Tape on the Blade

Quiet Echo: “Tape on the Blade” Host: Lars Olson | Cedar Valley News | November 11, 2026 On Veterans Day, Lars Olson starts with a customer who doubted a tape-wrapped hacksaw blade until it did the job. Then he turns to Ron Hartman, a former Army paratrooper, welder, and blacksmith living at the Pennsylvania Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home in Erie. Residents there may not use chemicals or power tools, and Hartman restored a Civil War-era cannon anyway: vinegar, salt, and flour for the barrel, and a taped hacksaw blade and sandpaper for the wood. Lars explains why the old tricks work, adds a word of caution for anyone tempted to try the paste on a museum piece, and reflects on what veterans keep as well as what they give. Write to us. Who taught you to do a hard job with nothing but what was in the drawer? Send a letter to our Letters to the Editor page: https://bit.ly/40p8jKy Get Cedar Valley News free, every morning. Sign up here: https://publicationconsultants.aweb.page/daily-cedar-valley-news Sources. John Last, “The Last Word: Veteran Restores Civil War Cannon,” Erie News Now, November 9, 2026. https://www.erienewsnow.com/featured/the-last-word/the-last-word-veteran-restores-civil-war-cannon/article_e373587c-5e66-4e93-a553-acaf39c86ba2.html Cedar Valley News is fiction. Its columnists and townspeople are invented, including Lars Olson, though the public facts it cites are real and sourced. Written by Evan Swensen, Publisher, with Claude Marshall, AI Developmental Editor. A reflection, not a report.