female_blacksmith

When I lived in UK I went to a lot of these shows and I loved every second of being there. The fabulous thing for me starting out was that it cost me nothing other than petrol to get there and a trailer turned up with all the gear on board to set up. it really does not matter how little you know and you will get in lots of practice, practice, practice ! The public love to watch even if you are only putting a point on the end of something and the other blacksmiths there always knew more than me so I never tired of anything to learn and discover. It was also good to sell a little hook or two or sometimes more. Hope this post encourages people to take the plunge and get involved. You will not regret it and it would be terrible to lose this ' free ' facility !

Wow, thank you to all of the replys above. yes some are a little too advanced for me to digest at this stage but very grateful none the less. It was a revelation to know I could wipe on my finish coats after thorough preparation of course, always thought they had to be sprayed or painted, and I shall have to get pen and paper to write down the makes of paint and see where I can get them from. I like the idea of the trash can with chlorine for larger pieces Randy since I buy my vinegar from the supermarket in small bottles and definitely not economical ! Love the paint colours and design of the ' garden entrance ' you posted.

Hi Bigfoot, the finish on your door handles showing all the texture underneath is exactly what I am looking for. I like it. Many thanks for your help in the ' problem solving ' forum.

Please excuse my ignorance Bigfoot but, I am not familiar with the term ' cross linking ' are all acrylics cross linking and all polyurethane waterborne ? I would never have thought of combining the two acrylic/polyurethane together so will try that and increase the number of coats on my work, humidity is 60-80 % most of the time here. I liked your story on the British flytyer. I used to think I put on too many applications ! Great idea to start finishes as another topic John B and I did manage to ' post ' lol.. Thank you to every one that has replied.

The odd twist was a mistake which I then repeated for the other set too, oops ! Thank you for your comments Beth. I did look at pictures of horse armor for inspiration. The information on here is phenomenal and for whatever stage you are at or ready to take on board. And yes, I have met the great Mr. Dale Russel a few times now, always very encouraging, always very helpful and I would never have got on here without his help. Blacksmiths are the friendliest people no matter where in the world you go !

Thank you very much for that. The towel idea soaked in vinegar is a great solution for me. Is there any reason for white as opposed to brown vinegar being used ? I must admit I do not want smooth shiny steel so your comments on tracks or print of scale on show underneath the wax is very reassuring. Out of interest do you apply cold wax a few times to build up layers. I have a great humidity problem here so rust developing quickly is a real problem. I appear to get much more stubborn scale using gas propane than an open fire so will definitely wire brush more vigorously in future. Many thanks.

As you know I am not very computer savvy, but I think I have loaded on some larger pictures to show more detail ? we shall see.

Thank you all for your comments so far. Because I have fully assembled my piece and I have just a very small opening to my gas propane forge I will not be able to heat it up back in there. I do have oxy-acetyline though. Another question: As I do not have anything large enough to immerse my piece in white vinegar, could I wrap it in plastic having first sprayed it in vinegar, and wire brush it and apply more vinegar over a couple of days, presumably, I have to burn off the wax first ? Many, many thanks for all your help !

Hi all, here is a couple of pictures that I hope on zoom will show my problem with scale.

What can I do ? I have finished my piece of work, wire brushed it including using a twisted cup brush on an angle grinder to remove as much scale as possible, brought it to a black heat and applied a wax finish. The colour is perfect but, I can still see too much scale for my liking. What can I try next to rectify this situation ?

Thank you for that John. I will do that !

John, thanks for those finishing ideas. Presumably if I start a new topic on ' how do you finish your work pieces ' that would be started in the ' Problem Solving ' forum ? I definitely would like to do that. Colleen, thank you for your comments. I have had a look on the website at your type of forge. The idea of all 3 sides opening at once if necessary sounds great. My forge is the ' Tabasco ' from chiliforge.com which although has a double ended opening and very efficient I might add, is a little too small for me personally sometimes, but certainly helps you think differently to get round problems ! I agree, the pictures are too small to see detail which is what I wanted to show so shall have to re submit some of those. Harold, thank you for your comments too. I think Warrens brooms add ' magic ' to my fire tool sets.

Wow John, so lovely to hear from you ! I have been trying to inwardly digest this website and all it's amazing information and with Dales help can finally participate. Could really do with help and advice on my finishes though ? The photo you posted certainly brought back plenty of memories and boy do I miss all you guys ! Many thanks, Denise.

Hello Dale, Finally figured out how to post an entry. I am not very good at computers but am much better at blacksmithing ! Here is my entry : My name is Denise, trained in Hereford, UK, under Paul Allen with The 'Countryside Agency'in pure forgework. Moved to Australia 3 yrs. ago, worked with 'Antonio Battisstessa Studios' along with Antonio, Adam and Simon - the best guys in the world, I miss them all madly. Husbands job has moved me to nr. Canberra and now I am 'all alone' with the very basics of equipment, miss my power hammers,tools and company, so if anyone has room for me in their workshop, let me know ! Am also a member of the 'British Artist Blacksmith Association,' they have a fantastic magazine, comes out 4 times a yr. well worth looking at their website baba.org.uk I love my blacksmithing and welcome any contact, Happy Hammering everybody !