ianinsa

Warning: it ain't cheap,

Armand, you could just dry stack(no mortar) some clay bricks(make sure that the bricks are dry) in a shape similar to the blue oven and just use a propane torch to provide the heat once the bricks are hot you will be able to turn the torch down quite low! Ian

That's stunningly good Michael, if you don't use it on the bike you could always keep it for use on the top of a sword/walking stick someday? Ian

Those are just 'Brilliant' Great bit of lateral thinking! Ian

Jeff, I am not into knives as yet, but I HAVE QUITE A BIT OF Stainless steel 2.5 to 3mm toughened armour plating left over from a job at O.R.Tambo airport probably ideal for knives,its shiny hard as blazes(cant bend it in 80T pressbrake) magnetic but cuts well with laser and 0.9mm cutting blades. I have a guy comming down from my Joburg shop on Monday I'll get him to bring down some off- cuts that you are welcome to. If you need things like acids/ Borax etc. let me know and I can organize for you! Ian

Jeff, It's normal, but with new blades they are quite good, Anyway not difficult to use and play with! you have the whole of the hollidays if you want? Ian

I too live in deepest darkest and I RECON IT WOULD BE A HOOT IF YOU JUST USED YOUR COMMON OLD ELECTRIC FENCE ENERGISER Jeff if you are interested I'm in Uhmlanga with a seriously under utilised vynil cutter, if you ever need to play feel free! Ian

About as clear as 'semiviscus terraquatic matter'(er mud) Ian

Very,very nice catch there, The horsebox made the ideal trap. Did you need a lot of Euro's as bait to lure it into the horsebox? I would love to catch one of those! Ian

Naw, that might seem like a good recipe, but most girls that come with the bucks come with strings and are full of it. I think I got it right, marry the girl that can "MAKE THE MILLOIN HERSELF AND KEEP IT". That way you have financial assistance when you need it,and some one that understands how to "MAKE THE MILLOIN" and therefore guide you(and most blacksmiths need guiding when it comes to money). Ian

Bob, You are so right on the button with that one, however if the buyer was to show them the "orgional italian/german" job the shop owner would realise that his $0.5/ea was too low and potentially 'mess' with his customers 600% mark-up! Ian Insidentally those pliers look similar to ones that you can pick up on Dubai construction sites used by Pakistani/Bangladeshi re-bar fixers. Price aprox 5.00DHS (1$=3.675DHS)

Bob, The guy setting the standard? by this I take it you mean the Pakistani 'boss'. If so I think one needs to understand/relate a desperate problem in Pakistan and surrounds(Bear in mind that the Afgans think of Pakistan as rich?) Well as much as I could make out from some of the guys we have employed from Peshwar and surrounds. The people are poor in everything but faith. By this I mean in general knowledge and schooling(Before I get jumped on! let me make it clear they are neither stupid nor unskilled).The education is largely by mullas who consentrate more on language and religious teachings. So the average joe is oblivious to geometry and the visual consept of angles and of "what is square!" If we had grown up in some ramshakle dwelling/shack,kobbled together with whatever you could scrounge(sounds a bit like my place )your table was rickety and your chairs wonky and every other item of furniture was some hand me down. Your neighbourhood was run down and you never got to glimpse one fine thing your interpretation of a high standard may be 'it works does it not?' We have similar problems in Africa were many have never had the oportunity to see,feel,touch and experience something 'fine' and this skews their perceptions of well made/properly done, mostly through no fault of their own. Ian

Brad, That design looks masonic. Seems like you got a great little project there, let us know how it turns out? I recon it would be neat to have your 'own' padlocks. Ian

Gold in his teeth too Ok! our 'hot water heaters' are also done that way now but earlier models 70's and before were copper espesially low preasure and they lasted really well so we still see them in junkyards quite often! Ian

Larry, that's a magic looking toy There! And I suppose if you stuck in 2 slises with cheese & ham wrapped in foil on yop of that blank It would make lunch too. Can I come and play? Ian

As a consideration 'if I've got to be miserable/unloved,etc? I'd rather be rich and miserable/unloved,etc. Than poor and miserable/unloved,etc. Fciron said "You could hire some talented folks and be the guy that coordinates all the shop and clients coming together, that's about the closest model to making big money and being a blacksmith at the same time." THIS IS ABOUT AS CLOSE TO BLACKSMITH GOSPEL AS YOU'RE GONNA GET! You might even get to play with the forge and All the other toys in off time ! Ian

Jake, "Ian,i'm not aware of any 3rd world ironwork for sale in US that is actually good,and dirt cheap.It could be the regional difference,or simply my ignorance.All that i've seen in the box-stores is a breeze to compete against in terms of quality. By the way,if i may ask you to elaborate on the meaning of "horses for courses",i'm sorry,learned English too late in life...I do so love many British expressions,the "bespoke" ironwork sounds so cool,and others,iron-related and not." I'm not aware of the markting strategies of the high end retailers in the USA however in you knew All the sources of product you might be quite surprised. I'm not talking the mass market products I mean the bespoke stuff. A very influential and very well thought of interior Us design company - Wilson and assosiates has used our products in a number of their projects, and we(all supliers) are expressly prohibited from branding our products on their projects. I believe that there is no free marketing and it makes it difficult for people to copy their work(this is common in high end work). Furthermore companies like Art De Mexico make a fortune manufacturing in Mexico and retailing in the US. The term horses for courses means quite literally, on a racecourse you use a horse that runs well, on a steplechase course you use a horse that jumps well and so on. Ian

Michael, Thats a damm fine looking job! Ian- good lunch I trust?

HI Bob, I answerer the question on g/tee and then got carried away! No barb felt anyhow. Ian

We are a business, we operate within a miriad of provincial and national laws, cheap and cheerful does not mean delinquent and degenerate. We NEED repeat business! If you EVER provide sub-standard goods your name will disappear off the list of approved tenderers. Our guarantee covers for a year of 'normal' use i.e. 'fit for purpose'. What I was eluding to was; machine formed/wrought fishtails/scrolls etc. stamped/pressed domes buttons leaves and profiles etc. a lot of the stuff be put together is from commercial tubing, textured / embossed in a Chinese / Turkish made machine(similar to if not superior to hebo) all tig welded with 309L. From a quality point of veiw= not junk! Gold finish is paint but for acsents we use 'Baroque Art' guilders paste. Fillers are epoxy. Our 'prime' wrought iron product = all solid bar, exvvept for hand manipulated tube, we flatten the edges either with rollers or by stroke sander/grinder to give old world feel and look to bars i.e. crisp square edge. hand forged leaves,fishtails scrolls etc. The layman will not 'see' the weld be it forge,arc, mig or tig.If it has a gold finish it is gold leaved if joints etc need filling we lead fill like body shops of old, This product is prime and 5* 'fit for purpose' Sadly I can ascribe some of our local work fall-off due to affirmative action- the major hotel groups now negotiate contracts with us on items deemed too difficult or that have already been duffed up. The 'difference in our type of work' is often more in the eye of the blacksmith and not so much in the eye of the general metalworker. Ian

No, but you can "re-process" an old hoe quite easily, providing you have acsess to a forge. Ian

Jake, When it comes down to it "There is no glass is fine that it can match the frailty of the fragile ego" I've got a thick hide(and skull some say). The debate is valid and good! Some of our(and I say our as it is a collective effort)work makes me as proud as punch! Some less so! Many years ago when I converted what was a sometime hobby into a fully fledged buisness I got a reality check of note. Buisness running, goods going out the door, staff to pay- bank overdraft maxed out, The big OH F... Moment. Reality check time. I have sometimes(like many small buisness owners) gone for months without a salary. Thank the lord for 'the good wife' who has financially supported both me and my buisness in bad times. I have ALWAYS paid my employees. Sometimes my bankers and landlords have had to be patient and then got paid(my deepest apreciation). I have put up with all kinds of hardships to make ends meet and in so doing was eventually rewarded. The point I try to make is, we compete in a global market where the criteria is often diametricaly oposed . For some it's the quality for some it's the price, for many it's a ballancing act. Much of our work comes from international tenders. There are dozens of third world countries that produce brilliant work at knockdown prices- we sometimes see prices of finished goods for less than the cost of our raw materials- Thus stuff the ego how do we compete? mindset. I love(and hate sometimes) the buisiness but it has(overall) been good to me. It's real and heartfelt to many smiths that the industry is 'cheapened' yet if the same was aplied to cars how many of us would have a Bently? And not go for the old VW Rabbit that you could afford and walk instead? As I said before you have horses for courses. Ian

Cutshurt, That hawk is awsome! Kyboy, Great set of pics man,thanks. Ian

A Nice hammer that! Ian

I'm not sure how it is stateside, but here in South Africea,England and in the middle east a lot of old geysers(low pressure)(buy from scrapdealers) have copper liners these make good stock for copper dishes pots etc. You just have to remove the limescale(vinegar + water)and don't use old joints(lead contamination) on food utensils. Ian