TomN

The slide isn't a problem and is loose enough. Its just hard to get it working exactly how I want it! I will just have to practice I suppose. I do want to explore the option of a dimmer switch in the future though, as if I get my own house and can build my own worshop in the garden, that blower will be extremely loud.

It is a bouncy castle blower! I find it diffuclt to get control with the slide. Plus after a while, the slide gets hot as well and i've almost burnt my hand on it. I suppose I could just practice with it. The blower is smegging loud.I could put it in a near by shed and have the door nearly shut I suppose.

Here is an image of the details, on the top of my blower. Should be all the electrical info on there! The reason I want a dimmer, is the slide which I already have on my blower doesn't work too well. Especially when it comes to lighting the forge. The blower is just too powerful. Another reason is that the blower itself is incredibly noisey and gets on my nerves a bit. I'd rather just have the fire 'ticking over' most of the time. So 400W max rating on this is too low for my 450W blower?

My blower is 220 - 250V and 450W. I've got the dimmer switch below, which is 400W. I'm guessing I really need to get a dimmer switch rated to 1000W for it to work? Any advice would be appreciated! What would also be appreciated is how I am to wire it into the blower, so that I can gain full control over it. At the moment it blows on an all or nothing basis and due to that it produces a very harsh fire! Thanks in advance.

Thanks John. Thats a very complete answer! You should write a book called Sensible Smithing and just put in there what you've written on these forums in answer to peoples questions. I think you would make a killing!

Bit far away from me, otherwise i'd have offered to show you a few bits (with a parent tagging along of course). I think the closest smith to you may be Owen (basher on here). He is a good bladesmith and might be willing to teach you a few things, if you go along and help him out for free. Of course its up to him on this! Here is a link to his website! > http://owenbush.co.uk/

I too am looking into a career as a smith. Sadly i'm a good deal older than you and have a lot more responsabilities! From what I understand from talking to a few people that have done, or tried to do it full time, is that it is difficult to make money from. Work is not always consistent and it will be hard to earn a lot of money doing it. You can have all the skills, but if you don't have any business sense, or aren't good at dealing with customers, then you will find it even harder to make money. Don't let this discourage you though! I would suggest you have a look at http://www.blacksmithsguild.com/index.html and maybe think about doing an intro course there. This will give you some basic skills and might help you decide if you want to pursue it further. You could also look into Hereford college who do blacksmithing courses as well. I agree with Giles that you should let us know where you are in the UK, as it will help people point you in the right direction. Good luck!

Ok, thanks John. Did think about the hacksaw for more control, but mine is terrible (junior hacksaw). Will have to buy myself a proper one. At least cutting the tenon last, means I can get the crossbar to exactly the 400mm that was ordered. Looking forward to getting to the workshop this weekend and getting on with it. Got to pick up all my steel stock and also finish off those tongs. I have a question John. When riveting the bottom end of the scroll to the backing plate, what is the best way to keep the rounded rivet head from damage, when flattening the pin?

John, 400W was the highest I could find! I will check the motor rating and get back to you in here. Been looking at buying an arc welder, which is turning into a bit of a research project. Got to get the right choice. I was going to save time and weld the crossbar of my wall brackets to the backing plate, instead of making a mortice and tenon, as I don't have the tools and it will save me time. I'm considering cutting the tenons roughly with an angle grinder and then filling them to fit. Then I can get the tenon hot, fit it into the backing plate, flatten it down into the pre-put in countersink and then grind it off flat. Problems with this inlcude, being able to cut the tenon with the angle grinder. Not sure i'm good enough for that...... Currently ordering a lot of bits and pieces that I fancy to help me, such as a farriers big block brush and a hide face hammer. Should FINALY be getting my two 2.5lb hammers next week now. I'm also trying to price up the possability of making a 'shed' to work in. It will be made from angle iron and wood and part of the design will take into account that it will need to be dissmatleable, so I can move it to a new location when the time comes. I'm excited about all these new possabilities, but there is a LOT to do!

Just bought myself a 400W single way dimmer switch and a box for it to go in. I just need to rewire my blower into it and then try and make it as weather proof as possible. Both the switch and the box are stainless steel. Tomorrow I am hoping to pick up my 2'5lb hammers and also an arc welder and some rods. I think I could really make a go of smithing now. Going to start looking into designing a shed that I can put up in my garden area, so I can smith in all weathers. I will also need to design it, so that I can take it apart and transfer it to a new place, when the wife and I manage to get a mortgage on a place. Thinking of making it out of angle iron, drilling holes into it so that I can fit it with an outer skin of wood, that I will treat with something like creocote. The difficult part will be the roof and the hole in the roof for outflow of smoke. I will also need to weld an area that I can place my forge in and then leave it so the forge can still be moved, for shows etc. Lots to do, but exciting times!

Welcome Chris! I live not too far away, over the border into England, in West Oxfordshire. Glad to see another rugby fan on here! I have been looking at the Hertforshire college courses as well, as the design parts of the course would be useful for me. I've learnt all my forging skills at the blacksmiths Guild and can't recommend them highly enough.

If your good at making tea your more than welcome! But you'd be a lot better at demo's than me anyway.

Just sent you a PM about the dates! Even if you don't want to do the demo's Beth, it would be useful to have another pair of hands there, even if it is just to man the stalls whilst me, or Giles do a demo. As for demo's you can just do anything you want really, as people just want to see someone whacking some hot metal. People seemed to be entertained, even when I was just making the tongs. Giles was much better as a demo'er, as he chatted with the rowd, as he made things. Can learn that as we go.

The Thame show is the one we just went to Beth. Normally its later in the year, but from reading up on their website, I think they decided to just do a small show this year, for financial reasons. I think I have the rest of the show dates in an email, so I will PM you them. The show was good fun and a learning experience. We learnt that taking a kettle and tea bags etc, is of paramount importance and will be the first thing in the car next time. We did a few demo's. Giles made a rose and gave it to a young girl who seemed enthrawled with the demo. Very nice of him and drew the crowds in. I made some tongs, up to the point of drawing out the reins. Stopped at the time due to my shoulder getting knackered. Need to get myself 'match fit' for more demo's of that kind. We had some problems with the coke and the forge on the first day, but mostly got them sorted the next day. John made a bulldog face with a couple of hooks on it, and even forge welded the layers together a few times. The whole experience was very useful and gave me a good idea of what will sell. The small items for around £5 loo like they will sell like hot cakes. The odd big item will sell as well. Just as importantly we got a lot of interest in the courses at Westpoint. Including a chap that bought a load of Johns lighting brackets. He just bought an old cottage and found an old pair of bellows there. Had a good long chat with him and he seemed very interested in going on a course. Overall a great experience! Even made a bit of money. Well worth a go Beth!

The pikeys? One post bloke bought all my wine and pint glass holders in a job lot. John sold a load of lighting fixtures he'd made to another posh bunch. Very nice though and the bloke was interested in classes at the Guild. The pikeys were obviously looking round for things worth nicking. Asked about swage blocks, as they could scrap them. There was an older bloke who was doing the talking. They were all toffed up, but its sort of impossible to disguise their massive Irish faces. I think they were told not to talk, as they were no good at hiding the accents. Might as well of been walking in, swinging shaleleis and singing songs about the day Raffertys pig escaped.

Quite a mix Beth. A few posh people and a few general norms and a few pikeys pretending to be posh.

The show was an excellent experience, despite the rain and some poor coke. Sold £30 worth of stuff and got a commision for £80 and a few more leads for others. Overall it was very enjoyable and as always it was a learning experience as well. Half made some tongs as well. Got to drawing out the reins and stopped then.

Just about ready for the Thame show now. Heres a few pics of the stuff i'm taking to sell (sadly not a lot). And the rig I set up for painting the stems on the drinks holders. Pretty low tech!

Very interesting topic. I'm new into blacksmithing, but i'm naturaly a very curious person and want to know all about the subject. At the moment i'm just hitting hot steel, but I do have an interest in where that iron comes from and how it is produced. One day in the far future (got far too much to learn yet) i'd love to mine my own ore, smelt it and make an axe, or hammer from it! Thanks for the interesting thread Owen and friends.

The last picture, letter opener is mine. Not a great rams head, but the blade came out ok. Going to try and clean it up tonight! I learnt a lot more on this course than animal heads. I picked up a lot of tips on many things and watching Norman made me change the way I hold my hammer and I now feel like i've got much more control. I even managed to go out for a few beers with another bloke on the course. Great weekend and extremely enjoyable! Can't wait for the firewelding course in October now.

I had a good chat with him about his farrier work and his son trying to follow in his footsteps. Poor bloke had a terrible cough. I look forward to seeing the pictures from the animal heads course. I will try and take some photo's of my stuff tonight. I found my camera in the end, down the side of a sofa at home. Absolutely no idea how it gone down there.

Impressive amount of work to get done in 3 days. The guy in the picture on the far right came to the animal heads course as well, with his son. Nice bloke. Very chatty and handy with the hammer as well.

I was wondering about this the other day. I'm making some things to sell at a show soon, but certainly wouldn't consider myself a blacksmith. I guess if I can take on big projects and turn my hand to almost anything, then I might consider myself one. A lot of knoweldge to learn and a lot of time to be swinging hammers till that day arrives though.

I'm not sure John. I will bring them down on Saturday and you can let me know. I'm afraid I have to plead ignorance on this matter.

Good idea on the bar for hooking on to move the stand. Yes I am lucky to have such a useful place near by. The guy who's garden I have my workshop in, used to go to school with the steel fabricators owner. He used to be a blacksmith!