tzonoqua

just tell the customer that your bowls are a good source of iron? 

:P 

Love it JK!! Those are some pretty beefy bars and scrolls!!! Think it works well with the cedar beams!! Forged and Fabricated.. all good!! :)

Well, say hello next time, then!!! Were you at the forge in the corner?

Canadian accent Tom!!! :)

don't recall over hearing any renditions of "Never gonna give you up".... :)

me, in jeans and black hoody...  had to leave about 5.30 to pick up my daughter so didn't stay late for the entertainment. :(

Jeeze, Tom, I don't know how I missed you there!!! I finally managed to meet Dave, was great to put a face to a name!!!

There did seem to be quite a good turnout, and lots of youth there as well!

Had a good day apart from my car breaking down on the way home!!!

we won't get there til about 10.30 I should think, look forward to seeing ya there!!

Yay, will be able to come to this again this year! See you tomorrow!! :)

What dave said, silver solder. Depending on how big the bowl is,  you either have to do them all at once, somehow cleverly bound in place using some binding wire but not bound too tight to the bowl that the wire will bend the bowl when it gets hot, or three stages of solder. Or rivet.

wonderful work!! great attention to detail, surface finish and they look so tactile!! yum!!!

The people with money are not affected by the "slump", not much anyway, it's all relative.  

Pokers and fire sets not relevant? I'm selling more of these than I have in the 6 years I've been making a living doing this. Why? People are spending big money on having new woodburners put into their houses- and they want a nice set to go with it. 

You just have to find your market. This can take a lot of work marketing. Finding a good niche helps (I'm still searching for my niche!!) Has taken me all the time I've been doing this to come up with a product line that sells, trial and error, pretty much everything sells in the end, but you know it's a winner when it sells straight away. 

I think in reality the money is generally not in the little items, it's in the big stuff. 

:)

gorgeous, how long did the first bunch take you? And the branch? Love the detail in them.

Love it JK, great work as always!!

Man, the work in post number 4 is masterful. Anyone know anything about the maker? Just a great forging, and the wire works so well with the tail attachment, and the photo is spot on.

Good work all around.

The maker of those birds is Amit Har-Lev an Israeli Blackmith. His work is sublime.

This is the second time this week I've seen work reposted and people not knowing where it originated. Must remember to watermark our photos when we post stuff, because once we post it on the web it's kind of off on a journey and you never know where it might end up!!!

Sounds like you are well on your way, Renee!! Welcome! Love to see what kind of work you produce!! 

Looks great Beth!! Noone knows your 'mistakes' we are our own worst critics!!

I would double all of your prices. Most are small amounts, anyway, under £20 which is small change to most people. Those people you describe are not your customers, they can and will go shop for the cheapest item in B&Q or equivalent, let them, you can't compete with mass produced imported goods, so don't try to. If you're selling at a farmers market, farm produce will be sold at a premium.  Add in a unique blacksmith made item and they will feel good about "buying local"' handmade" etc. Of course you can do what you like and charge what you like, completely up to you, but better to start higher than lower, leaves some room to haggle as people increasingly do this as well.

oh yeah, bags for the screws! I misunderstood! Thought you meant bags for purchases!! For the screws,  I use just what you said, screws and wall plugs in a little zip ended plastic clear pouch bags, hole punched through that and business card and tied through with ribbon. Your idea of having it "screwed" right onto the business card is a great idea, maybe have one or two like that on display, but wouldn't work (for me anyway!)  if all like that as after a few shows/markets with the stock being transported around the tags tend to get a bit bedraggled!!

I just thought, will I need Public Liability Insurance or any other type of permit/license for selling at a market or fair?

 Yes, normally you will be asked for proof of Public Liability Insurance before you're allocated a pitch, especially if it's controlled by the council. You may get away without it if it's another body, but it is the norm to have this. You can get it fairly inexpensively with the market traders federation, but I have mine included with my professional insurance.

With regards to bags, don't bother with the cheap plastic ones, ironwork pokes through them, and we have too much plastic flying about anyway. Go for reuseable paper gift bags, fairly inexpensive when bought in bulk, and give the right impression. (quality!) Although I always ask customers if they have their own bags with them, they usually do.

Personally I think your prices are a little low, but only you know what you're time is worth and your overheads and profit etc. Don't undervalue yourself, handmade has a premium price attached to it and people do appreciate this! I'm not saying charge extortionately though, either!!  Also if your footfall at the market are well-heeled, you can probably afford to charge more. I sell at a market each week that is quite mixed, have items in a range of prices brackets,  I use it as my "shop front" and advertizing, and to me the commissions I get through it are worth more than the sales on the day itself.   

have attached a pic of my stall, one day I'll get around to getting a banner painted for the front, it needs something like that as it's a bit plain I think!!

I like your display idea, I did something similar but then got tired of moving heavy lumps of wood around, so went for small blocks of wood and planks to create a tiered shelf, and boards to hang to display hooks and wall mounted stuff. 

good luck!!

ooh, lovely rusty bit of metal!! Nice job of making something useful out of junk!! I got some square bar stock from a local engineering firm a while back very cheaply as it was quite rusty and pitted, gave a really beautiful texture when it was twisted!!!

. A couple of old smiths told me to use B6 & Magnesium. Within a few weeks of 600 to 800mgs of B6 & about 400mgs of Mag, I was finally getting some relief. Talk to a good health vitamin store about how many mgs to use plus they directed me to capsules instead of tablets for better absorption.
Jim
Arctic Anvil
Anchorage Alaska

I would be wary of this advice as a dose of over 200mg per day of B6 over long periods can be potentially toxic. 

The rubber band exercise is one that has been recommended to me also, and is a good one. 

Macbruce has the best idea.

Jawno, the docs who advised you that you would be right in a week should be sued for malpractice, clearly a two inch slice through your hand opening up a ligament takes more than a week to heal, and even longer for strength to return.

(btw, I've had the surgery and it was successful).

My terms are 50% down, 50% upon completion, installation extra. Contracts are only worth the paper they are written on if you have the money and legal support to back them up. If you have the deposit then at least you are not out of pocket for materials. Time is another matter. I suppose though my "contract" with the customer is the printed invoice/deposit receipt that the customer signs that outlines the terms of the transaction. Whether that is technically or lawfully a contract, I don't know, but at least it is a document.

Looks lovely Stephanie, I love the non ferrous as well!!!  I started with non ferrous metals and moved over to the 'dark' side!!

All that piercing, you must have patience!! I made some ornate butterflies at college and too spent hours carefully piercing them out- then my very kind tutor showed me the etching tanks, I have to say, I would second Ian's suggestion - acid etch, much less work!!! Some people just love piercing though... I recall a lady who pierces copper so that it looks like lace, incredible!!!

Love to see more of your work!! :)

I am sure that is great advice, too, and I hope like you Jack, I am still swinging a hammer at 75 !!! :)