tzonoqua

Great detail!! She will love it!!! Nice work!

Great, looks awesome, I love the "feet" !!!

That is such a shame, I would love to John, if only it were closer!! I am busy with my market stall tomorrow and I'm afraid it's just too far to go for a day for me as it's a 3 hr drive. Hopefully someone will be able to help you out!

Rick, I have A1sized heavy paper/card so I lay it out and tape it together to cover the span of the drawing, (ideally you could use paper rolls). I either do this on the floor at home, I have a good sized floor space in my living room, or I have a drawing table at my workshop, but on that I can only do a section at a time, so I prefer to sprall out over the floor, or you could do it on a wall, walls of my workshop are corrugated sheet though, so doesn't lend itself very well to drawing on!! I use the bottom of the paper as the ground level, you can draw out the stairs, or wall or whatever features you need, etc. I draw out the measurements I have made on site, and then just literally draw out the design as it would appear, full size to measurements. You can then roll this up and take it to the site and sometimes discover that you need to change something on the design because of some unforseen thing, or usually just something you haven't taken into account at the time. Like I said, I have only used this for smaller jobs, so it might not work for much bigger ones, this I have yet to discover. By the way I only do this full scale drawing if a smaller design has been agreed upon, and I have received a deposit for the thing! I also bill the client for the time spent drawing and designing after the initial rough sketches, for me those are what I need to do to get the job, but the scale drawing is part of the job itself. If I need to I transfer the drawing to my work bench, I do this by rubbing over the back with chalk, and then drawing over top to transfer it to the work table, or often I will just wet the paper and use the drawing as a template. I am by no means an expert, but this is what I do and it works for me and I would welcome any tips also. I have thought about using CAD programs but I already spend too long in front of the computer, and I enjoy the drawing process. And, my name is Colleen, "Anne Ville" was a bit of a silly joke and I've been meaning to change it back but not got round to it!! Kentucky is a beautiful state, my father has been attending the Derby, for many, many years, I went when I was 10!

Paper and pencil, small sketches for ideas, refined on larger size, pencil or charcoal on paper, and then full scale drawing on paper with pencil and then finished with ink, a big fat black permanent marker usually!! I never used to do full scale drawings, but I am doing them more and more now, as I am finding that they really help with finding snags in the design and the fit. Having said that I do fairly small scale work, small railings or gates no more than 2m long, so I might rethink if I had to do something on a much bigger scale. For more freeform ideas, like Whirly I do a lot of drawing on my workbench () with soapstone (engineers chalk)!!

Shame you missed it Tom, there was a really interesting demo about fold forming, quite a simple but really effective way of building up textures and form in sheet material, really neat and inspiring. Thanks John for the hospitality, was an enjoyable day, and nice to meet some very talented people! Shame I had to go before the evening meal, it smelled delicious while it was cooking! Colleen

thank you all! Alicia, the tripod is for hanging a pot, or dutch oven over a fire for outdoor cooking, or I also have people buy them to put in their gardens to hang a plant pot from! Mark, my dog Saffy is as sweet natured as they come, hope yours is the same! I've been selling these hooks and pokers now for a few months, and I am getting a lot of requests to make them into toilet paper holders!! I don't know what it is about them, but it seems a popular request! I just make the hook slightly longer and looser, and coil the end into a tight spiral and turning that in, rather than flatting it for the coathook end. Colleen

Hi Dan, I totally agree with your statement, If blacksmithing is your business, like any other business, you sink or swim. Doing shoddy work is a quick way to make your business unsuccessful, and to some extent it regulates itself in that manner.

Hi Big Red, welcome to the forum. I once lived up in Highland Perthshire, I miss the wilds! Have you been involved at all with the consultations regarding National Occupational Standards? There were meetings earlier in the year I don't know if the consultations have finished but you may want to put forward your views there if you haven't already, you certainly aren't alone in your views. http://baba.org.uk/_gfx/NOS_II.pdf I am on the fence on this one. I did a fine art degree, metals specific, and via that route I discovered blacksmithing. So, I have training, I can go through research and explore the design process, I can create original work, but it's not the kind of training that would certify one to go out and put up ballustrades. There are gaps in my knowledge as my degree wasn't set out to train me up as a blacksmith, but I know graduates from Hereford have gaps in their knowledge too. I have discovered that in this field there are some really lovely and very skilled people who are generous with their knowledge, so I know if I have a job that I'm not sure about or there is a technique I need help with, I have a few Blacksmiths I can call up and they will help me sort my problem out or give me the advice that I require. So, for me most of my learning about Blacksmithing has been by putting in self directed time at the anvil, with occasional input. In hindsight I would have loved to do an apprenticeship from day dot and learned everything thoroughly, but life happens, and hindsight is 20/20. And like someone has said earlier, I'm too old now to start from the beginning!! I had some quite interesting discussions on this very subject yesterday at a meeting of the Blacksmiths Guild. Everyone agrees that the traditional skills should be preserved, how this should happen is debatable.

Ouch, Dave, sorry to hear about your finger, that doesn't sound good!!!

Hi John, I'll be there! Other half isn't that please to stay home but his son has a birthday party to go to so he's on home duties, and he's not pleased especially since he now knows there will be a pig roast!

google 'bloomery'

With my phone set to an alarm to remind me to stop in time to get my daughter from school usually. Or if I'm lucky with an unconstrained day, I bring my dogs to the shop, they remind me when they are getting bored and/or hungry! Or my partner phoning me wondering, just how much longer I was going to be!!! Whatever it is it is never me deciding I must go!!!

Great work, as always!! I particularly like the body of the bird, how the elements wrap around at the front. Lots of character in that bird!!

Great craftsmanship, very nicely executed!!!

Right now I am picturing Flintstone's style ribs being cooked on that BBQ and giant burgers!! Great stuff!!

One can only ask, what on earth are you thinking?? (shakes head in shame) :P

hehehe Frosty, i'm not crazy, ok!!!! not in the slightest!! I'm perfectly normal, me!!!!! :blink: That reminds me of a very dear friend of mine who was seeing a therapist for her 'ishooos'. I mused that I never felt I needed to see a therapist for anything, (denial??? lol) to which she replied, "you wouldn't, you have your art to work it through" which I thought was an interesting insight!!! And, that is sooo true, random acts of kindness are uplifting... pay it forward. That's part of the reason why this forum can be so good!!

Interrupting my zen... I have just been thinking, and laughing, the 'godfather' of conceptual art, Marcel Duchamp was the first artist to exhibit a tool, a snow shovel!!! and a wire bottle rack!! (both were mass produced items) This was around 1914! It is making me laugh because it has been discussed about tools being displayed on walls!! The bottle rack was apparently thrown away by his sister thinking it was just junk, and the shovel used to shovel snow in Chicago... He is incidentally also responsible for the urinal entitled "fountain" His point was to shift the focus from the object to the interpretation of the object... and he had a wicked sense of humour! ok, back to the zen...

I think that it is also good to note that the conceptual art which has pervaded throughout recent history, some of the forerunners, like Damien Hirst hold very highly the craft skills of artisans, and commissions them in his works. The awesome character Grayson Perry not so long ago won the esteemed Turner Prize here with his quirky ceramics. I'm not so much a fan of these artist but I can appreciate some of what they are putting across. I particularly loved the Ai Weiwei installation at the Tate modern, millions of tiny porcelaine sunflower seeds, scattered throughout the floor of the great hall, over which you would walk. The chinese artist explained that they represented the citizens of china and the people walking over them represented oppressive chinese authority. He was incarcerated by the chinese government because of his views and the messages in his art. Powerful stuff, in my opinion, and obviously viewed as powerful stuff by the chinese authorities. Much of conceptual art is poorly thought out and even more poorly executed, but that does not mean that there is not some good stuff in there. I'm happy to look, to take it in as once in a while you get something that is really incredibly clever amongst dross. I can appreciate this, even though I don't have a personality disorder! Now of course it is silly to expect that everyone will get it, or even want to get it, or that there is even anything to get at all, but I think it makes the world richer that it exists. I also do think that people can in all disciplines, whether it be fine art or blacksmithing take themselves far too seriously. I can hear fine artists twaddle on about the hidden meanings and concepts and blah blah blah, and I can hear blacksmiths twaddle on about how they made that object, smiting at the full moon, only using ore smelted on an eclipse, blah blah blah. I do like the sound of that phrase generator, Frosty, would love to find that!!! It sounds hilarious. I totally understand that Art is not for everyone but then also it is good to differentiate between conceptual art, fine art and folk art, because in the art world there is a vast difference between the practices throughout each. I believe that within blacksmithing we are a very special bunch and our work is pervasive in all those categories. My degree that I hold is titled "Bachelor of Fine Arts, Silversmithing and Metalwork" Fine Arts!! There it is labeled a fine art, not a craft. Funny old world, isn't it?? I love that we live in a society that we are free to express ourselves as we wish. I love that we can sit here and debate the finer details of what it means for each of us when we manipulate hot metal. Therein lies the beauty. The act of creating is a powerful feeling to people, powerful to do, and powerful to see, whether for us it be a simple hook or spoon, an ornate set of gates, or an abstract sculptural work. Whatever it is our work is made earnestly with our hands (and tools!!) and is satisfying as such!!! ok, well that's enough waffle from me for one day, am off out to find my zen in hot steel. x

I have made wind chimes in the past too, but never really did anything special with regards to heat treating, I was not very scientific about it, I just used different lengths and thicknesses, little offcuts and make them into small scrolls, odd shapes etc, string them all together and flog 'em!! Will try to see if I have any pics but that was a while a go - about three computers, three different workshops and four different houses ago!!

Frosty, I have no idea what that show is, about two months ago our satelite receiver broke, and we haven't gotten around to fixing it yet, nor have we got an aerial on the house for television. It has been rather nice that the square thing in the living room is no longer the centre of attention. We still watch videos on it, and have a couple different games systems, and of course we have computers in the house, so it's not like we've gone back into the dark ages, but now we choose what we want to watch and when and are not dictated to by the box. I rather like it but the kids have kept asking when it's going to be fixed. I did tell them if they would like to sort it out, pay for it to be done they are quite welcome to do that, might just get them off their backsides to get a job!! and George, I don't see that Artist is such a bad thing but they are all just labels at the end of the day.

Personally I don't care for that hammer that vaughan's sells, I was bought one as a gift when i was first starting out, it feels awkward. It just hangs on my hammer rack collecting rusty dust now. Much better to start with a lighter one, a ball pein modified works too or try the ones suggested, I can't say whether they are good or not as I've not used them. Good luck, pretty soon you will get a feel for what works for you.

George, I have to laugh at the 'fibre folk' reference. My partner is an A&E Nurse, so often when we tell people what we do they think we're joking. In fact it wasn't until my local doctor came into the forge when I was there at the anvil that he did realize, we weren't joking, although we had already told him several times!!! If you are familiar with the trades, then a male nurse is not that uncommon, nor is a female blacksmith, but the general public often don't have a clue!! Makes for quite a good laugh sometimes though! But, yes, it is true, crafty people do tend to flock together, whatever their 'craft' might be.

Hi Andy, you must be my neighbour!! Welcome!