Just got back from the latest artifact show at Fredericksburg. Really had a good time, though the wife drug me out before I was ready. She figured two hours was enough. Didn't get any pic's, but Hal and Pat had their camera's warmed up. Enjo*** visiting with Mike,Hal, Pat,Roland, and a bunch of other new friends, and finally met up with Will. Picked up enough frames to put all my TJ finds in, but will have to go back in Jan. for more because I'm gonna fill these up.
Got more digs and screen dig trips lined up too, once the weather warms up and dries out. Gotta wait now for Hal and Pat to post their pictures. Add some color to this post.

Disaster ! Some program problem I cant deal with right now, cant even down load pics off
the camera.

Great show in many respects

It was great to see you, Trish, and Hal at the show. There was alot of good flint there. Richard's comment was that there were only about 1/2 of the numbers anti****ted for the show, and spending was overall conservative to tight due to economic concerns. I did well enough, and it was still a GOOD show.

Great show, just wanted to say again how nice it was to meet Hal ,Pat, Tehuacana, Betty, and Nacho. Enjo*** visiting with all! Got to visit with TJ also ,didn't know he would be there.Dig on friends!

Will, if you get the chance to talk to Beverly, see if she would be up for a clean up for her site. Melvin went out and bought a bobcat and trailer. Man, that guy has the bug bad. If I ain't careful, my digging buddy will end up giving TJ and Nacho some serious competition.

Mevin may not be the only one to do that. I own my skidloader, and am buiding a screen table presently. Guess it might be the new mode for us die-hard diggers!

Good deal Mike. Just need to find new sites to dig.

I'm not overly impressed , , , , until I hear of motorised screens to go with the new
loaders. ! It's an interesting, very beneficial tool.Certainly not the Bill Arnold MARK VII but a
more basic MARK II variety that still might need a human hand on it once in a while.

Mel, I'll be especially interested to see your screen. . . perfect oppurtunity to incorporate
all those "available" options you devised months ago.
Bolt on adjustable chairs. Sun umbrellas. With the right sized shaker motor, a generator to run a small screen TV and a small fridge.

Well Hal, all that is included in the Melvin 2,010 super screen. Not just bolt on chairs, but adjustable, different heights for women and kids. Variable speed shaker motor, portable conveyor belt underneath to remove throw dirt. And he remembered Michelle's comment about rocks landing on her feet, so he is installing removable foot/shin gaurds. And, he's not through with the design yet. Whole thing weighs in at about 180#. It's 4' x 8' with leafs that can be added later. He had to downsize the refrigerator so it would fit. Think the new one is a measly 18 cubic foot one. Does have an icemaker included. Great for keeping the scotch and water cold.

All these motoriZZZZed screen tables are just fine when there is way more soil than rock in the matrix you are trying to sift, but when the opposite is true, you take a much greater chance of breaking, chipping, and damaging points with a vibrating table. I have seen it happen. I don't mind at all rolling rocks off a table and pushing soil through the screen, as the loader has already done the hard part just getting the material up on the table vs. hand digging. The motorized tables I have seen are all much more expensive to build, and the weights have to be balanced just right to get the proper vibration so that you won't have to use a butterfly net to catch the points that bounce off the table. Even then, these motorized tables can get knocked out of kilter pretty easily if they get bumped too hard by the loader. I'll be doing just fine with a beefy but plain Jane table. I like to work for the points, but getting older, I like less strain on the ole back too!

TJ had one out at Campwood, motor didn't last half a day. Nobody wanted to use it just as a regular screen after that. Motor was in the way.
We had better luck with the old manual table. I like the bigger screen. Melvin thought the smaller size was better to catch the birds, but I found more bird points on the bigger screen. Guess it's cause we could move more dirt.

I put 20 coats of the same paint you put on pick up beds
on each screen. I have a 1/2" and a 5/8" round steel screen.
I can also adjust the speed with the motor. I have seen one broken
point but with all the fire rock, it could have broken when I dumped the load.
Besides cutting down on breakage, the pick up bed paint cuts way
down on the noise. I like the grey color because you can see better.
Thanks
Bill Arnold

So what happened to the pictures of the show Hal?Forgot to format the new camera card or what?Just curious...

I'M LIVING IN LIMBO
My PC says " OUT OF MEMORY " [ there's ONLY just under 5000 digital pics on it ] I shoulda
got the larger 20 inch screen !
I cannot even get the pics off the camera.....Just when I got a jackpot of interesting pics
that include : : : :

A. Fred show [ w Te & Flicker in the foreground ], Mike directing traffic.

B. for Eric's " MY REPO FRAME ". . .I bought FOUR modern knapped points all out of exotic materials.
Same topic. . . I got the name & pics of a professional knapper that works EXCLUSIVELY with the wildest minerals he can lay hands on.

C. The AusDgrs " Halloween dig party " [ V spooky ! ]

D. Pics [ and comments ] on the Seguin / McKee open house at their site.

E. As promised . . . for G-man. . .A sunburned white PAISANO on a chocolate ice cream cone !

I have no idea when I'll be back in the picture business....Have to check with Badger how her 2009
schedule is looking. . . .

SURELY by the end of the year

F.. . One special pic for Catdancing on what might be a good place to look for to dig.

I'd like to see those repo. points Hal. Saw a bunch at the show. Some were better then the real ones.
I think I got flint overload. Was sure wanting to stop on the Perdenales bridge and look around a little, but the boss said no. Too much German food.

G. .Pics of one of the most incredible digfest day find. I was the 5th person priviledged to see it. Dwain R #6

and what find was that?

One picture is worth a thousand words. . .If I just blurt out the find now, nobody will bother to look when
it is properly posted.

It's worth the wait

H. . Double based Uvalde from Todd Chism's collection.
[ no holes ]

My flint show began in the parking lot. Some high rollers having a trunk lid party !



Found at Nachos just two days before



Full house



Flicker, Tehaucana, Will T and Mike directing traffic.



Flint Eastwood. ..Those spots are real flint flakes glued on the shirt



John of wounded knee corner tang fame !



Hershel & Yvette of Wichita Trading Co. handing over some repro treasures



Double based Williams [ without holes ] in acase of fellow rarities

That was a good show Hal. Glad you got your picture posting back in action. Are you going to give the old camera a decent burial? It's seen lots of action.