ianinsa

On our kyalami(Johannesburg) property i encourage snakes in a patch of indigenous forest in the garden even cobras and rinkhals the occasional berg adder is also welcomehowever Puff adders like mambas in Natal are killed on sight sad but realistic. ian

I don't know Lisa however i guess you might be wanting a smack! i recon that's what I'd get if i bought it with the pretence of "i bought it for you my love"

it might be difficult to light but if you added some aluminium "dust" to your anvil dandruff the result might be quite detectable

Having been to Saladin's citadel in Cairo i could just imagine sitting up there protected by your 30m thick walls at 40 deg C watching some lady wearing her very own (and probably quite fetching)copper steaming pot to the O.P. copper is a fun and versatile material easy to forge at room temp and then use your oven to anneal. Oh, and welcome BTW. Ian

Boomslang aren't too much of a hassle if they are in your trees , and the weaver birds harass them relentlessly in my La Lucia house i have killed a green mamba in shrubbery in my front garden and my neighbour workers have killed a black mamba in their front garden so by comparison the boomslang isn't so bad at least you have time to get help and update the will (p,s, the original statement was said somewhat tongue in cheek) Ian

This is a pic of a boomslang (translates as tree snake) so i suppose "that" rule of thumb might not apply and yes "somewhat" venomous

just a thought here , you are close to where the NWBA have their anual "DO" soon it is worth a deco if nothing else. i have been to more than one and have never regretted one moment and i have a bit further to travel! there are always tailgaters and i thought prices seemed reasonable. THE ADDED bonus is you get to meet some really nice folk to boot.

obviously you aren't up to being a politpoliticianion then?

I got no dog in this fight , so i'll give ol Frosty the benefit of the doubt here and recon the seller should keep his anvil take it off the stand and use it as a chair suitably positioned of course. as for the money , it's a great deal for a first buy ! not to deter you , but if you are sure i'd go for a new one that way you are assured of just what it is that you are getting ie no cracks that are "fixed and camouflaged etc.

That looks great, now the work starts as you get to find just how capable they are you find you need lots of tooling, fun and rewarding, but lots of work:P

this thread has been an interesting read ! i however think it's amusing to see just how opinions differ on some things. today there are probably few who want to become a mechanic yet would like to restore some old car(just for example) for me it was an old Dino homoligation special! i had bought the thing and had not even realized that it had an aluminium body it was just something that apealed to me at the time. i guess it is much the same for those that want to start blacksmithing knives and swords seem a good way to start. what i'm getting at is i had an old split screen vw combi standing in my yard but the Dino was "cool" and how hard could it be? (famous last words)..... Marc today thanks to the powers that be the average joe is an ignoramus more informed about fantasy than history so his /her perspective is scewed to suit that perspective hence the interest in zombie killers ect. rather than anti-materiel weapons and their like , just saying.

Nandos is a chicken franchise , i've seen their sauses in Walmart it started here but is worldwide now i its peri-peri so garlic and chili very tasty but i can understand why ticks move when doused in it!(i wouldn't hang around if i was dipped in it)

here we often get tick problems too , fortunately not the Lyme problem though i recommend putting a bit of diesel in your boot polish and it stops those on the ground from climbing onto your boots, not much help with those on grass though. to get ticks to let go pop a bit of Nandos sauce on them! (beware with nether regions though) don't ask how i learnt this

this is the way to go! it does of course make it tricky with the planning when you don't know what you are likely to get. there is a smidgen of a difference between a 400 and a 100# 's requirements.

i don't think Admin would/should keep bad(read poor/vulgar/rude etc.) content in place? and why should they? Glenn's site his rules EOS(end of story)

and no grappling hook either, thanks to you unhelpful sods all the while thinking of Assur (the capital of Assyria)

So you are either too young to get it? or too old to handle it! and thicker skinned blacksmiths handle this site better! have you considered fixing the aforementioned swallow to your pack? it may not be able to assist you in flitting from tree to tree but it might perfect your technique when heading for the Forrest floor

So its now a Jacod as in container no _ . . . when i was a scout this was carved into my stave

what's with fish in the ear etc. and this lot? to quote Alice "curious and curios er"

i can honestly say i'm a well traveled smith, learning things is easy in some parts of the world and really difficult in others. there are the obvious difficulties like language and culture and then there is also a fear of competition . a part of the world that is full of working blacksmiths is the middle east Syria used to have thousands , if you venture to the rear of the Khan Al Khalili market in the old part of Cairo you will find in excess of 40 different metalwork shops all a close walk from each other. in England the successful smiths are very open and very friendly others not so much, Europe is a difficult place to see and meet smiths meeting one or two with prior contact isn't hard but most are far apart and accommodation and travel is pricey , for me the easiest was the northern and northwestern parts of the USA . travel food and accommodation is relatively inexpensive. the folk are really hospitable and keen to share info etc. the organisations like NWBA host really good conferences that are well attended so what more could you want? remember its easy to make a small fortune blacksmithing you just need to start with a large one.

hi Ross , are you ever in Johannesburg? if necessary i can put you up for the night i have a couple of surplus presses i'm sure one can use and a fair selection of power packs too.i have a bunch of smiths coming over on the 2nd weekend of next month maybe you would like to join in? regards Ian

i would second Ausfire with that really stunning venue. a small word of caution however, should you elect to involve local officialdom ie. fire dept. that is one genie that will not go back into its bottle.thinking outside the box for a moment "temporary structures fall outside of the ambit of historic protection. so if it can be removed easily with no lasting/permanent effect you can get away with it ie. if you get sone spiral duct and suspend it via light chain over the forge rising upwards toward the window it will "extract much of the hot/contaminated air. so whilst in an ideal world you would want it to go above the highest point of the roof as previously noted any improvement is better than none. spiral duct is cheap and if you are not size specific you might find a local "duct shop/a/c installer that will donate or some-such . if painted Matt black it will not be very noticeable and once covered will your dust etc. it will take on a timeless appearance.

Here is a chap that might want it all laid out , without too much work required? at least he's asking and trying to find out. to the OP. check out wayne's site it is easy and quick and informative , also bear in mind that you get "firebricks " and "firebricks" like with most things mileage may vary.

Hi there, glad to have you on the site and pleased to see you wanting to encourage the youth! for me personally scouting provided a great time-filler/friend-making /educational and probably life changing activity things learned have stayed with me and i think 14 to 16 is a good time to teach activities that are fun and teach teamwork yet add a subtle element of responsibility so the forging is possibly as good as it gets. as a present at that age my uncle took me down to the local " scout shop" to buy me an axe! Boy was i proud of it! my dad was somewhat miffed (I suppose with good reason) I got the long lecture on responsibilities and safety(thinking at the time yada,yada) but it stuck whenever the family /we went camping I got to chop wood with my axe later after much pestering my dad let me fell a small tree(accompanied of course with with the prerequisite lecture/lesson) .I now believe that my father and uncle had colluded in order to give me the axe. Now to get to the point boys love the element of danger and get a kick out of being trusted with something dangerous as kids we got to get familiar with guns yet adults drew the line at knives (larger than pocket knives) and axes ... go figure. at that age i made my own "bayonet" on the quiet in my dads workshop, with hindsight it was a piece of junk but i was proud of it, kids today can buy all kinds of knives at supermarkets/dollar stores etc. so if they want one they can definitely acquire one. So with the interest and inspiration gleaned from popular television i think harnessing this and using it to teach not just forging but life lessons is good. sorry for the long-windedness i'm all for safety but sticking one's head in the sand does not remove the danger i think its preferable to manage it.

nice work, so even with your issues you still have some dexterity? keep at it