tzonoqua

I have been of the view for a while that I just didn't have the time to make tongs, I would rather spend my time/energy working on either my art or commission work. So I have bought tongs along the way and often been disappointed with the performance of them, which usually means discovering that they are far too heavy to be useable for me. I have made a couple pairs of simple tongs in the past, but since then never really challenged myself. After reading this thread last week, and all of the arguments for and against, I decided to "put my money where my mouth was" so to speak. I decided to make a set of tongs to hold the flat discs that I make flowers from (I make an awful lot of flowers) with long reins to avoid the dragons breath. You know what, It only took me about 30 mins, and I was fairly satisfied with the result. Next time I would alter them a wee bit, but it just goes to show that sometimes we get stuck in a way of thinking... but this is why I love this site. -Colleen

Very impressive, looks like a lot of attention to detail in those flowers! What have you used to finish the steel to keep it from rusting? (or is it stainless?) -Colleen

Thanks for the comments! I spent quite a while composing step by step instructions, and then managed to lose it somehow- (i think instead of hitting post reply I must have clicked on preview and then closed the page, and thus lost it all!!) so Ill write it out again- but the kids are home from school now so it'll have to wait until I have spare moment!! Colleen

Hello All, It's been a while since I posted, moved house and had a long delay in getting broadband sorted at my new place. Here are some pics of work I've been doing- The gates I finished months ago but never posted a finished pic. Boxing Hares and Ear of Wheat went into a local exhibition, the Red Squirrel was supposed to join them, but is now living happily in my garden!

I made the mistake a few weeks ago of buying cheap files, I should have spent the extra money- but my favoured brand - Vallorbe (superior Swiss made files) was not on special and the other ones were. I bought the other ones, and now regret it. I think the term is "False Economy"

"Measure twice, cut once" -- not sure where it came from, but my Dad always said it and it has stuck. -Colleen

Wow Adrian!! Those are great- both completely jumping out at you and yet still fitting in with the surrounding greenery! Did you paint them yourself, what kind of paint did you use? Look forward to seeing the next set! Colleen

I am in a similar situation- I work from "The Old Smiddy" which has been that for many many years, and before it was "old" it was just "The Smiddy", and who am I to come along and rename it? (Smiddy being the Scots equivalent to Smithy, in case any of you thought I had misspelled it!) Rather than call it boring I call it "being respectful of tradition" I did however toy with the idea of naming the Gallery as a separate entity, but reached the conclusion it wasn't neccessary and would only confuse people. I do however use my own name when referring to my work- in publicity and on business cards - As in myself Colleen du Pon working from the Old Smiddy.

Hello Hollis, Not sure if this will help or not, but does your internet service provider give you free webspace? I know most do here in the UK, but I am not sure about over the pond. I use my free webspace (50mb) and as I use an apple computer I made my website using iWeb, which is simple to use- drag and drop. I just ftp it to my webspace and point my domain to that page with web forwarding. I think I pay around

It's brilliant Adrian! Totally unique. Must have been a lot of fun to design and make. - Colleen

hey, John B. Would love to take part in something like this but where I am (in the UK) doesn't come close !

Larry, Looks like you are free to make your mark on the neighbourhood! Who knows, neighbours might get jealous and commission you to make some metalwork for them too. I know a guy who made a rail for one house, and then a year later had done something for almost every house on the same street! I second what Valentin said, repetitive forms can be easier with the help of jigs. Trying to get unique assymetrical designs to fit is often time consuming and very frustrating! -Colleen

Hi Larry, I always find a good place to start is to have a look around your immediate area to find any relevant local examples of metalwork- period etc? Is there any existing metalwork that you could expand upon? Is there something in the locale, a motif that you could use? Does your house have a name? Is there predominant architectural feature you could use somehow (arches, etc)? All of these things, and more, the list is endless that you could think about during the design process. Then you can have these in mind whilst researching different gate designs so you can maybe take elements from some that tie into a theme, for lack of a better word. Hope this helps.

metalmangeler- apparently one of the 'sins' (not charging enough) that I am often guilty of too!! Definitely with these gates I underpriced myself, oh well, live and learn. Animal print tooling sound very interesting!!

I've got one of those big old shoes out in the workshop- it was given to me by my local farrier who donates his shoes to me (well, not HIS shoes, but the ones he pulls off horses:)) It was completely covered in rust- apparently had been sitting in someone's barn for years. I put it in some preparatory rust remover to clean it up and forgot about it for a few days. (Very silly of me.) I will take a pic tomorrow, its definitely made of wrought iron as the grain has been etched - wow what a texture! It is a shame that these heavy breeds are in decline, such beautiful things. My grandfather, a Friesian Farmer, used to make miniature replica wagons similar to the one pictured earlier. We used to play with it when we were kids, hitch the "team'' of china horses to it and get into BIG trouble from my grandma!! -Colleen

Hello, Thought I'd post a pic of the gates, nearly finished now!! Just another leaf to forge, drop bars, latch and a couple of mice to sit amongst the grain. And also been filling orders for local shops/galleries for flowers and some flower and leaf candlesticks. -Colleen