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Upcoming series seen advertised on TV, first episode, Monday 14th April at 9pm on More4. 

 

Don Barker taking some more students through their paces, a similar previous programme can be seen here

 

 

Hope it doesn't get over edited !!!

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Good job in the programme Joel, looks like you got a great confidence boost, and a distinctive style. Liked your candlestick and your struggle with collaring,

 

Not so sure about the collaring situation on your bench, did you do anything to stop it moving up or down?  It seemed not to fit a solid bundle, or was it just not clear or shown on the footage?

 

Some things that did come over from comments made by presenter and end clients were they were not bothered about the skills incorporated, or amount of work and effort put in, or elements used that were clearly a safety issue, it was all down to commercial appeal.

 

At least Don Barker the mentor mentioned the quality/sellability of the workpieces, and emphasised it more on the work being done in his workshop.

 

I was also somewhat alarmed by little or no mention on air of the dangerous position of the leaf ends on one of the benches they looked like they could be lethal and easily tear anyone's loose clothing when using it.

 

Which raises a question we should be aware of, specifically, who would be responsible for any damage sustained when using the bench?

As the maker /designer that responsibility would rest on your shoulders. 

 

Will be interesting to see what response you get from appearing in it. I hope you do well from it.

 

How about posting your thoughts on how it went?

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John, the liability for any injuries / damage caused by the leaves and other projections would lie with whoever sold the bench to the end-user, in this case the retailing garden centre. They could try and join the maker in on any action, but as commercial people with full use of their senses they wouldn't have much luck.

 

If the item had been something to which reg's apply, e.g. safety railings, and the distance beween said railings was more than that permitted, the retailer would have some recourse but, again, they are commercial people and even if the contract twixt them and the smith was unambiguous, they could at best only pass on a share of liability. The question asked would be ' why didn't you check that the railings were safe before accepting them?' Ignorance of reg's / law doesn't wash.

 

For a working smith it all boils down to what is 'reasonable' and what are 'industry norm's'. Common sense and the law coincide to say don't make articles that hold unnecessary dangers; not always easy when one is dealing with lumps of hard, strong and heavy metal...

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Thanks for that Giles, maybe it's me, I always think it best to err on the side of safety, that particular bench with its upward facing leafs and sharp ends did not look child/clothes friendly to say the least.

 

Someone asked what criteria is there for allowing items to be displayed/sold at the upcoming International Blacksmiths Festival, do they have to be a certain standard and who is going to judge or set that standard..

 

My response to that is the only standard/requirement is that they must be safe to use/display.

 

The ultimate judge is the person who will pay money for the item, until then it is just scrap value, may be pretty, and have a lot of work put in, but until money changes hands it is just what the scrap value of the materials being used currently is.

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Cheers John, yep it was a great experience for me. Wish I could do it again now as I've improved massively in attitude and technique since then, and that's largely due to the experience.

 

The collars on the bench are tight, I can't remember exactly but I think I let them shrink tight in place. I might have undersized them a fraction too.

 

It's a TV show and will always put the human interest aspect ahead of technical info. 99% gets cut, even huge sections which you think are bound to be used, so the little techno-speak that gets left in is kinda a miracle. The candle spikes on my candleabra were riveted underneath the drip trays and my bench was mainly held together by keyed mortise and tenons - none of that geeky stuff gets a look in. It would have been nice to see more of Sally's scroll variations and some of the cool features on Darren's candleabra.

 

The thing I really hoped would come through was the variation blacksmithing could produce. It was fantastic working alongside Sally and Darren, we got on brilliantly, laughed our ..... off and really enjoyed seeing eachothers methods/ways of thinking. I hope people enjoyed the show for what it's worth.

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Well this is interesting. I was originally going to be in the running to be on this programme, but couldn't commit to it in the end due to going to Tanzania to climb Kilimanjaro for charity and then taking on a new job.

 

Strangely I found Joel on Facebook and never knew he was on here, or on that programme.

Will have to get round to wathing this at some point.

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Hi Joel, I watched this today on 4od while doing some admin. I really enjoyed it and thought your work was really well done and original!! Even if you did struggle with the collaring of your candle holder, it was a lovely piece! I loved the bench design, but wasn't what they were looking for. Sadly there wasn't the emphasis on the techniques involved, but as John B says, most people buying work are not that focused on that element.  I don't think it really relayed the time and commitment that it takes to learn these skills!!   I didn't really like the competitive element but I suppose that is television for you!

Anyway, well done and hope this brings some success for you! :)

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Cheers Colleen. The contract for the show was quite full and I'm wary of giving away too much incase they send some Sicilians around to practice their golf swings on my knees but the candleabra section was heavily cut down and as a result there didn't seem to be any close up shots of them. I loved some of the features on Darren's and it would have been nice to see more of it.

 

Going back to John's question about how it went - we all were thrown by being taken out of our comfortable workshops and thrown into a new environment and I certainly struggled at first. I'd never worked infront of anyone else before (bar my girlfriend and my parents) so to be suddenly thrown into an unfamiliar space going from using a hand cranked forge to a full on electric one, to be surrounded by crew - who are not used to being around hot metal and power tools, working alongside Sally who is a machine and is 110% on the ball, sharing tools, working infront of a master blacksmith, giving mini interviews where you've got to give succinct answers without looking at the camera when it's 12 inches from your face...well...

 

Being away from home was hard at times too, Darren and Sally both have families, and I have Chronic Fatigue Sydrome so there were times when being on a cold and wet farm in Shropshire for a month was a little wearing.

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The wife and I both watched it on demand and we both enjoyed it and my wife has no interest black smithing at all so you could say that the editing was a great success to keep the ordinary tv audience intrested,
we both liked your work joel the best throughout the show as we have a modern taste in design.

Now I can't wait to get on my introduction to black smithing course in may!

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