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.. 

nice touch steve - im liking the oreo addition.! :) and yeah id use coco pops too...

thanks dodge, BCROB, what a beautiful thing that is to use as a pin. i thought they were just for purely decorative function, like chunks inlaid onto surface. really never seen that before :)

gorgeous work too. :)

these look beautiful ! do you make slices and inlay them? do you have any work you made with them? ive never seen this kind of thing made before...

excellent! his attitude is brilliant - vacant and gorgeous and displaying his wares ! :) his head is great - i like how wide his feet are set too. the photos are really fun to watch !

lazy if you like - but using your very good eye that gathers all the interesting descriptive details together :) will def post my peacock when i do it !

andrew your right! i guess i presumed the entire tail was eyes, and the wings infront, and it does appear more like this when the tail is down, but if you think about it no eyes are visible from the back when the tail is up... just the dull brown ones.. i have some smaller shoes stashed which i might use on mine but ive not decided yet, and i have never thought of using a pipe cut into sections for rings! thats ridiculously obvious, and something i would do in cooking or perhaps with cardboard but ive never done that with metal! well done!! that will be SO useful :) thankyou ! i will thoroughly enjoy your photo step by step thing for the peacock, i particularly like your approach, which is unique to your style, of using the best shaped part from the outset, rather than fiddling and altering to much after youve made your selection.the glass is going to look wonderful!

andrew your dead right - anything my dogs chase i blame myself for - luckily its not dangerous animals like kangaroos, but there are other dangers like roads and livestock, they are instinctively drawn to this activity and when they have occasionally chased it could have been prevented by me concentrating better, and im not sure about the beating either. will the dog connect that with the chase or not? im not sure. i praise mine when they come back, for coming back, but im sure some would say  thats wrong. if it were me, i wouldnt be so keen to come back if i thought id get a massive hiding! dogs are a big responsibility.. and like you said you cant keep them chained up all day, your never going to have a dog trained 100 percent, so you got to devise ways of avoiding danger on their behalf.  are the kangaroos protected because numbers are decreasing? 

woah andrew that kangaroo tale is fearful... am quite shocked by that - knew they were dangerous but thats really much more stronger and co-ordinated than i thought they were.. as for the 2d peacocks of mine i kind of meant yours are properly in three dimensions, whereas flat things ( to hang on side of house) are kind of 2d. in my head :) so mine will sit flat to a wall. the lady who ordered them wanted some real ones but her husband wont have it, so she wants two metal ones to hang by a tree near her very amazing old house. she may want some more, i would encourage her too, they could be everywhere... :)

thats going to be fun andrew ! ive got to make two peacocks myself in new year - but they are to be fairly flat and wall mounted and are to be made on a bit if a budget! i think your sculpture will be beautiful - peacocks have some lovely details, that sticking up bit on top of the head, the eye shapes in the feathers, the big body tiny head ratio, the size and shape of tail, all things that will look great i rusty steel and glass - i reckon those two materials will look fab in your style of working - ill look out for it!

thats very interesting that you have different piles for different ideas - its kind of a long game plan? i like that - might be an idea that will help me!

only just seen that JK - it does really suit the room, not too fussy and fiddly - love the texture. bet it feels nice.

thats great peggy! :) how wonderful to be be able to write poems - and also to inspire them. nice one peggy and jamie!

hey andrew i like this one i particularly like him from the back! he has  alot of power. and i love his kind of mudguard haunches :) fab :) the pictures done like this are great - would be great in time lapse photos - your work would make compelling animation! lots of work to keep stopping and photoing though...

frank! wonderful! i love this kind of art, and indulge in it all the time, i compulsively make and decorate bread :) particularly the magical and fantastic wild sourdough. there is few finer occupations in this life! mine are not made in adobe ovens, but the next best thing, on a wood fired range in my kitchen. thankyou for that beautiful picture, i believe everyone could benefit from this simple nourishing creative outlet! :) i bet you make bread yourself.... :)

i love that one scrap!!! SO TACTILE - the ripper points give a fabulous texture. love how solid he looks :)