Good Friends

Snack knife to Hunting knife.

Posted on July 30, 2020 by akadventurer

Little post a few days ago mentioned getting this knife back into my travel kit.
Good thing I did!
Its actually not been in the truck, but in my lunch/snack box. One day a little while ago, transfering gear to a friends truck to go shooting(target) I grabbed the snack box for a light lunch.

That meant that later I had a sharp single blade thats easier to clean than the twin blade I was pocket carying, when an impromptu bunny hunt came up..

Little fur ball kept getting curious about the sound or something and running out into the range (gravel pit) we were using.

He knew I’ve been wanting to rabbit hunt a while, so my buddy said go for it if I wanted. 3rd appearance of the critter, 2nd active stalk I managed to connect before he completely disappeared again.

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Great knife for the task, thin point was easy to control, handle comfortable, good reach, and laser sharp.

Guy that was with me gave a couple ideas and left me to it, so I just basically taught myself to clean/skin a rabbit. He said I did great especially when he found out I’d never cleaned anything but fish before!

Was too hot and tired that night to do the grilling we’d planned, but roast bunny is on the menu soon. Will take pics!

Categories: Adventures, Alaska-Life, Case Knives, Cowboy, EDC, EDC/MT use, Field gear, Food, GetOutdoors, Good Friends, Good Times, Hunting, knives, Outdoors, Pocket knives, Preparedness, Summertime, Traditional, Truck EDC, Truck gear, Wildlife

Winchester Model 90 overview.

Posted on November 8, 2019 by akadventurer

Posted about my re-modification, and realized I hadn’t really shown all of the rifle. So here we go! 🙂

Its not without issues, but overall a pretty clean gun. Serial # dates it to 1932.

Needs a finish job, as you can see its “in the white”, it was professionally stripped at some point, It’s mostly bare metal. Probably should be blued. I’d really love to have it cerakoted a bright blue though. Maybe someday.

Came with the tape on it. The front tape holds the mag hanger, some yutz tried to drift it out, didn’t know they turn into place. The stock tape is apparently for grip, I had it off, the wood and tang are fine. I put if back because I didn’t have time to deal with stripping the glue residue at the time.

As mentioned elsewhere, it’s actually been re-chambered to, and the carrier modded to feed .22WMR, back when .22 WRF was obsolete. Since I can get it now, and since Mag is so hard on small game I re-modded the carrier so I can now shoot WRFs again.

She ain’t perfect, but she’s a fun shooter, I thoroughly enjoy it!

Categories: Alaska-Life, Customized, Field gear, Good Friends, Guns, Repairs, Rifles, Winchesters

The W Box.

Posted on November 4, 2019 by akadventurer

An older project. I started this in the summer of 2018, for a friend’s birthday. His name starts with a W, thus our title above. 🙂

He does electronics work, so when I found this old amp meter, in DC milliamperes, in some stuff that had been my Dads, it seemed perfect for a gift.

But i couldn’t just give a bare gauge…

Ok, I could have, but where’s the fun in that? 😉

I missed the birthday.

And Christmas.

Managed to get it done and give it in the spring of 2019. Ha!

But anyway, here it is. Only the 3rd box I’ve ever built in my life. (So don’t judge me too harsly!)

Its white oak, and curly maple. It was entertaining to get it how I wanted it, rabbeted construction, a place to store the leads (plugs and leads stolen from an old multi meter I took apart), but still compact. Engineered and re-engineered seveeal times, but I got it!

I don’t really have all of the pics I could, no step by step.And no steps of progress like I’d like… Hust a mishmash of what I managed to take, and the final product.

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Categories: Christmas, Custom, Customized, Electronics/Media, Fabrication, Good Friends, Just Plain Fun, MacGyver, Modifications, old tools, Recycle, Scrounging, Sentimental, Woodshop, Woodwork

Got my money clip back!

Posted on February 23, 2019 by akadventurer

While killing time in the shop with misc. little projects, and trying to find parts for one, I came accross the Buffalo Alaska Mint coin/silver proof from my old money clip. Several years ago the curve of the clip broke– its brass, and it had gotten brittle, work hardened from repeated bending back and forth.

I had intended to put the coin on a new clip, but never could find one I liked, wanting one similar yo what it had, a hinged camming action that clamped it shut.

Got to thinking that I hadn’t really been in any hurry to solder the Marlboro cowboy emblem back onto the clip I’ve been using after it came off last summer either…

So, why not combine them, eh?

The curve of the broken end on the coin backing plate almost perfectly fit the clips curved end.

Cleaned the chrome platting off the one, cleaned the other to bare brass and tinned them in solder. Pressed and heated. Twice.

Filled with solder along the curved end. Three times…

Have I ever mentioned that I Hate soldering? Well I do!

But sometimes I get lucky!

It ain’t perfect but its solid and will fer sure work.

All that holds the coin on is the bezel, 4 little tabs that bend/crimp over the backing plate.

Two old friends with a lot of memories attached

— the Marlboro clip I’ve had since I was a kid. The buffalo clip I got 10 year ago this spring on a 2 week trip to the big city, hanging out with a good buddy when he came home from the service, Fun Times!—

back in service together, finally!

Categories: Adventure Metal Works, Brass, Custom, Customized, Damages, Decorating, EDC, Fabrication, Good Friends, Modifications, Repairs, Sentimental, Welding

Old Timer spa treatment.

Posted on February 23, 2019 by akadventurer

Schrade USA Old Timer knives that is!

Have had both of these a while, the 8OT Stockman a couple years, and have carried it off and on. The 94OT Trapper almost as long, but hadn’t used it.

The Stockman came from a close friend, a knife he used to carry/use. We were cleaning out a tool box in one of his old trucks. The box had gotten full of water… Yup, knife was solid orange rust. He said if I thought I could do something with it I could have it.

90% of it was loose rust and came off in a WD-40 bath, I sharpened if and left it at that, and used it.

The trapper came from another friend, as I recall by way of a passaround box on a forum, was one he snagged at a flea market. It was badically clean, just hard rust in the joints and on the areas where the blades were exposed. I intended to give it a good cleaning, but it always got put on a back burner.

Anyway, time to kill, and lots of elbow grease, and I got them both cleaned up.

1st round is WD-40 and a cloth for any soft/new rust, and loose dirt.

2nd round is light oil on a Scotch Brite pad for blades and back of springs.

3rd round is Flitz polish on the scotch brite pad for blades, springs, and bolsters.

4th round is the Flitz on a soft cloth, for everything, delrin included.

Not perfect, and I wouldn’t want that. There is still some set-in hard rust, and some patina too. Shows they’ve had a life already, and an interesting one too.

Categories: Damages, EDC, Field gear, Good Friends, knives, old tools, Pocket knives, Repairs

Ice fishing report, 12-1-18

Posted on December 2, 2018 by akadventurer

Look what I got!

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Here are 4 more, random samples of the fish I caught. 10 total keepers, all but one were like this, big and plump!

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Great day on the ice, 25F, clear and sunny, 8″ of ice on Cushman lake– Ice report said 13″, so we parked on the lake… 2 full size pickups side by side on 8″ of ice was pushing our luck, but thankfully God is graciou- no issues.

We were over the deepest water, 25 feet, the ice is usually thinner over the deeper spots, so the ice report was probably right. There were lots of other tracks, an ice skating area and trail to huts has been plowed too. I wasnt really worried about it, but technically it was a little on the skethy end.

Anyway, back to the fun!

My buddy, his son, and myself all limited out (10 fish per) on these “little” king salmon.

Their piles of fish;

About 4.5 hours out, we just couldn’t quit, it was so much fun! Action was great too, not just the catching, but the fighting. Had to work for them not just catch them(easy fishing is boring fishing!).

Categories: Adventures, Alaska-Life, Fishing, GetOutdoors, Good Friends, Good Times, Ice Fishing, Just Plain Fun, Outdoors, Winter

Ice fishing report, November 24th, 2018

Posted on November 30, 2018 by akadventurer

Got out to Birch Lake the first time this season last Saturday, I didn’t get anything but a buddy and his kids did great. I didn’t care I got skunked, I got all the fun I needed watching those kids(7 and 9)catch their first cold fish (and I think first fish ever)!!

Most of those are rainbow trout, a couple small silver salmon. They could have limited out, but put a lot of little ones back.

I had Something about twice that size on the line once, as did my buddy… Bugger got off just shy of the ice both times, stayed just long enough for us to see him each time! Bloody teaser!

Getting ready to hit another favorite spot this coming Saturday. About 13″ of ice according to F&G ice reports, up from the 8″ last week. Usually a lot more by this time of year but we’ve had the mildest fall/winter so far that I can remember in 25 years..

He got a new auger, one of those gear boxed suckers that goes on a cordless drill (works phenomenally! ).

They wanted to give me something as a thanks for helping out with some stuff last month, so they gave me his gas auger. Absolutely floored me!

8″auger, 43cc motor, Eskimo, came with an extension bar too.

I’ve been ice fishing 3 or 4 years now and have Never had an auger, even a hand one or even a ice chisel! Always go with someone that has gear, or use a hole already open that someone’s vacated, ask a favor of someone to drill me one etc.

Big game changer for me, really opens up where and when I can go now!

Sizing up to be a good season. Got a couple gear mods to make posts for soon, and some other new gear too.

Should be back with another trip report in a couple days, hopefully with at least one fish of my own this time!

Categories: Adventures, Alaska-Life, Backcountry, Field gear, Fishing, GetOutdoors, Good Friends, Good Times, Ice Fishing, New Gear, Outdoors, Winter

New ice tent fix & first ice fishing of 2017

Posted on December 4, 2017 by akadventurer

Last summer a buddy of mines neighbor gave him an ice fishing tent… Brand new, in box. The guy had got it as a gift or something, and didn’t need two.. something like that IIRC. But unfortunately the guy was a little drunk when he was giving it away, and insisted on showing my friend how to set it up.

Uhuh. Broke two poles in the process. And I’m really not sure how… These tents are so simple and idiot proof.. well, I guess not drunk proof.. lol.

These things operate on a simple tension system, a X of poles, anchored at the outer corners of each wall, and the roof, a pivoting hub in the center attached to the wall. The X is a few inches bigger than the dimensions of the wall, so when you snap it out rigid it bows the wall out against the pressure, and it pops into place and stays under the tension. Super slick and easy.

He managed to snap off two of the poles from one hub, snapped right at the end, flush with the metal pivot ends that fit in the hub.

My buddy doesn’t ice fish(yeah, a weirdo, I know…), so he gave me the tent. I just got around to going and getting it from him a week ago yesterday.

New poles I found are $10 each plus shipping. They’re 49.5″ long, I hate to think what shipping to AK was going to be. But I figured there had to be an easy fix.

My buddy thought PVC pipe over the breaks. I can’t remember seeing PVC that small. (3/8″ ID for the pole, 1/2″ ID for the end fitting.)

And I was hoping to not buy anything 😉

I took it apart and took the end pieces out, headed to the shop.

I had a plan, would just make a sleeve to join them, set screws to hold them in, long over the pole side for support against it torquing out, or snapping again.

Didn’t have any aluminum big enough dia, that wasn’t 2″ Dia, so I used a scrap of bead stock brass. Ended up 5″ each sleeve, bored through at 0.375″ and counter bored on one end at 0.5″. Cross drilled, and tapped 6-32 for some brass screws I had. Cross drilled through the end fittings (aluminium), and ran the screws through instead of just against them.

When you break a fiberglass rod, as you know if you have ever broken a ski pole or tent pole, it “blooms” on the end, sort of a spreading, or swelling to larger dia.

That made it perfect, I fed the fittings over from the opposite end, and it formed a press fit over the expanded area, I had to drive them on, down to the right length to end at 49.5″. Perfect!

First assembly I had the end of the sleeve too close to the cross pin the ends pivot on in the hub, it wouldn’t fold. Went back and trimmedthem down a touch, now they’re fine.

Sorry, only took pics after it was back together… In place, and in use;

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That was a week ago today. I’d been needling another buddy about going fishing some time soon on that Sunday. Day after I fixed this he sent me a message, lake name and date. 😀 This last Saturday.

So, we’ll before first light we loaded up andheaded out;

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Two hour drive to the lake, short hike across the lake, we’re set up just after dawn. 3.5 hours of fun later; (yeah, so much fun I never stopped to take pics!)

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Little silver salmon. (Stocked lake). We had hoped on some big lake trout or pike that are usually easy in this lake, but they weren’t biting. I ain’t complaining! It was still great!

I came home 1 short of the daily limit! I’d caught 6, but put 1 back. Another guy caught 5 or 6 he kept. The other guy got 4 that he kept, but has a freezer full of salmon, so he let me have them. Had lots more bites we missed, and some that got off half way up etc.. Good times!

We didn’t freeze either, and actually fished comfortably outside the tent, only setting it up with the buddy heater to wam up once. 5F with a 5 to 10 mph wind. Dreamy weather for a first trip of the season. (Always a bitch to acclimate yourself to the ice, wind, andfishing at -20F for the first trip out! 😉 )

I gotta say that little Victorianox paring knife is THE sweetest fish cleaning knife I’ve ever had. Thin narrow Wicked laser sharp blade, and a great grippy handle. Love it!