Mr Smith

Well, they told me petrol should be $1.15 by Christmas, and the pumps down the road say $1.14. In US terms, that means $0.86 a litre, or $3.26 a (US) gallon. Time to sell the 4wd (SUV) and buy a Beetle how much do you think it would cost to get petrol posted from the US, by the litre???

Bendik, that is nice work. I'm hoping to make something similar soonish, but you're much further along than I.

G'day all! Here's a fellow that lives down south of us, in Busselton. His name is Malcolm Paine, and he's a member of the "Worshipful company of Blacksmiths". Apparently that organisation has been in existence since 1325, and it looks like you've got to be an exceptional blacksmith to be considered for membership. Malcolm teaches blacksmithing by appointment. Shoot Crackers an email for details. Anyway, here's Malcolm showing us some aspects of fire management. WCB London Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here's some more work from Brian. Remember the post we had about RR spikes?? Well, here's what he's been doing with them. Letter openers! I must say - I love the twist on the handle!

Here's some work of Brian's (Crackers). Bottle openers made in the shape of a kangaroo!

Stop teasing! Pony up them purty pictures! :)

Hey Jymm! I watched a DVD of your demonstrations, via the OABA. Nice work, and welcome aboard!

G'day Brian! I'm from the big smoke (Perth) myself. Welcome aboard!

G'day Chilla! Welcome aboard! This is a great site to kick back and discuss all things smithing! Plenty of Aussies in here, at least. Oh and thanks for your help the other day with that TAFE thing! ;)

Excellent! We have some larger blowers at the workshop. You might want to mount the blower in a box made out of MDF or plywood to if you're concerned about the noise. Properly insulated, it works a treat! Also - Burning Man? - I am deeply envious :)

It *is* an anvil :)

For all those who like folders.... feast your eyes on this! Apparently it has 85 separate tools, including a cigar cutter,and sells for $1200. The Most Incredible Knife - Popular Science

One more photo for today - a wine rack made by Brian (Crackers). I remember this one being made - each one of those grapes was made by hand! By the time the wine rack went together, Brian had it down to a fine art. Not sure, but I'm pretty sure this one won a prize at last year's Royal Show in the blacksmithing category - I'll ask Crackers next time I see him. More photos tomorrow (you *can* have too much of a good thing)

Here's a table made by one of our members. It was made entirely with traditional joinery. I think I have one or two photos of this table being made. More photos coming up soon!

You never know what's lurking at the bottom of the tub sometimes.... Here's a dragon head by Scott Millar, a work in progress. It was destined to be a door handle.

I'd agree with Irn. Fiberglass is good for the small hammer, though, but for axes and sledges, it leaves a bit to be desired.

This may be off topic slightly, but here goes. I've come by a couple of hammers in the past which the handle has broken, and the enterprising owner has welded a length of pipe in, in place of a handle. To repair these, you have to cut off the pipe as close to the head as possible, then heat the hammer up and push the remaining pipe out. I found for these jobs that a drift made to the same shape as the eye, but with a completely flat end helps to knock the remaining pipe out. That's if you could be bothered with the effort, of course.

Thought for the day: "The best form of government is that which the governed are least aware of" Hang in there, mate... if not, there's always MDL :)

Tmone I play a whole lot of games. What you are suggesting sounds like fun. Here's my two cents - 1. Have a kind of "tech tree" but for tools. When I started, I had a small ball pein hammer. Now I have a big crate full. Every new tool means I can make new things, some of which are tools which I need to make more things, and so on. You can have a tech tree for skills (forge weld, tempering, etc) running parallel. 2. I think you may want to have more categories of metal than just iron. Historically, steel was made by heating iron to a certain temperature and allowing carbon to soak in. Perhaps being able to make better steel by using up coal and iron? Then you could have better steel, at the cost of time. Perhaps some fantasy metals like mithril, and so on? Another way of improving metal was case hardening, where a metal object is encased in carbon-rich material and heated for a day or two. All ideas. 3. A lot of smithing is dependent on timing. Put the steel in the fire, let it heat, then whilst it is heating, gather your tools, then pull the steel out of the fire and work. If you bring it out too early, it won't work as easy. If you leave it too late, it burns and is ruined. I hope some of this helps. If I can help further, please let me know.

Brett, ya beat me to it! Here's a few more of the same pieces of work. They're a fruit bowl stand and a mantle clock. The photos do not do them justice. Tidy work of the highest calibre.

Rich, we have a core group of about a dozen smiths that show up regularly. We'll post our work as it appears, but I have some posts coming up soon of some neat work by one of our members. Will keep you posted :)

I'll be in every day, except Wednesday, for as much of the day as I can. If you're swinging by the show, stop and say hi!

It's true.. It's a great place to work, and there's some great blokes working in there. P.s. have you noticed how big my feet are?

Sodium Bisulphate?? Do you mean Sodium Metabisulphate? If you do, that's sold as a sterilising agent for home brewing.. If it's the same thing....

For handyman stuff, try "Google Sketchup". It's free, and has a great deal of tutorial info. Plans are often posted online, too, meaning that you can get an idea of how other folks do it. I tried it out, but I don't have a lot of use for CAD software!