tzonoqua

4H is not just boys!! (I was in 4H when I was little!!) Suppose I was a bit of a tom boy, but there were other girls too. Beth 4H is like what Young Farmers is in the UK. I loved it, I lived in the town and always wanted to live in the country, my parents got me into 4H which was awesome!! It got me into horses (appaloosas actually) in a big way, suppose it was cause they first gave me a spotty fresian cow to lead around and i wanted to ride horses but wanted them to be all colourful too!! I loved that cow, whom was called "betty moo" I stopped riding when I moved over here, too expensive here, but am toying with the idea of getting a horse, for me and the kids. Just have to work out how to pay it's up-keep. Can turn it out on the farm here and they've got a pair of stalls for bad weather, they have one horse on the farm, who's retired, so maybe I need to get him a friend for company, cause i think he's lonely just hangin' out with the sheep!!! Anyway, I'm a blacksmith, so I HAVE to have a horse, right!!???? (because we all shoe horses don't we??!!) Anyway, with no story on Jake's set, I have no idea that it is a parody, lol, but I don't care I love it just the same. I do like over-the-top outlandish stuff though, so no surprises there. But I think it's technically brilliant as well.

tried to leave a comment but won't let me unless I sign up for a flicker account!! I hate being bullied into signing up for things. anyway, Jake's set is incredible, such a thing of beauty...

HAHAHAHA!!! No, I have been many things in my former lives, but not in prison!!! The book is not yet published, will be sometime soon I think, it was only about a month ago that the author got all the copy, photos and permissions together. and Big foot, too funny, you're seeing everything as cartoon women!!! Not quite sure if we want to delve further into that !! Oh yeah, Jakes fire set is amazing. love it. here's the tongs i made ... ones on bottom in first pic are ones I made recently, top ones made ages ago... second pic, ones on right are the recent ones... like i said, not very pretty but they're functional.... am making another pair, started them today but ran out of time.

yes, well said Brian!! And BrYan!! exhibition looks amazing, always so many fantastic artists that live in extreme places!! Stay warm!!!! oh, I'm going to be in a book!! Very exciting... called "Queens of Iron" published in Germany, she is going to include photos from my work in Rajasthan... mostly the same stuff on the website though, but nice to know that it will be on paper!! anyway, i will be a "queen of irony" hehe oh yeah, cylindergate I've been calling the incident at the school. completely over the top reaction. This H&S stuff is supposed to be about common sense, but it's turned into a litigation avoiding bureaucratic nightmare. And costing people and the education system an absolute fortune for everyone to have their pieces of paper to say their allowed to use bits of equipment. I can see why it's there but the practicalities of it are not practical!! No, india has it's own way... lol... they believe in karma and life is pretty cheap.. or has been, but it will change, and is changing there as it has here...! anyway, to refer back to a conversation some pages ago- iron neckwear, this is the piece that gave my poor friend bruises after a night out dancing!!! Was forged and spot welded together. There is a reason that iron jewellery isn't the norm!! lol

Thanks so much guys!! I still haven't made a stand for the set, nor a pan for the "shovel" or dustpan, whatever it's called. I made it out of square stock and sometimes I just don't know what to do with it when it's square except twist it!! Some projects take me literally years to finish!! I'm a bit like that though, I have an idea, get excited about it, make some preliminary work, then have another idea, and the first one lays in wait... THe forging tongs are really not so pretty... photo to come tomorrow... the reins got completely bent out of all shape and are still a bit wonky, hopefully they'll still work as well as the clunky heavy ones, Most of my work so far is small and light, and that is one of my pet peeves, is big massive heavy tongs. I have loads of them and I hate them!! What I want is a special rivet tool like you have Beth!! Like a star or a flower...!! Girly tongs!! My Real Job is Mon to Fri, but part time, mornings, mostly til lunch, except Fridays where i'm there for the duration. It's good though, learning new things, especially about woodworking and helping students with their work. Bit of a health and safety nightmare though in the sense that I don't have the "proper" training yet, I'm not allowed to use even a drill without supervision. They had a fit because I changed over the oxygen bottle. Site manager came down shouting at my department head about us all getting exploded. sheesh!!! I mean give me some credit!! Beth, the hook I could see hanging in some really elaborate haveli in Rajasthan!!! Red fort Jaisalmere or the like!!! scrumptious!! The indians are great at making so many markings in steel... I have some pieces I made in rajasthan i'll post ((-pieces are at the workshop- been meaning to mount them so i can put them on my wall at home, but that's another project that is lying in wait!!!)) and they just loved getting the chisel out!!

Thomas, then you need to tell your wife you would like a digital camera for christmas!! :)

Oh, I love it Beth!! It's like a dappled elephant!!! Really, super like!! I didn't take any pics of the tongs today, didn't bring my camera and forgot about the camera on my phone, only just got it and was playing around with a decibel metre!! will post tongs maybe tomorrow if i can get down the shop after the day job!! My big project at the moment is amending my 3m squared market stall frame - I only have an estate car so i have to modify it to fit into the back of that!! I can't find a pic of my other tongs i made ages ago, but these are some silly fire set ones I made a few weeks ago to go with the other handles for a fireset I made ages ago.... honestly, i just got so carried away with the twists... they make me laugh, who will buy them, i don't know.. someone twisted like me....

We are all rooting for Jake out there in the hinterlands!! The pursuit of all things fe goes on.... Beth, zapped by technology!! (that'll teach ya!!) I'm only lucky cause i use gas, so when i get diverted/distracted which is often as I can't seem to do just one thing at a time and also get some visitors popping by, the woodcraft guy who has his workshop at the other end of the barn LOVES to sit and chat away.... I just end up with horribly scaled stuff.... rather than completely burned. Am planning on getting a proper solid fuel forge though... all part of the master plan... need to sell a few more things first though!! Then I will join you in your pursuit of the forge weld... I just give up trying with the gas forge, although I've been told it's possible with my forge I've never managed it... down to my skill or lack thereof, but I think it's probably easier in a traditional forge I made some tongs today, first time in about 2 years!! (I'm so lazy with practical things like that!!) They turned out kind of ok.... I made them quite long as I've got a gas forge and well, I'm tired of burning my hands whenever I take something out of the forge, I've been using a pair of ancient tongs for round stock I inherited from another blacksmith- they are heavy wrought iron, so I thought I should make a pair to replace them, then use the wrought to make something pretty with!! I have a few pairs of pickup and scrolling tongs I've made, but that was so long ago, i have pretty much have forgotten how to do it!! Well, anyway, turned out ok, functional, although not very pretty. My goal is functional AND pretty... watch this space! Am getting geared up to do the local market for the run up to Christmas. Commission work has been non existent so far, so hoping that something will come along. Glad I've got a "day job" right now!! Aha, hallelulia!!! I reduced file size to 40kb and have finally had success uploading a photo... Thanks, Randy!! (giggling at your name!!) my wee patch of dorset, colmers hill, just in sight of my shop. NOt today though, today you wouldn't have seen it for the fog and mist!!

Thanks Glenn, I think it's also because I've just moved in recently there, and haven't yet had time to accumulate so much stuff that it stops that empty room echo!! I think once I put up shelving/racking along the longest wall, it will settle the noise. Hmmm, then I need to acquire more tools, more stuff to absorb the sound... (that's my excuse anyway!!) I already have "chained up" my anvil. Thomas, your shop sounds great! Free stuff is the best!! I'm on the scrounge for some fibreglass too, to let some light in!!

I'm throwing in another vote for Metabo! I especially like the "slimline" version, it's nice and light. Have two of those 100mm ones, one with grinding disc, one flapdisc. Am going to buy another to have a cut off disc on it at some point. I also have a 230mm Dewalt which I bought as it was on sale, but I don't like it! Might just be because it's a beast of a thing, though!!

lol Randy, you don't know how recycled!! My walls were once a cowshed roof and the timber frame were telegraph poles!!! Anyway, I've installed a Decibel Reader on my phone, so we'll see what it reads when I go to the shop tomorrow afternoon!

Yes, Randy, it was fun, and I had really neat UV earplugs!! I dream one day to have an insulated, soundproofed, clean, cosy shop, but until then, mine's all corrugated sheet and timber frame. Can we say "reverberate"????

I always wear earmuffs while working!! I can't stand the noise!! I find it helps me concentrate too, but the downside is that I can never hear when someone comes into the workshop so I get surprised by people popping in and scaring the living daylights out of me!!! I used to work in nightclubs doing decor and lighting work, and I always used to wear earplugs- people used to laugh at me, while they sat or danced next to a 100db speaker. When I first started doing that kind of work I worked one night without earplugs and had tinnitus the next day, I am sure it damaged my hearing permanently. I never ever forgot my earplugs after that, and made sure I carried a spare pair. Just not worth it.

Hi Tom, Last time I ordered 10mm round which was was last April as I've had a lot of time off, I paid around £4.50 ex vat, this was in Scotland where I had literally no choice about where I got it from, so they were a bit pricey, but.. they delivered for free and had great customer service, which in my mind is worth something. I'm in the same boat as now I've moved to Dorset I'm searching for a new stockist. I have phoned the local fabricators and engineering firms here to ask them where they get their steel and they've all suggested the same local company to me, which says something I think so I'll try them. Francis has got it right though, speak to your local guys- my local engineering firm (who also is my BOC dealer) has promised me all the spring steel they get as when I popped in to get some Argoshield welding gas they were doing some work on a lorry and had some big springs they were replacing, so I cheekily asked them for the old ones, and they were happy to oblige as they apparently just skip stuff like that. Would love to see a pic of the dragon head openers!! I need to get busy making stuff for the christmas markets too!!

Yes, Randy, you're insight is spot-on. The essence of an artists/craftsperson is that what we do/make/create is ultimately an expression of ourselves.. a tangible, judge-able, reflection of our skills and vision. So easy to hold it dear and be offended when someone won't pay or does not appreciate the process or the final outcome. And, the effect of procrastination and/or work avoidance serves to protect our fragile egos... If the work is not produced, then no one can say how rubbish it is... What is really rubbish is the procrastination and work avoidance practiced!!! I should really sit and read the books that have been suggested..... too easy to be spoon fed by the computer!! WAiting for the right clients/customers is important... perhaps not waiting, as in doing nothing while waiting... but I know from my time at my previous workshop it took a little time before I was discovered by some really amazing people who wanted me to create things for them and were happy to pay me well. Just have to kiss a lot of toads, snakes, lizards and newts before you find your "prince" , your ideal clients... Beth, I've tried as well to post some pics of where I roam... today as dismal as it gets really, classic fog and drizzly rain... goes through the bones.. but also a moody atmosphere for walking the dogs... Jake, where I am is in Thomas Hardy country, his home patch. It's all managed land here, rolling hills, scraps of woodland, fields, nothing wild and untouched. Ancient pathways... holloways worn so deep while you walk you cannot help but to reflect on the many more that have footfalled the path before...with hedgerows so high filled with ivy, holly, blackthorn, hawthorn and brambles... but i love the English Countryside, despite it's being tamed, there is a charm about it. not been able to go to the forge for the last two days, so tomorrow to go and appease the gods of fire!

Oh... grrr... just in the middle of writing very insightful thoughts and comments... computer decides to crash... so it's all gone, but could have possibly been the gods of technology editing my meandering rants... was just winding up with photos of where I currently roam but alas the gods of technology are telling me that there's an internal server error... computer says no... another time i guess...

Phew... finally caught up with this thread again!! Trouble is by the time I've caught up and read it all, there's so many points I feel like commenting on along the way and by the time I'm here, I forget them all... just about!! Jake your metalwork is so awesome, so phat... I don't really use that word, but it's the only thing I can think of that describes it? Phat Fe!!! or Fat FE... but phat is somehow nicer than Fat... I love that winter setting in feeling, and I miss that here in Southern England, here it all just sort of blends together and there's not the drama and extreme change between seasons. Beth, post some photos of your jewellery!! I have this shell necklace thing that I got in the South Pacific, in Rarontonga.... its the edge of a shell with cut marks in it, would lend itself well to making out of metal actually. I once made a neck piece and gave it to my friend, she loved it, and wore it out to a club one night, and she had bruises on her neck from dancing!! Maybe the non ferrous are a bit better for jewellery eh... I realized after that there is a reason for this lol. Am getting geared up for an open day on the farm where I've just relocated my forge to. will involve a day of doing the boho dance, or shameless self promotion, or whatever you want to call it, am dreading it, but it's one of those necessary steps for survival I think... Anyway, off out to see fireworks... have lots more points to add I'm sure..... all in good time eh!! happy hammering.

Hi Tom, One suggestion for your tool rack- casters!! You may not need them now, but once that tool rack gets laden with all the lovely tools you've made and collected, it's pretty heavy, and can be really very handy to be able to wheel it around. Someone suggested that to me and I put casters on both my tool racks, and it's one of the littlest but best things I've done, especially if you are tight for space. (which I am) so it means you can rearrange easily. Anyway, looks great, such a good feeling to get your own space up and running!

If you need to omit the "shovel", then do so and I won't be offended... :)

Oh yes, and dimensions, 100mm to 120mm by 80mm to 100mm ish?? by 10mm to 20mm deep, that is just off the top of my head. would have to be standard sort of sizes i think for maximum useability, and however they might fit in.

Yes, two would be plenty I think! Only if everyone else agrees that they might be useful, I know some people probably have shovel shapes already in swage blocks, so don't redesign only on the request of myself! I always end up doing quite boring flat topped shovels as I just fold the shapes, but would be nice to have some rounded ones. Much prettier! I can see how what you are suggesting might work, say a smaller spoon depression on the flat of the shovel bit? I wonder if that has been tried before? I suppose if a blow while shaping from the "top" shape were to pick up the impression of it, it could soon be flattened again? I can see that it might pick up the impression of it on the "backside"... I think it might depend on the skill to not bash it in the middle too much!! Might be good to try that first in wood or something before trying that out in a final casting.If it did work well, it would be great, I love things that save space and have more than one use, I think most of us do! Does having shapes in the sides increase the price dramatically? Is that because it complicates the casting process? You could possibly slot the two shovel shapes on two sides? It would be interesting to see what you have designed so far. Oh here I go, now you got me started with my wish list for the "perfect" swage block, which is crazy, because I think for every blacksmith you'll find a different variation of "the perfect" swage block!

I'd be interested if the block had some"shovel" shapes for companion sets? Not sure if the spoons would be so much use to me, but having said that, if I had the tool, it might inspire me! Thanks for the link to that swage block site, I have two blocks, one standard kind, one I have just discovered as being the "carron" shipyard swage block and had no idea what it was, was told it was a wheelrights block when I bought it in Scotland. Nice to know.

Looks good! What did you use for the tuyere?

Looks like I missed a really good weekend. I LOVE love love the heart rivet tool... (WANT ONE!!!)

Wow, it's very beautiful. I would have loved to contribute but didn't have anywhere to work from at the time. There is a lot of love in there!