tzonoqua

That is a tricky one Beth, my Mother in Canada sent me items (old toys, new clothes for my daughter, small gifts) and she declared the value for insurance purposes, UK customs took that value and didn't matter if it's a gift, I still needed to pay the duty on it to receive it. If my mother had declared the value at nil, I would not have had to pay, but she was being ultra cautious and over generous with what my old toys were worth just in case it got lost in the post and she had to make a claim. The value she stated must have gone over the allowable amount for a gift, at any rate the risk is declare it at nil to avoid paying duty, then you are not covered if the item gets lost or damaged in the post, or declare the value and pay the duty, but are covered if something happens. I am trying to remember how much the duty was on the gas forge I bought and I think it was around £60.

Hi Beca, Yes, customs add on import duty when importing from non-EU countries, I can't recall the exact amount but I think it's around the same as VAT 20%, (check with customs and excise for the exact amount) at any rate even with this added on when I bought my diamondback forge it still worked out cheaper than anything in the UK.

Hi Beca, As Beth, I totally understand the 'really, really busy' bit!!! I have to say the metal artist forge is not that efficient compared to a more 'conventional' model of gas forge, but the clamshell design in brilliant for odd shapes and can't really be beaten for versatility in my opinion. Unless you make one yourself or find a deal on ebay you probably won't find one cheaper than those already mentioned. I know it does seem a bit odd about over here being more regulated than the usa, I'm guessing it's the European directives, they don't seem to be constrained by such things in the states. I'm in the process of getting a coke forge, will be novelty after only using gas for a few years!! I do miss having it as well, somethings are just more easily done in a solid fuel forge, I think it's best to have both really!!

Hi True, I can sympathize, I had carpal tunnel surgery that put me out of action for quite a number of months.. very frustrating!!! I am sure you will find a way to satisfy your urge for hot metal in a way that doesn't damage your body!!! Good luck!!

Hi Beca, I am too in the UK and couldn't be bothered to build a gasser, (shame, shame yes, I know, I got over it!) I'd rather spend my time forging than building a forge, so I imported a diamondback, even with shipping and import duties it worked out cheaper than anything uk built. I did search high and low for something similar in the UK, but came up empty handed- that was a few years ago. HAving said that the Swan forges are brilliant bits of kit, I tottally recommend them, I had one in a workshop I rented, and it was ace, I had the "mother" 4 burner, and did get through a bit of gas with it, but could heat long sections with ease, etc. If you have the money to splash out on one, do!! But I didn't, so I went to Dennis @ diamondback. I tend to think that it's because of regs and certification, insurance and liability issues here that noone builds affordable gas forges in the UK, I could be wrong but it's a hunch. There is a gap in the market here, it has to be said. I've got a diamondback double burner metal artist one, and I love it, the lining has taken a beating though as it's quite fragile, and I stick lots of odd, jagged, flame cut shapes in there, so that is my only issue with it. Mine needs relining now after a few years,( although I work part time) so factor that into the cost, so I have to use it at slightly higher pressure to get the same heat as I did when it was new. But I am sure once it's relined I will be able to put the pressure back a bit. Anyway, good luck with your search!! Let us know how you get on!!

Mine's on a simple stand built from some reclaimed fencing angle iron that the farmer gave to me. She also very conveniently found a quarter sheet of 2mm that I used for the top! I have added some tubing on each side into which I have slotted some round stock that is in a U shape, which acts as an adjustable rest for longer pieces. The top is laid with firebricks. I also added a chain to which the bottle of propane is attached to the stand, I use 47kg bottles so they stand beside the forge and one leg is anchored to the floor with a bolt. I welded in some struts to add stability and also act as a tong rack for the tongs currently in use, I have a bigger tong rack for the rest. At the moment I've got a plastic crate at the bottom which holds all my scroll formers, I keep reminding myself to replace that crate with a shelf or two for them made of metal, ie. not something flammable!!

Beth, I remember hand painting a really ornate 2m high obelisk, loads of leaves, flowers, tendrils, scrolls, snails... argh... went a bit nuts during and after!! We were on our way home from camping at a festy in Shropshire for a week where we'd hired out our marquee, (we have a 60 x 40 foot red and blue big top, like a circus tent!) and had spent the day before and earlier in the day taking it down and packing it up so were quite exhausted so were just keen to get home!! I do think we need to plan a get together at some point though!!

looks great Beth!! Was passing your neck of the woods the day before yesterday and wondered what you were up to!!! I hate painting too, I have a couple of small railing fabrication jobs coming up and I think I'm just going to send it away to the finishers to do it!!! They will do a much better job than me, I have not enough patience for it!!

A fool and his money are soon parted. :unsure:

I want to say thank you to everyone who offered encouragement and has made suggestions to my problem of getting things straight!! (If only I could do the same in the organization of my life, but that's another matter!!) I made a tripod today, with long opposite twists, and used a combination of putting between the vice jaws once twisted, then going from there with the piece at black heat, with my mallet over my big anvil to straighten the rest, and it didn't take long at all, it took me an hour to make this tripod, each twist has to be done in 25-30 cm sections at that is the maximum length I can heat in my forge. I think where I was going wrong was trying to correct the wonky-ness while too hot, and overcorrecting, and making more work for myself!! So, not quite straightening them cold, but cooling, after the twists have been done has been working for me. I can't see myself managing to use a pipe sleeve to twist into, it's about all I can manage to get the work into the vice, get the twisting wrench or bar on it before it's starting to cool off, I think one less thing for me to faff about with the better!! So a pic of the wonderfully straight legs, and the assembled tripod. Am going camping next week, so will get some use out of it!!

These little fish are lovely!!! Nice work!!

Wow, Danger, that is soooo awesome!!! At the school where i work one of the projects we do is making simple mechanical toys, (out of wood, with cams etc -fish with googly eyes, cars with little men bopping up and down, you get the picture!) I never really thought about using those mechanisms in a table!!! Truly brilliant!!!

Great job, that copper works really well!!

cold?? I doubt that a wooden mallet on cold 12mm bar would do much? I can see maybe putting it in the vice and bending cold might work though. I do send the doggies out to chase rabbits in the field next to me, that keeps them occupied for a while!!!

John, I use a combination of hitting them over the length of the anvil with the mallet, and putting them through the jaws of the vice to get them straight and it always just seems to take forever... and I've been doing very long twists while making cooking tripods and I don't know what it is but I just have trouble making them straight again. Maybe it is because I can only heat about a 30 cm length in my forge at one time? I mean, is it just me or does it just always take time to make it straight again?!! Maybe because the twists are not uniform and also with sections that are not twisted? This is where I find it goes 'wrong' a lot. I suppose the best way is to keep them as straight as possible while twisting them, easy with short twists, but I find not so easy with long ones, maybe I need to get a sleeve to twist them in, although I don't know how that would work for doing secessions of opposite twists, as you wouldn't be able to see what is happening with the twists... Big Foot, that 'helper' usually sleeps in the sunshine in the doorway, whereas the other one, who's not pictured, he tends to follow me around and lie at my feet, not so good when in and around the forge but he's a loyal farm collie x. Those twists sound great, I shall have to experiment a little!

Thanks everyone! Frank, wooden mallet on a wooden "block" yes, you may call it an anvil!! Still manages to crush the edges of the twists a little but I'm getting better at scrolling them quicker to leave them unmarred. The tapered twists are quite a fragile thing as well, very easy to snap off the thin end, I know some people twist these with a torch, but I found that trickier as I need an extra pair of hands that way!! The hooks take me 20 mins to do, and the pokers about the same despite them not being punched, probably because the pokers are made out of heavier stock, and it takes me ages to get them straight again after contra twisting... I go a bit overboard with the twists sometimes, but it's a nice effect I think!!

some recent work, to represent ammonite fossils which are found locally.

For me this is obvious, and proven with use, just try using a metal handled hammer, i pounded some nails in with one a good number of months ago.. didn't take long for me to change hammers and wonder why the heck anyone would put a metal handle on one!! wood on all my hammers!

Just don't do what my mother did!! She sent me a box of my old toys to hand down to my daughter and put on the shipping form that they were worth $300 CDN, (they weren't actually worth anything, (old fisher price adventure toys) but she paid for insurance up to that amount) so when they arrived in the UK I had to pay duty on them!!!!

I used to do a lot of copper etching at college. Great fun!! I second what Ian says, nitric works great, warm bath, agitate or use a brush to move the bubbles around, pay attention to health and safety practice, wear ppe!! We used to use nail polish to draw designs on the metal, then remove afterwards with acetone. I also used to work as a signmaker, and cut out vinyl designs to etch, great for logos etc, and at the moment where I work in a school we use photoetch boards for printed circuit boards, transfer the image in a light box with an a acetate transfer that has had the image photocopied onto it, then washed through a developer to reveal the image, then etched in ferric chloride. Although we are just doing circuit boards with this process, with this method the outcomes are limitless!!! Be sure to dispose of your acids safely, either by neutralizing or taking to a hazardous waste depot.

I also lean stock against a corner wall in my workshop. I have to have my stock cut as I can only fit 2.5m lengths in my car, I'm mostly doing smaller scale stuff at the moment, I borrow a friends van when I need longer lengths. I recommend if you are going to store steel stock by leaning it up against the wall that it is secured there. I have all the different sizes divided by big (6inch) nails driven in to the wooden framework of my building-(it's a tin shed basically with a wooden frame) That helps keep the sizes separated and helps to keep the steel from falling sideways. I also have a chain attached with a thru bolt into the frame in the corner, with a hook at each end of each end of chain that hooks onto an eye bolt that is secured thru the frame. Means that the steel is not able to fall forward or sideways. Next to this I have a tough plastic crate that I keep small odds and ends in, I really make an effort not to keep too many little offcuts around!

Ciladog, I was thinking the same thing, it was the mention of the still air that put up a flag for me. I am sure the heat doesn't help either!! I only wish I had the problem with heat here, where I live we have been suffering with non seasonal rain for the last six weeks, (even for England) and floods over the past week, and it's raining some more, so no doubt there will be more floods to come. When I worked in India in 40+ degree heat- just as in Spain, everything stops for midday. You get up at the crack of dawn to work, then stop from around 11 until around 3, then get back to it until the sundown. Trying to work in extreme heat does noone any favours. Forging in the middle of the desert, sitting on the sand in that heat, even when not in the peak heat of the day...phew, makes me sweat just thinking about it, i don't know how I did it!!! The locals there were adamant never to drink cold water, as they said it would "upset the body" and only drink water from a mutgee, which is a very beautifully shaped water pot, usually kept in a corner of the house on a metal stand, which apparently the shape of which keeps the water cooler than room temperature. I have no idea or scientific evidence of this, however, but it sounds nice and I do believe that if did seem cooler than the ambient temperature. The time I ever decided to drink cold water from a cooler there, guess what, next day I came down with a terrible cold!!! They local rajasthanis also swore by eating raw onions to deal with the heat. They had the most delicious small red onions though, that went perfectly with thalis, very delicious. No problem, as that's what everyone ate, but might be slightly antisocial under different circumstances!!!

I don't know of the "best/proper" solder and flux, but what I have always used for soldering copper is hard silver solder and borax as flux, from a cone as per what jewellers use, with a butane torch. I'm not sure how this would work for you. Could you rivet it together and avoid the soldering if you're not happy with the results? hehe, too funny Steve!!!

great stuff Beth!!!! Nice work, very balanced, nice details all round. And, nice to have you back, where have you been??? Have you thought about having it galv'd, then painted? On another note, my 7 year old daughter's favourite song is "paint it black" by the rolling stones... wonder where she got that from, eh?

Monster, nice to hear you are still out there, we've missed you! I don't know how anyone can get over the loss of a child, it's just not how it's supposed to happen is it? Sounds though, you are moving along with your life and making changes so that you can be happier in it. Good luck with everything! Colleen