A Little Trench Art to Sooth the Soul...

[HTandB]

Howdy All - I've been a member here for a few years, don't post much but wanted to drop a line - I'm hanging out in Afghanistan for a year as my last trip before retirment (Mil) and thought I would share some work. When I came over I brought a micro-block, some QC push handles and a couple of flats and a Lindsay parallel point or two...

The work isn't the cleanest - it's done sporatically and is often inturupted by outside events - but work is work and I attribute the time working with my hands to keeping me sane I can't really chase with a micro-block (not enough "umph" to hold steady) so I'm primarily using a "wriggle" cut for the main lines, thus the feathering on the edges - the canvas is expended .50 cal brass - which actually cuts very nicely.

Cheers!
Ryan

--------BREAK-------

curses. I can't get the pictures to upload from over here and can't get to the online sites (blocked)... anyone out there I can e-mail them to?
R.

 

[glstrcowboy]

Shoot them to me and I'll post them for you. glstrcowboy@yahoo.com

 

[HTandB]

Thanks!

pictures are on their way via GMail - thanks for the assist!

Ryan

 

[Texasgerd]

Ryan
Have fun.....I just got back too and the ever present dust was hard on the equipment. If you get off base, check out the guys in Kabul on Chicken Street who engrave everything under the sun using sharpened screwdrivers and 12oz hammers. Entertaining to say the least.

Enjoy the time over there and "great DFAC food". Look forward to you getting back to Fairchild and the Pac North West. Let us know if there is anything we can do for you.

Dan Gerdes

 

[HTandB]

Thanks Dan - That would be quite the sight. I'm over at Shindand, kinda on the dark side of the moon from Kabul - the dust is bad, the wind is worse - the "120 days of north wind" are beginning to pick up and blowing about 30 steady and 50 gusting - makes the tent "sporty" at night

 

[monk]

well, good luck. we look forward to seeing some of your work.

 

[Texasgerd]

Ryan

If needed, hit me on the Air Force GAL or via my AKO account. I'm at Scott. Happy to work as freight forwarded if needed knowing the MPS ROEs. Best thing to do over there is buy some of engraving tutorial video's (what I did). Great learning resource given your situation and they helped me unwind after missions. Enjoy Shindand. There is worse but not by much.
Keep your head down and get back safe. We’ll keep the coffee hot for you.

Dan Gerdes

 

[glstrcowboy]

 

[Marcus Hunt]

That's brilliant! Nice to see the trench art tradition is still alive and kicking. Good luck and stay safe.

 

[Ed Westerly]

That is some nice work, HTandB. thanks for posting, and thanks to the guys who helped get the pics up.

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Hi Ryan

Thanks for your service.

Looks great!!!! and I agree with Marcus, it's great to see the trench art tradition is still alive and well.

Stay safe (and sane)

Cheers
Andrew

 

[jetta77]

I love it! Very cool to say the least. Be safe and keep cutting

 

[rmgreen]

Thanks Ryan for serving our country.

Forever indebted.

Roger

 

[Paul Russell]

That's really cool, and I'm sure you won't run short of your chosen blank canvases in that part of the world.
Take care,

Cheers Paul.

 

[tkelch]

That is awesome work I didn't think you could make a ma deuce more bad a$$. I never went to afghan but on my 2 tours in Iraq I did a lot of wood carving to try to pass the time

 

[HTandB]

Thank you all and a big thanks to Glstr for posting the pictures for me - I appreciate the kind words and the offers (yes, I do have lots of support/ packages from friends and family) - life here is different to say the least; likely the most "unique" place I've been in 20+ years of doing this. I'll work out a way to post some additional pics - we have a couple of 'moral' computers that might work, they have a better connection. - I've done a couple of knives using engraved .50s for handles and a few "going away" pieces with unit emblems... Unfortunately Paul hit the nail on the head, there's no shortage of canvas. I've only been engraving 6 (ish) years and it's been enjoyable for me since I picked it up, but I really think it's taken more of a therapy role than ever before - the ability to really focus on something completely different than the events surrounding you is an amazing thing and good for the soul.

Thanks again, more will follow. If anyone is interested I do have more photo's of my gun work on the FEGA website and on flickr (flickr.com/photos/htandb).

- Cheers!

Ryan

 

[Dulltool]

Hey Ryan,
When I was in the Marine Corps 1968-74 I also engraved an empty cartridge case... only it was a 7.62mm from my M-14. I'll see if I can find it and post a photo.

Boy that was a long time ago.

 

[glstrcowboy]

Don't spend too much time looking for a computer that will work over there. It doesn't take much effort to post them for you, especially considering what you are giving up for all of us.

 

[Bama]

Yes, be safe, and thank you sir. Your work is outstanding.

 

[silverchip]

That is just Kool !!!! Please make it back in one piece and Keep up the great work.