Thoughts on banner ads...

This http://blog.pelland.com/?tag=banner-ads got me thinking.  You guys really were doing a good job.  According to that article, the average click through rate is about 0.2%.  One of my blogs had about 500% click through a couple of times and each had about 100% click through- so I can see why AdSense thought something was fishy.   The article also confirmed my gut reaction- people don't really like banner ads.  According to the article, 94% of people dislike banners, just 1% less than the number of people who hate pop-up ads.  Wow.    So even if AdSense reactivates my account, I probably won't reactivate the ads.  I have a hard enough time keeping any semblance of respectabiltiy, I don't need to shoot myself in the foot on top of it.

Ads...

I've had a few emails this morning asking me what happened to my ads. My AdSense account has been disabled, but Google won't say why (it's a "trade secret").  I did submit a help request last week asking why I wasn't getting page impressions but I was seeing ad clicks- no response (surprise). I appealed the disabling of the account and we'll just have to see what happens.  I guess you folks were just -too- curious about the advertisers.   I may have to reinstate the paypal buttons.

Almost out there...

I'm almost done with this semester- then next semester will be one class, a seminar and an internship, then an internship over the summer and I'm done with my distance degree. After this, I'm hoping to be accepted to graduate school where I can study blacksmithing in either the colonial or fur trade era.
In the mean time, I'm thinking about working on projects from Sonn's book or carving knives out of smaller, thin stock. Those would be quick, and useful tools are always satisfying. Mostly just bored, not really tired and wanting to blog about something.

Hammer-in report

Alright, I'mma be honest.  The hammer-in left me a little bummed, and I think it's because I really want to be out in the shop making things, but haven't had much of an opportunity. However, here I am on Monday, sitting at work while our main system is down, and I'm pretty excited about a question that was posed.  Why not make a blade out of just 15N20?  For those not in the know, 15N20 is a steel that is usually added to a stack of other steels in pattern welded billets because the nickel resists most etching solutions- this gives very bright areas to contrast the darker carbon areas.  I don't see why it wouldn't work.  Most 15N20 has about 0.75% carbon (which is a mid range carbon content) plus the nickel adds abrasion resistance.  I think it would be cool to try.  I can't look at many suppliers through the company firewall, but Admiral steel has 0.065x8x36" sheets for about $32. (that's just over 1/16 inch, so probably a 14 gage? sheet).  Maybe a little thin, but that's another thing Geoff was talking about- how thin can you make a blade that still performs most of the duties you want it to? It would be very difficult to forge a blade that starts at 1/16" (most will be forged to approximate shape, then thinned to about that thickness) but certainly many blades end up at 1/16".  Maybe I'll give it a try. As for his press, it's pretty awesome.  It squished a 2x2x6" billet without any fuss and the resulting pattern was tightly welded, even at the ends where these things tend to split or not weld properly.  Next time I'll show up the night before to help him set up, and I'll make sure someone drives into town to refill at least one of the propane tanks.

Hammer-in tryout

A good friend has built a hydraulic press and he's unveiling it this weekend. I don't have a lot of specifics, aside from knowing that he did a lot of additional wiring to 3 phase, had to find some specialized parts and I have no doubt it's bad ass.
He's a journeyman bladesmith and will likely spend most of his time using it for pattern welded (damascus) steel. I can't wait to see it in action, and to see what he does with it. He's having a bit of a BBQ/BYOB- it will be very nice to get out of the house and away from the books for the better part of the day.