Joel OF

Hi guys, I've searched for threads on this already but didn't find any... As of late I've been getting really crumbly annoying clinker that's time consuming to remove as it breaks up easily. I normally get convenient doughnut shaped hard clinker that I can hook out in one go. I have a bottom blast forge, I burn coke and I've not been doing anything different. I typically clean out the clinker after lunch (I let the fire die over my lunch break) and once the next morning - twice in a 24 hour period. Can anyone offer any suggestions as to why all of a sudden this might be happening?

With keyring bottle openers I find that people want them as light as possible. They are made from 8mm round bar.

I need to make the pilgrimage to Westpoint Forge one day!

Interesting points, though mainly points geared towards work to be sold at markets/fairs. What about the same question but specifically about bespoke one-off items? E.g. there's a guy who wants me to make a couple of handrails up to his front door, he's given me an idea of what he's after but he's 99% left to me design what I think is right & trusts my judgement. Now if I was designing them for myself I'd punch & drift holes, rivet, mortise & tenon, & collar...but those details would probably be completely overlooked by him & he'd probably prefer to see scrolls & big shapes so he can see where his money has gone. I think in the main people want immediacy, they want to be immediately visually satisfied & they'll pay more for that than they would for subtlety.

I'm becoming aware of the general public's perception of "high value", basically what they'll pay more money for. In my opinion it's the things their eye immediately gets drawn to - finish, texture, elaborate shapes - whilst things like precision engineering can be completely overlooked. No one ever sees every design detail in one hit. What details do you think have a higher perceived value and what's your feelings towards them?

Cheers for all the help guys. I reckon I'm gunna wait till the January sales and get a steel chop saw. I didn't appreciate all the differences between wood and metal cutting saws before so this has been very helpful!

Cheers Ian. Yep, the value of John's advise is never overlooked! What do we think of this? http://www.gandmtools.co.uk/cat_leaf.php?id=9514 I'm kinda sentimental for old gear but I have mixed feelings about that company's pricing...and new stuff comes with warranties and to me you can't put a price on peace of mind!

Cheers DSW! For someone that didn't understand the question you more than hit the nail on the head, you could say you sawed it. Boom-boom. I'm so glad I've never met any of you, I'd be flat broke from all the thankyou beers I'd have to buy! :D

Cheers DSW. I was aware of them already so I'm glad your suggestions are starting to confirm my prior research. One lingering question - taking the Evolution mitre saws as an example, if there was a metal cutting blade that was the right size to fit one of the mitre saws, would it be ok to put it on there or would you folks advise against it? That's kinda a hypathetical question because I think they've made the various saw and blade sizes inconpatible. i.e 210mm mitre saws and 355mm steel cutting blades.

Cheers John. My Dad talks about Axminster like a kid in a sweet shop, and sadly I am slowly turning into my Dad.

Thanks for the reply folks, thanks for the links Chinobi. Your replies have prompted me to clarify a few things, so here goes. (Again, I'm quite naive about power tools so please bare with me). I primarily want a saw to be able to cut straight lines in the typical "off the rack" round/square/flat stock sizes for the sorts projects you'd expect to see on market stalls and beginner commissions. If there's a saw that could also cut circles out of sheet then that'd be great because I like making bowls with 3 and 4mm sheet, but I appreciate that might require a separate type of saw for that purpose alone. I'm lacking in floor space so something veritical and bench mounted appeals to me. I want to get away from hand held saws for various reasons including: safety, precision (including reducing the amount of filing/grind needed to be done after a cut), and you lose a vice when you cut hand held whereas with things like chop saws they seem to have vices built into them. I'm drawn to things like mitre saws/chop saws because you lock the stock in place and bring the saw down, seemingly removing as much human error as possible. Any kind of saw when you feed the material into it increases room for error, I do understand though that there isn't a saw that will cut a profile without me guiding the material into the blade. If I had to chose one or the other my main priroity is having a saw that will cut straight lines, not profiles. I may be wrong about this but having a toothed saw as opposed to an abrassive saw appeals to me more because you can see what you're doing better. I appreciate that what I'm describing might mean purchasing two types of saw but as I'm lacking in knowledge about the capabilities of various types of saw there may well be a type of saw that does everything I want it to and I've been looking in the wrong direction thus far. Oh yeah, budget. I'm not made of money, infact I haven't got a pot to .... in but I do appreciate that the right tool for the job will cost what it costs. I'll cross the budget bridge when I get to it haha.

Hi folks, I need a bit of advice about saws, I've done a search or two for existing threads covering this but I can't find any. Basically I want to get a bench top saw like a chop saw or mitre saw to upgrade from cutting everything with angle grinders, (mainly for safety reasons), but I'm naive about power tools and I read conflicting reviews. Can anyone offer me any buying dos and don'ts? There's a few Evolution Rage sliding mitre saws on sale at the minute but some of them sound too good to be true...and I'm a cynic. Cheers for any help.

Wow, that Stepney opportunity sounds immense! Unfortunately for me I can't apply as it's not the right timing in my life/career but I'll be VERY jealous of whoever gets the tenancy.

I've just bought a bouncy castle blower (not arrived yet) & plan to put a slider gate & dimmer switch on. I've just been away training on a brand new Vaughns forge which was insanely loud. After a week an electrician rigged up a dimmer switch & the difference was amazing, I could hear myself think. (Always reassuring to hear that cog turn). I found that leaving the gate full open & the dimmer low to half way worked well.

I haven't done any demos yet but I can sympathize because I know the sort from when I've done market stalls. Thinking ahead to demoing & running into this sort my instinct would be to lie about needing to do something dangerous to the fire that would require them to step away, eg put wet coke on the fire which spits & could blind them, or do something very loud that'll make them want to leave, eg a few ear piercing blows on the heel of the anvil.

I just bought one of these yellow bad boys on eBay, I'll let you know how I get on.

Epic. Got any pics?

I recently had a go forging with pure iron, if I was going to make anything really small I'd want to use that, it's like plasticine and not brittle at all.

I've heard that term several times, what does it mean? Is it a generic term or is it a specific part salvaged from something else? Cheers

I've heard a couple times that bouncy castle blowers work as forge blowers and I think that I even saw a pro using one, but if I remember correctly that was just on a smaller demo forge. The ones I mean are the cheap £40-ish yellow plastic looking ones on eBay. Does anyone have any experience of using them?

Thanks for all the advice guys. I was working away from home and couldn't get the ingredients required to make the cleaning solution so I had to resort to a wire cup brush and corner sander. Boring, dirty and time consuming but it gets the job done I guess. Basher - do you know of a way to weatherpoof mild steel with a clear finish? The acrylic lacquer seems to be holding up but I have noticed that it scratches easily.

Thanks for the advice guys!

Is it possible to glue a flux to mild steel to make your own stick welding rods? I've got some pentahydrate borax, would that be a suitable flux? This is just a theoretical idea.

That's being too kind, I'd say "to find out put your face in it" and let evolution take its course...