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Phil, I'm guessing we've got about 200-400 files in total in the box, cupboard and drawers.. I can't imagine wrapping each one individually and securing with a rubber band... I might be doing this for the next few weeks!! :wacko:

Yeah, Randy I did think about taking a chisel or some punches to that bracelet, might still do that, with his permission of course! Still haven't polished the thing, will take it into work tomorrow perhaps. Jeff, I've never heard of a persimmon tree!! Your house sounds lovely, but I do love the smell of woodsmoke!! My workshop has only just become watertight, I dream of insulation, but it's got a tin roof, so it would be a major job to make it cosy and warm!! It's on the list of "to-do's" one day!!

They're good Beth, like has been said above, nature doesn't seem to be too consistent, I'd just keep going with it, go with each variant, smaller to bigger scrolls, then see what looks best. Or maybe pair up some small ones with bigger ones. have a whole variety. Be good fun squishing all that metal anyway!!!

I was looking for some info related to this thread, so I decided to resurrect it rather than starting a new one. At the secondary school where I work we have a large box, a drawer and a cupboard full of files that I am just beginning to sort through. Some are new, some are old, I have begun to card them and chalk them, separating the really worn from the still useable. I have to find a way in the space we have to store these files, so that they aren't stored as they are, all just thrown in together, I have been thinking of ways to rack them, or store them in rolls of felt, or other material, anything has to be better than how they are kept now. We have so many that I am not sure that rolling them up is an option, would be one really big roll!!! Was possibly thinking of just layering them in between material or oiled paper. It would be great if anyone can tell me how they store their files, or any great solutions to a mass file storage problem!! We have tool cupboards in each of the DT classrooms where a set number of files are kept, (a selection of grades and shapes) and they slot into wooden cut-outs in the doors of the cupboards. This storage is ideal, but there isn't room for it in my "office" (the technician's workshop) Also, there are some that are clearly past their best, rows of teeth missing, etc. Will files make good punches etc? Can I re-work them, and what would be the best approach? I've heard of making old files into knives, but that's not really appropriate here!! What are old files best recycled into? I have read that files can be made from air hardening steel, is it really just hit and miss with the kind of steel I am dealing with, should I just attempt to rework them and see what happens? Or would I be best to just consign them to the scrap pile and weigh them in? Incidentally, we have a large number of dull bandsaw blades, for wood and metal. Good for anything or just weigh them in? Any input appreciated.

Ian, I think it's beautiful. There are Art shows, and there are Art shows, sometimes you just never know which one you've landed in until it's too late! I've been to lots of good ones and a few bad ones, and you soon learn to spot the ones to avoid and the ones where your work fits. Good luck with it.

great stuff myloh, a standard to aspire to!

ptree, Jeff? thanks for the tip, i had a look at your etsy site, i love the veg herb chopper. And I share your appreciation for the more rough and ready finishes, one of the reasons i no longer do much silverwork is it seems so fiddly compared to steelwork, i am less precise and more likely to make things on a grand scale with steel, and the fire... ! blackersmith, thanks that is a very good tip as well! I will look out of one of these cloths.

Thanks ptree, I still haven't polished it properly, I usually just wear things and they sort of polish themselves with the wear, which is what i've told him to do, but he hasn't been wearing it, which is annoying me. This minute I've just asked him why he hasn't been wearing it, and his answer is that "because it's not polished" arrgh!! lol I'll avoid the polishing wheel, I remember at art college we had some pretty crazy moments with the buffers!!

Those are lovely!! Simple but complex, amazing!!

wow, I thought, this should be different, was thinking i was going to see a candle bra... (rather than a candelabra....) :) Interesting design, I would have made it with three legs so it could stand on its own.

Looks great Sam, nice shape to it, what's for dinner? I lived in a place for a while that only had an electric cooker, and it drove me nuts, I love a good stir fry, just not the same without a flame!!! And I also I agree with Woody, that dog looks hungry!!

Can't wait to see this vid giles!!! With regards to the foundry, it's always worth waiting for the niggles to be smoothed out.

I've got a bench mounted wire wheel/grindstone - it was really cheap and is very low powered-- so much so that if anything gets caught the wheels just stop. At first I thought, what a great safety feature, but it's not really, it's just pathetically low powered, but that works for me!! I am sure the motor will burn out quicker this way, but I prefer my little underpowered thing to those super duper hand snatching ones. Even so, I still often use tongs to hold the work and I use a full face sheid while using it too. Thomas, I hope your hand heals quick!

You don't have to be VAT registered unless you are turning over about 67K. Your expenses are declarable anyway, I doubt you'll be turning over that amount any time soon after first starting up doing blacksmithing alone, if you are can I come work for you! All the info you're looking for is under http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/selfemployed/ you need to be careful about the tax issue, as Greenbeast says, depending on what tax bracket you are in, you say you work full time - you'll need to declare your primary taxable income, whether that is your self employment or your job as I assume you are on PAYE, as you get your 7400 or so allowable, then after that 20% tax, then depending on what your income is it may bring you into the higher tax rates. I am not a tax adviser, I just have been self employed for a while, so always best just to phone up hmrc and ask them yourself. You may well want to get an accountant if you are earning well already as they are quite clever at arranging numbers to best benefit you. if you want domain hosting etc, I have a good contact who has his own server and fair prices, pm me. I do my own website and have him host it.

or you could try Briwax, (floor wax/furniture/wood wax) Giles. Not for eating off, (although I suppose the saying goes some people have floors you can eat off... but definitely not mine!! :) ) gives a pretty good finish when brushed with a natural bristle brush on hot metal, not so hot it smokes, but just under that heat, so it melts on and spreads easily and gets into all the nooks and crannys if there are any. Won't stand up for a long time for outdoors, but good as an indoor finish for candlestands etc. I ran out once and just used a candle like John B has suggested, and that worked fine too, but have to be careful not to leave "drips" that solidify. And like John B I also like the beeswax paste mixes you can get, easier to apply with a brush.

Denise, I love it, it's so unique!!! I just wish the pics were a bit bigger so I could see it better. I have a gas forge too, but it's a metal artist one from diamondbacks, with open ends and a side that hinges open, so it's great for odd stuff, but sometimes it's still a challenge to make things in sequence so they can fit and be assembled without having to get the oxy/propane fired up!! I'm planning to get a solid fuel forge going at some point, probably in the easter break or summer holidays when I have more time. I can see how you might want to put some more texture on the head, but I think it's nice as it is too, kind of primitive, and I like that!! I often soak my work in vinegar overnight, then give it a bit of a wire brush and wax finish, comes out pretty good! Welcome to IFI !! Hope to see more of your work!!

Thanks to Richard Thibeau for pointing this one out, BP0559 Wire Coil Spiral Cage I'm not sure how to get the link to it!! It's not exactly the same as what I was trying to describe but pretty similar, except I leave ends on mine to continue. I will try to do one and get some pics, but won't be til Sunday at least as that's the next time I'll be in the workshop.

i used to make lots of candlestands with that as the central upright.. what I would do is take a long bit of round stock, taper the end then make a right angle about 50mm down, take a long heat, then put the taper end in a vice to where you bent it, and start to wrap the length around it, wrap it around a few times. Next, then take a heat to the other end, the same length that you wrapped already, near the end put a right angle in, and then do the same to this end, put the end in the vice so the corner is just proud and wrap the length, coil it around it until you run out of metal, you should then have two coils meeting each other. Put this all back in the fire, so it's all heated evenly, then again put one end in the vice, and gently pull out the other, sometimes need some scrolling tongs to get the spacing evenly so it comes out as a coiled spiral ball.... Oh, I see John B has just replied and this is not quite what you were looking for!!!! doh!! Anyway, will do this and take some pics if you haven't done it cause it's quite a nice little element!!

We love a multi-use tool accessory!!!

Tim, that is a sweet little smithy!! And I agree with Glenn, you need to turn that horse shoe round so that the luck pours out all over that little shop!!!

I particularly like the term given to female blacksmiths in history, it's what my other half calls me, the "Blacksmithstress" I nearly used it as my log in name but written it looks like "blacksmith stress" which is not quite as catchy as what it's meant to imply-- "blacksmith mistress"

Stewart, I think dealing with good folk of the NOW would be a walk in the park compared to dealing with a bunch of perturbed female blacksmiths!!! :o

Oh Randy.... I'm shaking my head in shame!!! I can't really believe you've come out on a public forum and admitted you watch American Idol!!! hehe... I can get so totally engrossed in forge work... the whole world disappears, time stands still, it's my happy place ( even if sometimes I'm cursing and pulling my hair out in frustration because whatever I'm doing isn't going quite right..) Anyway, I'm glad I finally discovered blacksmithing at the tender age of 28... I got off the bozo bus at the Blacksmith's Bus stop, and been happily hammering away ever since... I only wish I would have found my stop sooner!!

oh good grief, really??!!! I think they should be named (and shamed!!) I challenge that person to come forward and express their views to me directly!!! I'm surprised that someone really believes that you have to have a penis to be able to swing a hammer!!!!! :P Go and ask my customers whether they think I'm a blacksmith or not. To me those are the people that I care whether they believe I can deliver the work they want. And guess what, they pay me well for what I do, so go on, call me a blacksmith!! :P

Giles, the pillar drill table was only about 30-50mm in places, with "struts" of thicker material, (if you know what I mean), and obviously not meant to be dropped from over a metre in height... I am sure the block will be fine!!! (Anyway, I don't have a power hammer to put it under, and I'm not one for picking up a 3 kilo sledge!!! :P ) My friend is not a blacksmith, although is a very skilled and competent metalworker, (among other things). He is atm restoring an old bedford lorry, and has a fleet of hgv's, mostly vintage but of all sorts!! He lives near marsworth. I lived in a narrowboat on the canal along there for a while, there is a forge just at Bulbourne, I think it's an old British Waterways yard, but I could be mistaken, was about 7 yrs ago, but I wasn't smithing at the time as I was pretty pregnant!!!