Saturday, April 24, 2010

Getting Ready for Fishing

© 2010 Albert A Rasch and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
$g&m f9bd 45kd q!?5. trochronicles.blogspot.com
Important Skills to Have!

I put the kids to refurbishing some bucktails this evening.

"OMG! It's like making earings, except on hooks... 
If earings had bucktail I mean...

After a quick demonstration on the specifics, Jackie and Ethan knocked out a couple of bucktail jigs, a treble hook with black bucktail in the center surrounded by yellow, and a couple of single hooks with yellow bucktail and red silk wrap.

Ethan had the steady hands, so he was the painter!


Single hook bucktail for Krock Spoon

I like the single hook on Hopkins jigs and silver spoons. Yellow seems to be the preferred color, with white a close second. We will be using them tomorrow at Desoto Fort. Maybe the Spanish Mackerel will be running again!

Wish you were here!

Regards,
Albert A Rasch
Member: Bagram Tent Club
Member: Hunting Sportsmen of the United States HSUS (Let 'em sue me.)
The Hunt Continues...
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles

Whitetail Woods: A Give-Away for the Beginner or Veteran Black Powder Shooter

© 2010 Albert A Rasch and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
$g&m f9bd 45kd q!?5. trochronicles.blogspot.com

Friends!

Whitetail WoodsMy good friend Rick Kratzke of Whitetail Woods has an incredible give-away! As an official Black Powder product tester for CVA Connecticut Valley Arms, he has been given the opportunity to offer the Wolf 209 Magnum Break-Action in 50 caliber in a give away!

Whitetail Woods: A Give-Away for the Beginner or Veteran Black Powder Shooter

This is a great opportunity topick up a sweet inline Black Powder rifle, and the rules are so easy!

  1. You must be a registered commenter on Whitetail Woods blog. If you're not, it's easy to sign up and it's FREE.
  2. You must be at least 18 years of age to participate. (Proof may be requested at anytime.)
  3. The winner must acknowledge via email within 48 hours from the time the winner is posted, or a new winner will be picked.
  4. In comments for this post you need to leave a link to any blog that you would recommend others to visit.
  5. Last but not least you must also answer this one simple question,

Question: 
If you were able to do one thing to help our environment and/or it's wildlife what would that one thing be?

What have you got to lose? Give it a shot!

Regards,
Albert A Rasch
Member: Bagram Tent Club
Member: Hunting Sportsmen of the United States HSUS (Let 'em sue me.)
The Hunt Continues...
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles

Friday, April 23, 2010

Gators are Up and About!

Brought to you by Albert A Rasch and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
$g&m f9bd 45kd q!?5. trochronicles.blogspot.com
Warm Weather Means Active 
Alligators and Crocodiles

The onset of warm weather in the spring is when Florida's native crocodilians start getting active, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is urging Floridians and visitors to be cautious when having fun in and around water.

Florida is home to two native crocodilians - the American alligator, which is found in all 67 counties, and the American crocodile, which may be found in coastal areas of the Keys, Southeast and Southwest Florida. Both species have shared Florida's waters with people for centuries.


The FWC recommends keeping pets away from the water. There are other precautionary measures people should take to reduce potential conflicts with alligators and crocodiles, and they are available in the "Living with Alligators" brochure at MyFWC.com/Alligator and the "Living with Crocodiles" brochure at MyFWC.com/Crocodile.


The FWC advises, if you have concerns with an alligator or crocodile that poses a threat to you, your pets or property, call the FWC's toll-free Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (392-4286).

Alligators and crocodiles are an important part of Florida's heritage and play a valuable role in the ecosystems where they live. For more information on alligators and crocodiles, visit MyFWC.com/Alligator.
Contact:
Tony Young (850) 488-7867


Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch
Member: Bagram Tent Club
Member: Hunting Sportsmen of the United States HSUS (Let 'em sue me.)
The Hunt Continues...





Thursday, April 22, 2010

Saturday Blog Rodeo 04/10/10

© 2010 Albert A Rasch and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
$g&m f9bd 45kd q!?5. trochronicles.blogspot.com
The Blog Rodeo

Sorry for the brevity, but I am as busy as a long tailed bobcat in a room full of rockers! It's a little outdated, being that I put this one together about two weeks ago! So let's get right into it!

Over at Marian's Hunting stories we find some ageless advice: Marian's Hunting Stories: Old Cowboy Advice My favorite: The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.

When I think of the Mallard here, all I can do is bow my head to his superior wit and his skill. When "It's a Sign" Isn't. A Cautionary Tale... Truer words are rarely spoken!


Dukiller, one of my favorite commentators,  has posted a couple of real live videos that are worth a definite look-see! Kansas Turkey Blogging. I always appreciate DK's insightful comments, even if I don't always agree with the particulars.You should visit him and give him a hard time! But you better be prepared, he is a sharp one!

Varmints in your Yard Brigid gives us a real nice review on the Savage Arms 93R17-BVSS she picked up. She says, "At 100 yards the Savage will shoot sub inch groups right up there with the more expensive rimfires and do it all day long." With that kind of endorsement, what are you waiting for?


Musings of Murphyfish: Space for rent I like anything that smacks of permaculture and stewardship of the land. "Last autumn I replanted part of my hedge with more insect attracting shrubs and now I’ve just implemented phase two of operation bug." Check out his birdhouse retrofit for attracting bees!

Xavier Thoughts Xavier throws the intellectual smack-down on a blogger. "Jolly good fun" as my UK compatriots would say!


SoCalBowhunter has a bone to pick with a certain manufacturer of sun screen product. It seems they are happy to sell it to hunters, but they don't want anyone else to know they. As a matter of fact, they support PETA! The brand name is KINeSYS. Read the letter they sent SoCal!

Whitetail Woods: My Bucket List, A Goal for the Future And here is one that I think we should all give a moment of our blog time to. Make an "Outdoors Bucket List!" First chance I get, I'll be posting one too!



Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch
Member: Bagram Tent Club
Member: Hunting Sportsmen of the United States HSUS (Let 'em sue me.)
The Hunt Continues...

The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Making a Powder Horn Pt III: A Chronicles' Project

© 2010 Albert A Rasch and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
$g&m f9bd 45kd q!?5. trochronicles.blogspot.com
Making a Powder Horn Pt III:
A Chronicles' Project

By now we have managed to get the horn pretty much finished up. The horn itself has been cut, carved, whittled, and sanded until it looks like a powder horn. We also put together the back plug and decided on the shape and design. Let's build and put together the last few parts of the powder horn and see what we end up with!

The spout plug should be a nicely finished finial. You can use ½” hardwood dowels to make them. Antler tips would be another choice, as would the tip of the cow horn that you already cut off. A dense piece of bone would be interesting too!

I originally chose to use a piece of Whitetail deer antler that my friend "The Rabid Outdoorsman" at the Maine Outdoorsman sent me some time ago for just this sort of project. But at the last moment I chickened out! I didn't want to ruin the nice antlers he sent me. I have better plans for them so I decided to use a piece of oak branch I had in one of my boxes. Since I am still pretty new to using the lathe, I figure I can always get another piece of branch if I need to!

Perfect...

I sawed off a small section of the branch. I cut it long enough, about six inches, so that there would be sufficient stem to act as a stopper in the pour spout. Setting it up on the lathe, a turned it down to an acceptable shape.

 Turning a branch down...

AFter turning it, twist it back and forth between sandpaper to make it smooth.  Next I carefully fitted it to the spout, making adjustments to both the spout and the stopper portion, insuring a nice weather resistant fit between the two.

Masonry Nail on the Diamond Plate

In order to create a better fit in the spout opening, make a reamer. I took a masonry nail and stoned the four sides. Masonry nails are hardened and make great mini-chisels and gravers. They also make really good spout reamers too! I twisted the nail back and forth, creating a taper on the inside of the spout.



While we are on the subject of reamers, you should save any dull or damaged files. They make great cutters, scrapers and reamers for any wood projects you might have.

With a matching taper on the plug, you create a pretty tight but workable fit between the plug and the spout. A little beeswax will make it weather resistant and unlikely to expand too much in damp weather.

I followed a similar method for making the fill plug for the back.  I found these 3/4 inch square surveying stakes on one of the many construction sites I frequented. It's a heavy, dense wood, with an dark reddish brown, mahogany color. Whenever I find interesting bits and pieces of wood, I save them for the future. What exactly I am going to do with them I never know! But like now, this piece has become the fill plug. The back plug is a piece of reddish wood that came off of a pallet.

Fill plug on the lathe!

You can pick up one of these cheap lathes for about 100 dollars. They are more than adequate for making file handles and stoppers for your projects. Do not spend your hard earned dollars on the turning tools though! Instead buy a couple of magazines that specialize in turning, or get one of those inexpensive books on turning. Then go and make your own turning tools out of old files and hardened steel scraps you have laying around.They will be far better tools in the long run, and the short turn for that matter!

Boring the fill plug hole.

I took the back plug and bored a hole through it with a hand drill and auger. Notice I used another hunk of wood as a backer for the piece being drilled. That protects your auger bit from being damaged, and keeps you from splitting the back of the plug as the drill comes out. You could use an electric drill with a spade bit the same way.

Sandpaper Reamer

Wrap a piece of coarse sandpaper around the fill plug, and use that to ream out the correct taper into the back plug. I actually started with a mill file that was about the same angle as the plug. That allowed me to take a bit of the excess wood out, and finish up nicely with a finer grade of sandpaper.

After reaming the hole to shape, the plug sits firmly and hopefully weather resistant.

I got to thinking that maybe next time I'll bore a large hole in the back plug and glue a cork in it. Then I'll bore a hole through the cork, leaving enough of the cork to allow me to "ream" a tapered hole for a hardwood plug. That might create a better seal in the back plug of the powder horn.

A little Linseed Oil...

By now I have sanded the plugs and stoppers to a smooth finish. Traditionally a mixture of beeswax, turpentine, and linseed oil was used for finishing wood back in the day. In this particular case, I will use just the linseed oil as a finish. Linseed oil is the oils from pressed flax seed, and is non-toxic and safe. Just a couple of drops on my finger tips, and a lot of hand rubbing! The wood will take up quite a bit of it, but you want to put it on little by little to get a great protective finish. remember to air dry any rags or paper towels you use to clean up with. Do not ball them up and toss them in the trash as they are self-combustive given the opportunity!

Oooo... Pretty...




Mark a circle and then drill.

Mark out a series of points along the perimeter of the horn for the tacks. Eight is a good number to start with, and you can always add more if it appeals to you. I would suggest that you pre-drill the holes just in case. We are near the end, and I would hate to do something silly now! Like split the end of the horn.

When we assemble the back plug in a moment, consider using hide glue. You have gone this far making a traditional tool, go a little further and try the hide glue. If you should ever have the need to disassemble for repair or rebuilding your powder horn, hide glue will allow you to do so with relative ease.

Or you can make your life easy and use PVA glue...

I sometimes use homemade hide glue that many bowyers use for their laminate bows and arrows. Knox Gelatin comes in a small box with 4 envelopes.  Take one envelope, and add it to about half a cup of hot water.  Dissolve it on the stove or do as I did. I bought a mini electric crock pot from one of the big box stores for about $8.00 that I use to dissolve and keep warm the hide glue. It has a lid, and I found it with the household accessories near the candles and scented oils. It keeps the glue at the right temperature and is really handy if you are using hide glue for a bigger project.

Since I am pressed for time, I am going to use some PVA. Use a small brush or your finger, and carefully wipe on a good coat of glue on both the wood bevel, and the inside 1/2 inch of the horn. Seat the plug with a twisting motion, and wipe the excess glue off the horn. Now set it aside for a few hours to allow the glue to set.

I have some copper coated tacks I may use. I have also seen some small, round headed brass brads that would look really good for this too. (Note: I happened to find a pack of them squirreled away in the nail box!) Oh the choices we have! Which to use?

Settled on the brass tacks!

I carefully tapped in the tacks into the holes I drilled. Since the tacks are rather small, and my thumb and forefinger rather large, I took a business card and used that to hold the brad. Just poke the tack or brad through a corner and hold the card while you tap the nail in place. Just tear the card loose before you hammer the brad home.

And there you have it. A perfectly useful accessory for the well appointed Black Powder enthusiast. All that is left is to decorate the horn.

You don't seriously think ... Maybe next time!

Alas, my scrimshawing prowess leaves something (quite a bit) to be desired...



I had a lot of trouble just doing this, much less anything more involved. You can see when I started... last year. I don't know the secret yet, but no matter what tool I used to "scratch" the surface, it either dug in or skittered across the surface uncontrollably! There is much to learn about this and Jedi Scrimshaw Masters are far and few in between!

Waxed hemp lanyard.

And in order to safeguard my hard won stopper from being lost, I tied a chain sinnet with a length of hemp twine into a lanyard for the stoppers.I ran the hemp twine through the block of beeswax I have and that made it a lot easier to work with.

All that's left to do is to decide what to do with the large bead I left on the horn. It lends itself to any number of possibilities, but I think the simplest might be the best. I'll leave a tab for tying the strap to, and work the rest into a short bead around the horn.

I've learned quite a bunch of things that I will share with you on our next powder horn build up. Things like sanding the exterior of the horn and the back plug at the same time to keep them even. You are better off cutting the horn shorter if it is a very thick walled type; carving all that excess keratin is time consuming and leads to errors.

I'm getting started on another horn as a gift for a good friend of mine. I will try to chronicle the progress I make on this new project, but time is short!

I hope you have enjoyed this project, and that it has given you the impetus to give it a try!

Related Posts:

Making a Powder Horn Pt I: A Chronicles' Project
Making a Powder Horn Pt II: A Chronicles' Project
Making a Powder Horn: Almost There!
Making a Powder Horn Pt III: A Chronicles' Project

Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch
Member: Bagram Tent Club
Member: Hunting Sportsmen of the United States HSUS (Let 'em sue me.)
The Hunt Continues...

The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Making a Powder Horn: Almost There!

2009 Albert A Rasch and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
.
Making a Powder Horn for Black Powder

We are on the home stretch! I am almost done with the powder horn, and all the ancillary parts. It is coming out pretty nice and I am looking forward to finishing it up in the next day or two.

In Part I, I mentioned the following:

"Looking at traditional powder horns, I have found that in most cases the spout is carved directly from the horn itself. Note the shape of the tips in the adjacent pictures. Those are carved directly from the thick portion of the horn tips.


Other horns have what appears to be turned spouts. I have given this a great deal of consideration these last few days, and I believe I have a couple of different ways in which it could be done. The first would be a lathe set up to hold horns in such a fashion that the spout could be turned directly on the horn. The other method could be that the spouts were turned independently from the cut off tips, and then remounted and glued on a tenon cut directly into the remains of the horn. This method would allow any number of profiles and custom tips."

Well, take a look at the following!
Image Credit: Jeff Bibb

Threaded on! How cool is that?

Every time I take on a new and interesting project, I learn all sorts of new and interesting things.  Some of it is the usual trivia that sits in your medula oblongata along with seldom used synapses. Other stuff is the slap-your-forehead why-didn't-I-think-of-that type of knowledge, the kind you can apply to all sorts of things.

Hopefully I'll be done with the powder horn project by tonight and be able to post it first thing in the morning.

That's if I survive the dentist...

Related Posts:

Making a Powder Horn Pt I: A Chronicles' Project
Making a Powder Horn Pt II: A Chronicles' Project
Making a Powder Horn: Almost There!
Making a Powder Horn Pt III: A Chronicles' Project

Regards,
Albert A Rasch
Member: Bagram Tent Club
Member: Hunting Sportsmen of the United States HSUS (Let 'em sue me.)
The Hunt Continues...

The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles

Monday, April 19, 2010

An Engraver's Masterpiece!

© 2010 Albert A Rasch and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
$g&m f9bd 45kd q!?5. trochronicles.blogspot.com

I found this while researching muzzleloading rifles. Though there aren't many posts on the blog, what there is, is a wonder of incredible craftsmanship! But this post, "Nailing the Cheekpiece" especially caught my attention. He discusses how he resolves attaching it to the buttstock of a Jaeger Rifle he is working on. Everything he has done is impeccable and just absolutely beautiful!

Photo Credit: Tom Curran

There's a lot to learn from the few posts on his blog, but boy is it good stuff!

Regards,
Albert A Rasch
Member: Bagram Tent Club
Member: Hunting Sportsmen of the United States HSUS (Let 'em sue me.)
The Hunt Continues...
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Hunter and Angler Fact Sheet!

© 2010 Albert A Rasch and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
$g&m f9bd 45kd q!?5. trochronicles.blogspot.com
Hunter and Angler Fact Sheet!

Well it's that time of year again where we are all thinking about the summer that is soon to be here, and all the fun and frolic!
Photo Credit: UW Collection
Ummm... Yeah...

But let's not forget our responsibilities to educate and elucidate for our non-sporting friends and neighbors.

The National Hunting and Fishing Day Organization has several assets available for the conservationist to use. Among them is this easily printed PDF with great facts on the leadership and conservation that Hunters and Anglers provide in the great outdoors.

Click below for PDF
Hunter and Angler Fact Sheet

Take a few moments, and print out a dozen copies, (it's only a single side). Share them with non-hunting or non-fishing friends and let them know the facts about hunters and anglers.


Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch
Member: Bagram Tent Club
Member: Hunting Sportsmen of the United States HSUS (Let 'em sue me.)
The Hunt Continues...

The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles