Tuesday, April 28, 2015

consuming to invest 29

CONSUMING TO INVEST 29

Smithing

Blacksmithing isn’t much of a "thing" anymore, as 99% of what they do was eclipsed by modern steel making and factory work. Anymore, a welder is probably much busier than a blacksmith as far as custom work. Beyond shoeing horses, it is hard to envision many smithing tasks beyond a artsy-fartsy role. Blacksmiths won’t revert back to traditional tasks anyway. Before, surface sources of ore were worked prior to any fabrication. In the years after the collapse, salvage is going to be the only source of raw material, and as such a whole new skill set will be required. Raw ore does not work/react the same way as already processed metals ( and please note very carefully that ALL the surface ores globally were played out over a hundred years ago. Sure, that lasted thousands of years, but all things too must end. ALL ores in quantity are heavy machine/heavy finance/heavy fuel use extracted and the future is salvage only and NOT traditional historic primitive muscle fueled surface mined. You MUST recognize this new reality because it changed dynamics of politics, strategy, etc. The next couple of hundred years will not be like the last five thousand. Perpetual growth was possible only because of primitive extraction techniques. Once dinosaur juice exponentially increased our capacity to strip mine the earths surface, historic growth compressed a millennia worth of mining into a century or less. Without an ever continuing source of ore, what will the future look like? Certainly not the continual process of one empire replacing another. At best, a forever Dark Ages of decentralized power. As Europe eeked out an existence from the carcass of Rome, salvaging what had already been made, so too shall out future be nothing but salvage for anything other than organic recyclables ).

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Whereas before a smith might need a hammer and forge, tomorrows smith will need the same, but also he will need the tools of dismantling the steel and other metals of the Petroleum Age prior to reshaping. It might behoove you, should you wish to be a blacksmith in the future, to experiment now with stripping junk metal ( say, junked cars ) and trying to fashion it, all without modern methods. No welding, no power tools. Learn now what to do and you are heads and shoulders above all your competition. Immediately after the Big Flush ( was that reference from "The Survivors" with Robin Williams? ), before tires rot, gasoline goes bad and body panels rust, it will be relatively easy to commandeer all available motor vehicles and spend a lot of time dismantling, protecting and sorting. This will be a warehouse for your future metals industry. Buildings won’t move as easily, but they salvage nicely in moveable parts. You want to act quick, as one too many winters starts rot ( I can envision a former Home Depot or Wal-Mart building being a storehouse for insulation, 2x4’s and plywood sheets formally part of suburbia ).

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24 comments:

  1. You are right about ore extraction of course. But the fabrication of products from existing stock probably would last the rest of my useful life, so I concentrate on that. And yes, I have at least the basic primitive metal working skills. My biggest problem would be fuel to work a forge. For that I would need coal, natural gas, or...charcoal. Anyone that knows how to make large sums of charcoal will be huge after the collapse.

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    1. Didn't the Chinese do large scale charcoal production by stairsteppiong up a hill in multiple chambers? Or am I thinking of something else?

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  2. Last sentence left me a little confused. Winter starts rot? Could you please explain.

    I have been trying to get over my fascination with automobiles. Also trying to overcome the idea that having some mechanic type skills will be of any use in the future. I mean I'm sure there is a place for the type of mindset and thinker that some mechanics have (being able to analyze and troubleshoot a system). Same goes for programming. Besides people getting all in a tiff about how the specialty that they've taken a liking to and they are proficient at will in itself be useless the one thing I think is more ridiculous is the people who think that being a blacksmith will be a viable option. I mean you've touched on sources of "raw" materials, but what about fuel? From your article I can't tell if you are against the idea or preaching for it.

    ~SumDude

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    1. Winter rains/snow starting the rusting of metal, the rot of insulation and wood

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  3. I have found that the newer cars have metals that don't play well in the forge. I have saved a pile of older leaf springs and other odds and ends scrap. I got started messing with the forge because I needed small firearm parts that could not be found anywhere and at the same time I was playing around with making flintlock rifles. I have repaired old antique door locks for the artsy fartsy crowd trying to make the Mc mansion look different than the one beside it. Hell, I'll likely be dead before anyone will need any skills I have after a quick melt down.
    Fancy hair you have there!

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    1. Ambitious! Given the total discounting of elders utility, your case will be typical ( re second to last sentence )

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    2. Automobile leaf springs are very useful, and make excellent knives, swords, flint fire strikers, and crossbow prods.

      "I got started messing with the forge because I needed small firearm parts that could not be found anywhere and at the same time I was playing around with making flintlock rifles."

      If you are not already aware of this man 8:19, check out Hershel Carmen house. A man that hand forges flintlock rifles from scratch using all of the old methods. His work is amazing.

      http://www.housebrothersproject.com/articles/article4.html

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  4. I likes these current topics, new material to stretch the brain into new territory. I dabbled in basic smithing long ago and still have some of the tools, though my anvil now is an 18" piece of railroad track. Welding steel requires you to look 8 steps ahead. Yes you will maintain active burns, mostly on your arms, at all times.

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    1. There are lots of jobs that don't need welding temperature but that said fuels will be the issue. Hardwood charcoal will be my only option in my area.

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  5. Barring an EMP manufacturing on a limited scale will evolve around hydroelectric dams at first in present form. Later as direct power like 1800 England. Old water mill sites will be fought over because of there value.Smiths and machinist will become among the wealthiest trade groups . Even a deranged Warlord will have to have repair and replacement ability.

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    1. I can't see electric power lasting very long-who machines a spare part for those huge bastards? Plus, a single target in a shrinking geographical area due to decentralization.

      Delete
  6. No Earthquakes! O wait a 7.9 that has killed 0ver 4000 people. A huge volcanic eruption the 5th in the last year all around the globe! Riots, the third this year that is about black VS"S White people.
    What does poor man say? peak oil, no oil, buy a bike and I"m going to be a frickin idiot and marry for the 5th time! LOL!
    No wonder your responses have dropped to 3 or 4 times each of your postings.
    Everyone is going back to the "original" James, the rich man with REAL information about how to survive the coming end of times.
    Bye bye!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, ok, sure. Don't let the door hit ya

      Delete
    2. Sounds like a hater James, and I hate to say it, but he is right about the marrying for the 5th time dealeo. Loyal minion here, so this is coming from a good place :)

      Delete
    3. I just don't see the downside. I like companionship. It makes life so much better. It was my crappy choices that made it bad. Well, and evil wives.

      Delete
    4. Ever seen a electric bug zapper? Most men are like the bug, he has to go to the light not knowing if it's a porch light or a zapper. It's a strong man that can turn away from the light/woman. I hope your light is the nice porch light and not the killer zapper.

      Delete
  7. this is better than a sleeping pill

    thanx so much

    put me right to sleep

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What did a sleeping pill cost you? Send me half that, and I'll call it even

      Delete
  8. Burglar bars might be something useful after SHTF. Wrought iron and rebar can be fabricated into this so don't completely discount it. Rebar scraps from construction sites can often be used (ask the foreman 1st and you will likely get permission for it and many other items, as he has to pay someone to haul it off).

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    1. As long as the home is fireproof, of course. I think raiders will be more of a concern than burglars.

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    2. I bet both sorts of crime will be a problem.

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  9. Iron oar, the way that I understand it, is just rusted iron. That being said most of the iron laying around can be ben endlessly recycled indefinatly. Steal alloys may be a little tricky though. So evan though all the easy iron has been mined, it has been converted to a even easyer accessed commodity, ie its laying around on the suface. Even 200yrs pshtf iron and steel will be more redilly available than it was to the common fella 1000 years ago. As an aside I once read about a custom knife maker that made the blades from iron bearing dirt he digs out of this back yard, smelts it in same back yard and makes his own apparently high grade tool steel alloy by mixeing amongst other things smashed up whiskey bottles with his oar. Aussie minion

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    1. I'm not real knowledgeable myself, but as I understand it, most of what we have here is steel rather than iron. So you would re-forge into inferior material.

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