear enamel paint.
The backs of each of these brass panels has a sheet metal back cover that is soft soldered to the brass to form a pocket. I suspect, from the remenants I found in them, they contained some sort of cloth covered paper board.
I decided to not go that route and opted for 1/8" thick hard board panels that I painted a rich Royal flat red color. Once these were thoroughly dry and fitted into place reassembly could commence.
During the course of doing this restoration I came to a few conclusions based on research, examination of building techniques used and the nature of some of the materials it contains.
My first guess is that the number 1076 found on the back of the top front piece is either simply aa foundry mark and unrelated to any date of manufacture or was put their to deceive. Some things are just to perfect. Secondly the frame is no doubt unheatreated high carbon wrought iron. It is very hard, rigid and immalleable. An attempt to drill a couple of small holes revealed a fine brittle grain structure that is guaranteed to break dill bits at a prodigious rate. That idea came to a dead stop right there.
Spark testing confirmed with a grinder that both the frame and the back panels were high carbon materials. These kinds of hard carbon filled materials and the crude soldering technique used both point to age. Short of sacrificing a small piece, which I wasn't about to do, to determine alloy and possible age, that age could be anywhere from the 11th/12th century to late 18th/mid 19th century.
Other elements point to the latter rather than the former. Firstly the use of a brass piano hinge on the front door and a smaller steel one on the back panel. The fact that the brass hinge appears to have been soldered in place as the back panels raises the date question. Also the catch that hold the door in place when closed is a small coil spring loaded ball that falls into a recess in a tab on the back of the door. Certainly no such technology before the later period mentioned. Thirdly the existing screw threads both into the brass and the iron all confirm to UNC 6-32 and the two existing nuts certainly appeared to be old but not that old. Really old ones would have been square not hexagonal.
As to the brass castings. They are clearly done with the very old and traditional sand casting method. The surface finish of many of the flat areas around the perimeter and other areas have, at first glance, a hammered finish. Close examination however reveals that these marks are part of the origional patterns used to make the casting molds.
My conclusion is that the origional design my have been 11th/12th century. Or it could be entirely fantastical and imaginative of some late 18th early 19th century craftsman.
Whatever the case, if I do say so myself, the final results of the restoration are quite stunning. I'm looking forward to seeing it in place in the Church Sanctuary and used in the Holy Eucharist.
All glory be to God!!
Close to thirty years ago I joined a newly formed church attached to the Anglican Catholic Church, primarily because they adheared to the old Liturgy that the Episcopal Church has abandoned. While there I completed the call to service bell I mentioned in an earlier post.
Shortly after one of my fellow parishioners asked me to restore an old Sacramental Tabernacle she had found. It was in terrible shape after decades of the worst kind of neglect. Rust was eating at the wrought iron frame and some of the sheet metal back panels were rusted through. Parts of the brass outer panels were deeply pitted and corroded.
I harbored no illusions that it was going to be anything but a daunting task.
 |
| The front door panel after some preliminary cleaning. |
I started with disassemly and preliminary primer painting to try and stop the rust. Then as the old the saying goes life happened while on my way to do other things.
It has remained under cover in my storage building for all these years.
Once I neared the final stages of my latest bell I knew this was an obligation that had to be completed.
In the intervening years some clever soul created the metal impregnated nylon rotary brush. I had been doing much of the fine detail work with stainless steel brushes and lots of elbow grease.
These new brushes accelerated the process greatly when it came to removing the remaining laquer rust and corrusion. There was still fine cleaning to do in those places a power brush could not reach but I saw my path becoming much shorter.
Next came lots of masking tape before I could paint the iron frame. This came out quite well.
Once this was completed I had to wait several days for this to completely dry before I could mask the new paint so that the newly cleaned and polished brass with clear enamel paint.
 |
| Clear enameled panels. |
The backs of each of these brass panels has a sheet metal back cover that is soft soldered to the brass to form a pocket. I suspect, from the remenants I found in them, they contained some sort of cloth covered paper board.
I decided to not go that route and opted for 1/8" thick hard board panels that I painted a rich Royal flat red color. Once these were thoroughly dry and fitted into place reassembly could commence.
During the course of doing this restoration I came to a few conclusions based on research, examination of building techniques used and the nature of some of the materials it contains.
My first guess is that the number 1076 found on the back of the top front piece is either simply aa foundry mark and unrelated to any date of manufacture or was put their to deceive. Some things are just to perfect. Secondly the frame is no doubt unheatreated high carbon wrought iron. It is very hard, rigid and immalleable. An attempt to drill a couple of small holes revealed a fine brittle grain structure that is guaranteed to break dill bits at a prodigious rate. That idea came to a dead stop right there.
Spark testing confirmed with a grinder that both the frame and the back panels were high carbon materials. These kinds of hard carbon filled materials and the crude soldering technique used both point to age. Short of sacrificing a small piece, which I wasn't about to do, to determine alloy and possible age, that age could be anywhere from the 11th/12th century to late 18th/mid 19th century.
Other elements point to the latter rather than the former. Firstly the use of a brass piano hinge on the front door and a smaller steel one on the back panel. The fact that the brass hinge appears to have been soldered in place as the back panels raises the date question. Also the catch that hold the door in place when closed is a small coil spring loaded ball that falls into a recess in a tab on the back of the door. Certainly no such technology before the later period mentioned. Thirdly the existing screw threads both into the brass and the iron all confirm to UNC 6-32 and the two existing nuts certainly appeared to be old but not that old. Really old ones would have been square not hexagonal.
As to the brass castings. They are clearly done with the very old and traditional sand casting method. The surface finish of many of the flat areas around the perimeter and other areas have, at first glance, a hammered finish. Close examination however reveals that these marks are part of the origional patterns used to make the casting molds.
My conclusion is that the origional design my have been 11th/12th century. Or it could be entirely fantastical and imaginative of some late 18th early 19th century craftsman.
Whatever the case, if I do say so myself, the final results of the restoration are quite stunning. I'm looking forward to seeing it in place in the Church Sanctuary and used in the Holy Eucharist.
All glory be to God!!
Saturday, June 9, 2018
A Hero In The Family.
I recently received this newspaper clipping from Macon County Tennessee from 1944. It concerns my 1st cousin, Pfc. Jasper T. Smith.
Jay as he was known was the eldest son of my mother's oldest Sister. As my mother was the youngest of ten children, her oldest sister was married and having children of her own by the time she was born.
Although Jay was technically her nephew they were so close in age that they we're in the same classes in school and grew up as virtual brother and sister.
I grew up hearing stories about him from my mother and members of her family but never knew the full circumstances of his death.
Given the time frame of the action we're he was killed I was expecting to find records of his being intered at the American Cemetery in Normandy but they have nothing under his name listed. I can only assume then that he lies under one of those crosses marked. "Here Rests In Honered Glory, A Comrade In Arms. Know But To God".
We're these the luckey ones? Tens of thousands more have no graves. Lost to the vast depths of the oceans, impenetrable jungles or blown to pieces such that there was nothing to recover. May none of them ever be forgotten.
Jay as he was known was the eldest son of my mother's oldest Sister. As my mother was the youngest of ten children, her oldest sister was married and having children of her own by the time she was born.
Although Jay was technically her nephew they were so close in age that they we're in the same classes in school and grew up as virtual brother and sister.
I grew up hearing stories about him from my mother and members of her family but never knew the full circumstances of his death.
Given the time frame of the action we're he was killed I was expecting to find records of his being intered at the American Cemetery in Normandy but they have nothing under his name listed. I can only assume then that he lies under one of those crosses marked. "Here Rests In Honered Glory, A Comrade In Arms. Know But To God".
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| A truly selfless act in the defense of others. |
 |
| There are far to many of these crosses scattered across the American Cemetaries in Europe and the Pacific. |
We're these the luckey ones? Tens of thousands more have no graves. Lost to the vast depths of the oceans, impenetrable jungles or blown to pieces such that there was nothing to recover. May none of them ever be forgotten.
Friday, June 8, 2018
Finishing Up A Major Project.
I promised to post more pictures once I got close to finished on my bell project.
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| This where we left off. |
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| Next came constructing a table. |
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| Living in the NC Piedmont finding even a small level patch can be a task unto itself. |
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| Unable to find a brass plater willing to take on my project I opted for a good automotive paint job in gloss black with clear coat. All that remains is to fashion a decorative fenial for the top. |
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