Archie Zietman

both.

I have just watched the film "American Beauty" and it is the most amazing film I have ever seen. I don't know how to describe it, but it is one of those things in life which is so amazing so awe inspiring so everything that it just surges you with life like an electric socket, until you are shivering from the sheer energy and exhilaration of it, and it stays with you afterwards. If everyone in the world had to watch one film, this would be it. Archie

The second one is beautiful! It is much nicer looking than many of the spike knives I've seen on the net. Keep it up, and make MORE! :D

castle7, welcome! I agree with jwb about safety. read the thread entitled "have to lay off the forge for a few days". there's good info on safety therein. the stuff you have right now as far as I can see (I'm no expert, mind, repeat: not and expert atoll) you could build yourself a simple coal/charcoal 55 forge (see blueprints) and then use the railroad track as a simple pounding surface (clamp it down to soemthing heavy and stable!) you'd be all set for a basic blacksmithing setup. don't start with a sword. starting off with blacksmithing in general gives you more freedom and doesn't limit you to just sharp pointy things (when people hear that you specifically use fire and anvil to make sharp pointy things, whether to chop vegetables, or poke holes in paper or the simplest must non-violent functional things they may still run away, say you blacksmith especially when your teachers ask you what stuff you do in your spare time) be safe, have fun, merry metal pounding! Archie Zietman

thanks!

are there substitutes to firclay which work as well?

my neighbor learned it by aprenticing with a dessert chef in a nearby town. She's now doing it for a massive chain pastry place, and going to asia for a few weeks to look at their art for inspiration. She invited me to come over to her plce and do a little bit of it today, so I did. She then showed me pictures of some of the "work of the masters" over in Vegas, where they do 5 foot tall swans with hand pressed wings etc. and it's quite inspiring!

Hello. This is my first complete sculpture in cast, blown and pulled sugar. It is not edible, but it is lickable like a lollipop! I am sooo making more of this! the stuff professional sculptors do with it is amazing! http://www.yourimg.com/page/0520363/penguinsmall.jpg http://www.yourimg.com/page/0521363/penguinchild.jpg

Merry Christmas All!! :D

When I'm in the shop (The outdoors) I can work for hours and not feel a thing.. I spent a few hours in a T-shirt last tuesday, and only after going inside did I realize that it was probably cold outside. This also applies to my hands. My mum forced me to go to a nail place and get a manicure, and my hands feel a lot better now, but I am getting caloused backs of my hands now. I put on tons of some funny moisture paste a few hours after being burned, and that combined with not forging for a few days has made the healing go shockingly quickly. My hands were burning right up through yesterday but now they're a ton better.

That's a great poem! "merry christmas all" is exactly the right ending!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Joyous Quanza, Sweet Solstice, and Good Isaac Newton Day to all! :lol:

I am making a better air blocking valve, though my current one makes a big difference, and I have always worn gloves at the forge. I am now going to take a few days to re-evaluate the safety of my setup, so that it might not happen again. I'll be back! :)

Hello. today I just finished my first knife, and know exactly what I'm doing on my second one of the same style. The drawback is that when I got in, my brother was having a get together with his class, who quickly pointed out to me that my hands were bright red, the skin burned through on a few fingers, old burn scars having a little historical reenactmnent and the skin of my knuckles inflamed and splitting open in more that twenty places. I had not noticed this before. now I will have to lay off the forge for a few days, and smear funny pastes on them (my dad is a doctor, not a craftsman so doesn't believe in work hardening one's own flesh) but at least my first knife is done, and I know exactly how to make my second one much better. :D

as mad eye moody said, and Thomas just pointed out "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!!!!!!"

two halves of my biggest clinker (it broke in two while I was gouging it out) http://www.yourimg.com/page/0519355/Picture031.jpg I am completely redoing the liner, so that it will not gum into the charcoal.

you have a great christmas too! pound a lot of hot metal, and have fun! :D

None of those gloves are on my hands, alas! I took the picture yesterday when a few friends came over, and I showed them how to light the fire, where to stick the steel in the pot, and how to pound metal. They went home satisfied, and with big pitted pointy nails, which I had let them pound on. The reason they were ALL in gloves was because I was nervous that one of them would smash themselves with a hammer, or pick up the steel by the hot end or something crazy, so I made them all wear gloves and glasses (I only do glasses and ears).

here it is after a fair bit of tinkering and tweaking. http://www.yourimg.com/page/0519354/Picture015.jpg

black metal is often still hot metal.

I didn't get any pictures of the pot before I fired up, but I took a few pictures of it running: To start it I balled up some newspaper pages (one ball in front of each tuyere) and then poured in charcoal around them. Then I lit them and let the blower rip! I didn't have to bother with 5 minutes of puffing a little pool toy, in 10 seconds all the coals were hot. I got a bit nervous when the clouds of sparks come out at the beginning, so I stuck the metal pan over the top to keep them from flying everywhere. The wonderful thing is, all I had to do was plug it in and unplug it a few times (to let the coals settle down, and not go flying) no busywork, only plug, unplug and pound hot metal, welding heat in 2 minutes! 8) Edit: insert the BBCode and the images will work in the forum.

Hello. Here is my forge and it's blower. I call it my little red forge because it is on the red cart. I might paint it all red soon. One wall still needs to be built up a bit, but apart from that it is done, and works beautifully.

that is sweet! how big was the wrench? could one do it with a high chrome wrench?

no, I didn't smite it, it smote itself! The perlite/soil/wood ash mix is just drying right now, I put some firebricks in strategic places so that the heat and air gets reflected back onto the work and soforth. When it's dry (this evening) I'll hook up the massive blower, and see how the whole ensemble runs. :mrgreen:

I'm also using the perlite, and, looking at it, it seems to be more lik 2:1 perlite to soil. I used dirt from my garden for my first forge, and it worked fine, I just had to patch it up with a bit of water every once in a while. This ability to move the firepot and it's size is what I am looking for, because I am going to do a variety of differently sized projects. My first trial of a forge with this lining went very well, there was no real problem with mixing, except when it slipped on some ice and smote it's ruin upon the ground and tipped everything out onto the ground, which was somewhat frustrating. :(