Ratel10mm

The rest of it is probably at Moony's :D

Sorry John & all. I hadn't noticed that Moony'd put his address up.

Mate I'm just saying some folk would prefer to keep these things reasonably private, for a variety of reasons and I note that Moony himself hasn't put exact details of how to find his smithy in this conversation. For e.g, lots of collectors are quite secretive & do not appreciate the general population knowing they have, again for e.g, valuable cars kept in such & such barn on so & so road. I don't know Moony's feelings on the matter, just feel that it's polite to observe others' privacy until you know otherwise.

Ummm, maybe don't make it too obvious guys. Moony may not want the entire world knowing where he is.

I'm told that you should use oil, not grease on a fly press as grease will pick up & retain particulates, thus creating an abrasive that will damage the press over time.

Up the track, bear left through the gate as you come to the house / domestic site & follow the track down to the smithy. Dale, you forgot how confused we were the first time we arrived @ Moony's. Remember we thought his garage shed was his smithy? :D

Congratulations Tim, and that's a beautiful piece of work. :)

Check out your local CFE as well. If they have a metal workshop, they may have at least some basic forge gear. Then join their model engineering club to get access to the equipment (not forgetting the lathes, milling machines, etc, etc, etc, at infinitum!). I did just that at Kingston College in London & it worked well. Cost 90 Quid a term iirc & got me a student union card as well! ;) Being in a flat there was no way I could have done any forging at home. ;)

I agree in principle with Beth & D_E2's definitions. For myself, I say I'm trying to be a blacksmith in my spare time. But I'm more attracted by the art or practical art side, than making tools & machinery.

Have you come across Peter Johnsson yet? I had the pleasure of attending one of Basher's forge ins where Perer gave a lecture about swords. Some of the attendees had brought reproduction swords, which needed quite a lot of force to maneuvre. Peter's sword, basically the same (he'd designed the repro sword) needed no such force. It seemed to be where you wanted it almost before you knew where you wanted it! You felt like you could wield it all day. Peter's lecture was about what made this difference. The balance points, nodes, etc. I still wish I'd owned a video camera & had video it.

It looks beautiful Owen. Was it a commission or a 'because I wanted to'?

Denise, I'm pretty sure you can fly Townsville to Coolangatta. Or you can fly Townsville to Brisbane. Cooly is local to me, ie about 15 mins drive. Brisbane's about an hour. If the cost of flights makes it viable to car pool from here I can collect you from either. And as you know there's a spare bed here if you need / want it. Matt Phil, I'd love to attend a meet at your smithy, although my wife might not agree it's a good idea! ;)

Do any QLD's or northern NSW's fancy car pooling this year?

I'm assuming both, since I badgered Dale into asking Moony. And I'm no pro! ;)

I agree with Dale. Snap it up, now! :)

Andrew OC & his bunch may be interested as well. Too far for us banana benders I think?

Good onya Larry.

Jeremy K & Ric Furrer summed it up for me.

Hi Owen, and happy new year to you. I'd personally fight Longstrider for the opportunity, myself! However, I'm i) asuming to want a youngster & ii) obviously not in the UK anymore. For what it may be worth Forgemaster (Phil) has tried a couple of adult apprentices & found it didn't work for him (see the Get Hammered at Moony's thread from last year). In my own case, The one time I've had a mature apprentice I found him a great worker & generally a good student, but struggled with remembering he was an apprentice, not the decision maker. It seems these days youngsters don't understand that apprentice isn't a status, it's a rank. And if they don't want to be the sweeper, tool carrier & tea maker, they'd better ascend the ranks as quickly as possible! I suspect BB may be a useful place to advertise for an apprentice if you decide to do it. With your reputation there, there's bound to be more than one member who'd like the opportunity, either for themselves or one of their children. BABA as well, of course. As you know there's a listing of smiths who are willing to host or offer apprenticeships. It may be worth adding yourself to the list? For me, I wish I'd had this opportunity back when I left school. At the time, the craft resurgence hadn't really got started & everyone assumed Blacksmithing was a dead trade. The career guidance officers were utterly useless - probably still are in respect to 'out of the pigeonhole' career opportunities. Several years later, I discovered there was a blacksmith at Culham, 10 min's drive from me & had been all the time! By that time I was well ensconced in refrigeration & anyway was too old to become an apprentice (here in Oz we still have a formal apprenticeship scheme for pretty much every trade, & it's common to have mature age apprentices changing careers as you need to be licenced for most trades - for which you have to be qualified). It wasn't until it all went Pete Tong for me at work that I re-evaluated my options, took a couple of Bob Oakes' courses, one of Peat Oberon's, and one of yours (iirc I was your first student when you started your school. When was that? '08?). Now I'm still a hobbiest & very much a beginner due to various constraints, but I'm finally on the path! What all that ramble is trying to say is, go talk to the local careers guidance officers & make them aware, so that maybe a kid who'd be an asset to you doesn't end up doing something they find boring, but bill paying. As I mentioned, there is still a formal apprenticeship scheme in Oz. Moony lectures at his local TAFE (CFE to you & me) & could certainly get you a copy of the curriculum, which may help as a guide for your apprentice until the NETS is reinstated. I'm sure Phil would tell you how it works from the employer's perspective as well. In the meantime, here's a couple of links that may prove useful: http://www.sit.nsw.e...ia_Index_ID=111 http://hsc.csu.edu.a.../Blacksmith.htm http://www.bremer.ta...0&ins_spec=true All the best & good luck with it mate. Matt

It's 2012 in Oz, so happy new year to all. Here's hoping it's peaceful, prosperous & healthy.

You know Dale, he just loves to boss everyone! I'm in, family permitting.

Lovely axes Owen. :)

Mate I think Corin had it first? Although who knows where it came from? Certainly hit hard & fast. I spent all Tues & most of yesterday in bed, myself. Hope you & other victims got off more lightly. I also hope Nick puts up his vid's, they're much better than mine which cut out half way through the process for some reason.

Too many! Sorry I didn't say goodbye Phil, I didn't realise you were on your way when I saw you in town. Thanks for the invite to your smithy, but I was so stuffed with the man flu that was going round I thought it best not to stop & maybe pass it on. I had a great time, learned loads & made new friends. Bring on Get Hammered 2012! And seeing as it'll be the fifth one, I think we should do something special. Anyone got an idea or 2?

Packing now! :D