Driving Through "Snowmagedon" in the South East

Last Friday I loaded up Pro-Series power hammer #13, and prepared for a long trip to Eastern Virginia. At first I didn't think much of the trip, until I looked at the weather and saw that they were about to get dumped with about 8-10 inches of snow.

 My alarm went off at 2:30 AM, I got dressed, made some coffee, and hit the road. The roads were fine until I got to Knoxville, TN, and started snowing. I-40 was pretty much snow covered, and what wasn't covered in snow, was covered in slush.

When I was about 2 hours from my destination, I came across an amazing scenic look over.

My truck parked at the overlook. My Chevy had not problems getting out.

Finally after 11.5 hours of driving, I made it to my destination, where I set up and the new owner and I test ran the hammer, and went over proper maintenance. The road leading to his shop was absolutely beautiful!

The last leg of my trip.

                                               

Hammer #13 setting in its new home!

After the hammer was set up, and we talked over a cup of coffee, I was back on the road. The trip home took long, as all the melted snow had frozen into solid sheets of black ice.

 On the last 3 hours of my trip, the heater went out on the truck, which made it quite uncomfortable as the temperature had dropped to 6 degree's.

 I made it home at 6:00 Saturday morning. On this trip I saw the sun rise in Tennessee, the sun set in Virginia, and the sun rise again in Kentucky. All in all, I drove for 27 straight hours, and was awake for 28.5 hours.

~Chase~

Lesson Learned

Right now, my full time job is building my Pro-Series Power Hammers. Right now I have 4 hammers on order, and possibly more on the way. Needless to say, I am working like a mad man to keep up.
 Day before yesterday, I was working on a power hammer guide system, and it fell off of my welding table and out of instinct I tried to catch it with one hand (I had a hammer in my other hand).Now keep in mind, theses guide systems weigh around 100lbs, so this ended with a sprained wrist.
 So next time, I'll just get out of its way and let it fall.

For all those of you, who can't handle snow

OK, so I will be the first one to say that I HATE SNOW!... At least a lot of it, once a year is fine, as long as I don't have to be out in it! However I don't panic when it snows even if its an all out ice storm. (nice part of being a prepper).  I can't watch this video enough. 

~Chase~

Full video of my Pro-Series Power Hammer

Pro-Series Power Hammer video teaser

What I am doing in the shop these day's

So as a lot of you know, I went to school to be a blacksmith. However this summer I started building a professional grade power hammer for blacksmiths and knife makers.  I have found these to be extremely fun to build, and gives me a chance to experiment on different idea's I have.

The guide system on for a power hammer in the fabrication process.

I call these hammers Pro-Series because of their quality, reliability, and controllability.  If anyone is ever interested in one of my Pro-Series power hammers, please feel free to email me at homesteadersoutpost@gmail.com 

~Chase~

#blacksmith #powerhammer #chasesaxtonproseries

Happy New Year!

Hello everyone!
Well 2016 was challenging for not just me personally, but the world.  We have laughed, cried, had no hope, given hope, and lost several great celebrities. However we can look and forward in 2017 and pray that after January 20th our nation can be made great again!

As for me personally, I am going to try to get back to my remarriage weight of 165 (at 185 right now), get Homesteaders Outpost up and running, and finish the house! As with everything in life, I take it one day at a time and fly by the seat of my pants!

Take care!
~Chase~