Ian

LMAO! Ok, just for you bloke.....

Lowell Chaput (in orange) President of the CBA Brent Bailey Joe Koches - The Blacksmiths Shop Michael Bondi's place Frank Trousil Jonathan Reddan (left) and Jim Austin

California: The Crucible Jeff Pringle Chris Niemer - www.thecrucible.org Nina Cliff Bohm Joe Felber - www.jjforge.com

He Hay! Some of mine.....

Oh, and this is the first piece of work since I got back to the UK. Having hauled ten pounds of (Mule Team 20) Borax back with me I figure I'll be doing some forge welding to see how it performs against sharp sand so I'll need a flux spoon... :D

HI mate, yes it's a mix that includes salt, lots of salt. It's washing up liquid, a dishwasher rinse agent like 'jet dry' and salt (not sure of the exact recipe, but it'll be online somewhere). The trick (as shown to me by Larry) is to quench your mild steel by plunging it into the quench mix in the same motion as using a sink plunger (up and down) instead of a stirring motion. Repeat the heat and quench twice in all. The photo shows the parent bar stock split in two at the end (done hot) and two bolts cut (cold) with a chisel made from the same parent stock and then quenched in the mix

Greetings all, I arrived back in London earlier this morning after a very nice 6 hour flight sat next to an extremely pretty polish girl ,who it turns out, has an uncle back in Poland who's a farrier. We swapped numbers. Small world Anyhow, my heartfelt thanks to everyone who raised a flag or lit a fire to help guide me through the amazing part of the world we know as the USA. I hope I wasn't a pain in anyone's a-s, said anything unintentionally that offended or made more of a nuisance than I was worth. It's my sincere hope that if any of you make it over this way I can be as hospitable as you all were. Now I hope you'll bear with me while I try to sort out some sort of life again then I'll get to posting some of the places and people I've seen. Oh and a late breaking but equally big thanks to 'Smithy1' AKA Larry from the forge over at Central Park who managed to round out my trip with some time in the fire at the 11th hour and conclusive proof that superquench CAN and DOES work. IF you know how to use it, which myself and Sean now do Saludos Sir!

Ow do all, arrived in Brooklyn, New York safe and sound. Reunited with my partner in grime Mr marshall, who extends his apologies for not making it with me. Soooo.... The list of blokes to thanks is a long one. Gomez! Or maybe I should call you something else? LMAO! Steve, I've enjoyed our ribbing each other online over the years tremendously and I enjoyed doing it in person even more, you've a great family and it was a real honour to meet them and spend time with them. I owe your lovely wife a rose for saving my hide and my car keys. I reckon we both wished there was more time, but hey, there's always another time amigo. I had a blast, it was my honour to re christen that old anvil and to meet those incredibly decent folks at the rendezvous, my thanks mate. Jeremy Knippel. Sir, you were a gent, I had an absolute ball and learned a hell of a lot by watching you at work. Take my advice, get into those posh city galleries and do more Smithing work man! You're as good as some of the best I've seen with a hammer, and you know I've seen a lot mate. No BS. Big thanks for putting up with me for a whole week, and for introducing me to some real characters, both the Smiths and the folks at Paul Bunyan Land, and of course not forgetting your lady friend (no, not your neighbour LOL) that girl can cook! Only hope I can return the favour one day mate. Scott, AKA 'Dodge' Semper Fi indeed, couldn't have asked for a better travelling companion mate, it was great to meet your family, see your shop and share some of your time. Hope I didn't bore you to tears bloke. LOL. Anytime you need a wingman for the trip to Stan's let me know. BTW thanks to Bernie too, too short a stop I know but another time sir. I've made sure the flag has been treated with all due respect, it'll stay in my hand luggage to make sure of it. Sean was extremely impressed with the anvil btw, still trying to convince him its a flame cut and he wants to take your tyre hammer home in his luggage, LOL Stan AKA 'Trying It' Can't think of a more apt user name for anyone. Is there anything you won't have a crack at for gods sake bloke? Canned damascus to Parket flooring, anything goes doesn't it? What a great place and a great hammer in, you're blessed mate. A lovely family with two generations of girls that can cook fit for the gods, Seriously bloke, after tasting those cookies your girl sent us away with you'd better tell that fellow to get his finger out or he'll have competition for the cook I enjoyed the visit enormously mate, so many of the Guys from Iforge being there made it truly something special, Richard Thibeau, who is hilarious in person (thanks for the flatter and the beer btw Richard!), Steve Sells, Scott and yourself. Just epic. I owe everyone an enormous debt of gratitude and I'm sure I'll think of others I should say thanks to but times short so if you're not mentioned no harm intended, I'll get to you IAN in New York waiting for the 'blow' to come in

I second the crispy critter comment, having been one because of inexperience + over enthusiasm + propane. Ruined a good leather jacket and burned my neck and half my face bright red. Having to explain to an irate DG why the house stinks of burned hair, half your beard is gone and you're redder than a stop light is not fun (connected garage). Shut off valves that require anymore than a quarter turn are sweet F.A. use in my opinion if you want to contain any sort of bad day out with gas. In my case an incorectly (read barely) tightened rubber hose blew off under pressure and turned into a fire breathing snake that would not lie still and die. Several years later and several gas builds later I'm much less likely to fry myself or anyone else by using propane but the best advice I was given was this: until you understand it you'll never be its master. play careful :)

This is a call out for Stan (trying it) I 'might' be able to make your hammer in on the 19th,20th,21st August mate. It's not a billion miles from Omaha and depending on how long the guys above will put up with me and the river crossings it'd mean driving back into Omaha either sunday night or eraly monday to get the rental car back in time. I'm booked on a greyhound monday night at 8.45pm to go to new york for my last few days. My numbers above mate so give me a call and we'll see what we can sort out amongst everyone. Saludos!

Oh and today I met with a fellow some of you might have heard of..... Harlan 'Sid' Suedmeier owner of The Little Giant power hammer company Yes I took photo's... Oh and I got given a few lapel badges and fridge magnets I might give away to those I reckon derserving LOL

I'm at Jr's place in Falls City, Nebraska. He's getting very much into the woodworking side of things and has some beautiful work in the place. Heading up to ten hammers for friday evening for a bit of a forge in with him and some of the guys he knows (on yer Gomez!) and then up to Jeremy K's for a spell (top bombing Jeremy!) Finally looping back down to see Dodge (Semper fi Scott!) So the next week or two is all the iforge lads. Cheers blokes, y'all came good for me, appreciated.

Hi All, not long to write, in a library in Omaha, Nebraska. Have a new hire car for the next 21 days... Hoping to get to see Jr Strasil, Scott (Dodge), Steve (Ten Hammers), Jeremy Knipple and anyone else within the mid states that is willing to give me a call on 530 936 4121. After the 21 days I'm on a greyhound bus for New York. I have sat nav so get in touch by phone with an address or place of interest and I'll try and check it out. Might not get to the florida area but I'll try, depends on feul costs. Not got a million dollars to spend sadly. Hope to get some feedback from y'all IAN

Hi all. On interstate 5 heading north for ferndale. Just left brent bailey's place in orland. What a top bloke, fantastic to see him again and he has the best shower ever, lol Helped me sort a phone. My new number is 530 9364121. Heading for the redwoods

Well, still stuck in Inglewood waiting for replies. Sent emails to Rob and to the President of the Californian Blacksmiths ABANA chapter. Nothing yet. Guess it'll take time.... Another day or so and we'll have to rent a car and start moving regardless, 6 weeks isn't very long and we do have folks further inland who have come good.

Progress report: We've landed in LA, managed to sort a motel for the night in Inglewood. My mobile phone won't work here so I'll have to use public phones to call people if they send me a cell/house number etc. Rob, should be able to check emails until about 11am tomorrow morning (unless we book another night) then I 'think' we're going to try and rent a car for a few days. Speak soon IAN p.s email is (ianstuartlowe@gmail.com) just remove brackets :)

Sent you an email bloke, hope you can still help best wishes IAN

Thanks Thomas, a decent map will be one of our first purchases. We arrived safely in Oz after a flight that was surprising for not being incredibly uncomfortable, found a train out of Sydney and were collected by Glenn in the early afternoon. Settled in ok and are starting to look over the gates and a few other things too. Still need everyone in the States who think they're worth a visit to get in touch with us and we're chasing contacts as net time allows. Hopefully a few pictures and such will follow as we can get get them processed. Remember, only seven or so weeks till we touchdown in L.A. :D

That looks great Very cool, I've a soft spot for fish but mine was a bit more skeletal :D

Hi Mitch, Thanks, glad you like her She spans about three and a half feet in total. The lower abdomen came from an old empty powder fire extinguisher and the 'head' was dished out by hand from a circular plate. The legs are 12mm ( aprox 1/2 inch) forged round bar. It's welded together rather than traditionally joined as I'd have liked but time was short and I wanted to get her done before leaving The peined candlesticks are textured 4 inch by 4 inch by 1/4 inch plate and the larger stands 7 inches high with the central spike forged from 1 inch square bar. Both were great fun to make and a good final session in the fire

Greetings All, well this really, positively, absolutely without shadow of a doubt is the final bit of work i'll be posting before heading out to Australia and then America. Comments and opinions are as always welcome IAN

Perhaps things just work a little differently over the water, but I don't pay anyone to demonstrate at an event. Quite the opposite in fact. I've certainly done a few demonstration days for free (with the right to sell anything I make or take with me) in the early days but now I charge the event organisers for my attendance. Usually it's £100 per hour (all inclusive) for a straight demo, or £150 per hour for a demo that involves any sort of teaching session. So far no one has questioned me or the prices and I've got several gigs lined up for late September after my trip. I'm not as expensive as some by a long shot either. The idea that we as Craftsmen (and women) should have to pay anyone to demonstrate is laughable to me. There are about 3000 or so registered Blacksmiths in the UK (with a population of 63 million) if an event organiser is not happy with what I'm asking then they can talk to one of them instead, if they even know where to look. I think it's cheeky.

There will be two of us travelling this time around. Myself and (fellow metal masher) Sean. We're getting together tomorrow to start planning out a route across the States. We'll have six weeks to get from Los Angeles to New York. At the moment we've a really loose idea of a route which will consist of heading north from L.A. (staying reasonably close to the coast) taking in Las Vegas (and hopefully Dr Jim H.) and then looping back around and down towards Texas from the Canadian border and then weaving around through the middle over towards New York. As I said very loose at the minute. We're going to use the list of Blacksmithing Groups on Iforge to make a firmer route. That way we can hopefully get in touch with them, see who can help and firm things up time scale wise and route wise.

Iron Falcon, I'm really sorry but I'm afraid I don't. The picture was taken by the Dragons owner/maker (who I 'helped'). He is a UK member of Iforge though, called Manny (I think his user name is Manny O War or something similar) you could try and PM or email him and ask if he still has any photo's of it (or if he'd be willing to take some more, as it's in his house after all) The tapered pineapple twist is a bit tricky but looks great. If you're wanting to try one I'd suggest using adjustable spanners with smooth jaws. If you've got an old set you don't mind altering (or ruining) then grind the jaws to the angle of the taper, it'll make life much easier. You also have to do the twists in sections starting from the thickest end and working up to the thinner end. Hope that helps a bit at least IAN