aparofan

Thanks guys! Jim, you're never too old for a little ink.

So I was asked to make a lighted sign for a local tattoo studio. They wanted elements of tattooing incorporated into the sign. Everyone that works there also paints so I had an idea of what I needed to do. I took the owner a 13"x59" piece of 16 gauge sheet metal and told him to draw the letters he wanted plasma cut so I could back it with colored sign acrylic. What he brought me was awesome but crazy hard to cut out by hand. I then built the frame and forged the rivets to hold the sign together. Next I did all the scroll work to the point to add the other elements. The owner told me he could order tattoo machine frames to add but it seemed a shame to ruin functioning machines so I fabricated 3 of them. I also forged a paint brush and added a painters palette. For the finish I used gloss black for the center, liquid leaf airbrushed for the frame and forest green highlights to give it the look of patina. Still have to add the sign acrylic and lights but you get the idea. Name of the shop is Artistic Pursuits, wife says it's kind of hard to read but is easier with the red acrylic behind it. This one has been a fun one!

I've been commissioned to make a sign for an art studio and I want to incorporate painters palettes and brushes. I pretty much have it in my mind how I'm going to forge the brushes but a picture of others would help. I've seen them before, possibly on IFI, but I can't seem to find them now. Does anybody have any images or know where I can view them? Thanks!

Yeah, my wife looked at me like I was being silly but it's like christmas, can't wait to use it!

Been wanting a slip roller for a while but couldn't bring myself to pay what they're asking for the size I need...then there's craigslist! Guy down the road retiring from the auto body business posted this beast yesterday. I called as soon as I saw it and drove down this morning to pick it up. The guy said it was old but has been taken care of and I agree. It's a 33" roller, the gears look hardly used, and the little bit of surface rust on the rollers should come right off after the first couple of passes. Best of all, this 70# beast cost me $45! I would have hugged him but I just met him, can't wait to get rolling.

So, I didn't find an answer to my question doing a general search or maybe I'm just lazy. My question is, does anybody use or recommend using a heat gun to apply wax finishes? As it is now, I put pieces back in my gas forge to heat them up but I would much rather use electricity than my propane. Harbor freight has a 1100° gun for $10 and I thought that would be an option. Thoughts? Suggestions? Thanks!

Got a pretty cool story I wanted share. When my wife's cousin started her job at the health department she said there was this lady there that just kind of gravitated to her. Turns out they have a lot in common, our familys are from the same small mountain town and they just clicked. About three weeks ago we had 12" of rain in an 8 hour period where I live in North Carolina and there was flooding in places where there was never flooding before. When I woke that morning and looked out the door my stomach sank with what I saw...my shop was almost flooded with water. I ran down and got my hammers a few tongs, o/a torch and my compressor but within 30 minutes the water was over my head and not safe to go back in the shop. I've spent the last 2 weeks cleaning and replacing but the flooding was so bad it made national news. A few days after the flood my wife's cousin and her new friend were talking and a lot of the conversation of course was about the devastation. That's when the cousin showed her the pictures of my shop I had posted on Facebook (below...tear!) and that's when the lady said "he likes to blacksmith?" The cousin said her friend got a little teary as the conversation went on because her grandfather had a shop in the small town where our familys are from. She said he died a few years back and she has some of the things he made for her but other than that all she had left was a box of old blacksmith publications. That's when she told cousin that she was going to bring me the box because she had no use for them but wanted to find someone who would use them and appreciate them. Long story short, yesterday I got a big box of anvil's ring, oldest dated 1979, and a few other books that are way cool. The neatest thing is his personal notes in the books, anything from measurements to reminders as simple as "make for shop". Just thought I would share how things have a strange and awesome way of working out. The photo with all the water is my shop. If you look you can see the roof and stove pipe of my forge.

I'm a product of the 70's and 80's so more times than not it's 80's hair metal m/m/!!

A quick question. I've been rolling my own flares for my single burner forge and they work good but for only so long. I know a lot of people use stainless flare which leads me to my question. I've just got through building and lining a double burner forge and one of my buddies who cleans out foreclosures bring me scrape metal all the time. The other day he shows up with a safety rail like they use in hospitals. I thought it was brushed aluminum until I started reading and pretty much all of them are stainless, for health reasons I assume. My question is do you think they would make a good flare and if so how hard will it be to get the right flare and what would be the best avenue for doing so? Multi question...sorry.

I think each and everyone of you have proven what I was trying to say. There is a bond in this community that goes deeper than the forge and anvil. There are people that have anything in common from cars to motorcycles to animals and I've know a few. They're always willing to help each other out for the sake of the hobby which is cool but something about this art form seems to bring people together on a whole different level. I've had invites to peoples shops, studios, and homes who didn't know me but they never gave it a second thought when they asked and I kind of chalk it up to the common love and spirit of the craft. Maybe I'm just reading more into it but I'd like to think not.