beth

thanks very much john :) :) (have only just clicked nonjic is you :) i can be a bit slow...) i will attempt this tomo and let you know if it goes weird on me .. didnt actually ring because i thought you were washing your hands of these hammers - am i wrong? thanks for the information thats greeeeat :)

james (or anyone) when you say flush the old oil out with fresh, do you mean drain whilst ticking over and top up with new oil? how much oil should i expect to drain out approx, just so i had an idea? i have the 25kg anyang. do you think i should let it get hot for a few hours first before trying to get the thick oil out?

fe wood - i have exactly the same problem as you - and its got worse and worse longer and longer tie to warm up and has been DOING MY HEAD IN!!!! am extremely pleased to hear the simple oil change has been successful finally, im going to try it tomo!!!! excellent news :)

i just found this whilst looking for something else - the principle of it would make a nice element :) i think it is an old cast oriental ornament..

no elemental, im sure it could be done similarly to how rashelle said, but i its not how i did it - i mig welded it. im not a particularly confident fire welder, i am an artist before a blacksmith as some of you will know! the reason you might think it looked forge welded is because it went back in the fire so i could get my hammer at the mig welds! like i said there are many variations on this symbol if anyone fancied making some - im sure a silver jewellery scale version would be good :)

glad you like it - the reason i made it like this was for a gift for somebody who has the symbol as a tattoo, so it had to be as you see it. and frosty your right about it being an ancient symbol, it can be found in many cultures/ eras /parts of the world, but i think it is most earliest in Ireland.. :)

beautiful! love the scraps youve used, the steel brushes look magic - and the glass is really wonderful. i love him!

yes - it is one thing to show a demo, but quite another to get across the elemental beauty of the whole thing. well done - glad your making more! i will watch them :)

basher i have just watched that video ( after trying earlier and being disturbed by the kids...) that is the best thing ive seen on here for long time! as well as being very interesting for someone like me who does not make knives, ( LOVED the cutting edge and the oil ) it was just gorgeous to watch! the black and white works BEAUTIFULLY for me, i loved the detail of the dirt in your nails and fingertips and the skin on your hands next to the steel - just lovely!! mesmerising :) and the music was perfect, especially the scraping steel string noise, beautiful beautiful beautiful - lovely composition and playing from your bro. film made more great by the fact that brothers made this - i really totally enjoyed it - and if i may say so, you sport an astonishingly good mustache :wub:

yes, accepting bondness as a perfect word choice :) i love the whole idea. its like rock or something, or swiss roll. would be a good way to make eyes. here is rock by the way, if you dont have this stuff - its sold at the seaside here... :) usually sold with icreams and cream teas..