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Ah! Nothing like 'calm persistence' Das. You got an interesting pattern there. Now I'm thinking I might regret turfing out miles of piano wire. I kept all the tuning pins for junk art purposes but dumped the wire. We had lots of old junky pianos at our Museum. Do you know a steam engine will run all day on a piano?

Nice rose, FPF. The copper leaves make an attractive contrast. Not sure about the copper vine though.

Some great openers there. The one with the knurled handle looks like a socket wrench with the middle knocked out. I am writing this on an i-phone as we had a massive summer storm that knocked out our computers, fried two TVs and blew the bore pump. The lightning strike shook the whole place ... and me. Today’s demo didn’t happen. Just too hot to light the forge. I had two ram head bottle openers to make but they’ll have to wait.

Good to hear you're OK but prepared to move if necessary. Your forge is looking fine. Let us know when the first firing happens.

The wire wheel would have given him a hurry up. Good camouflage!

Hey graynomad, how are you getting on with the bushfires there?? Some horrific reports on tv from your area. We are all good here, except for some extreme heat. Hope you're safe and well.

58, that wreath centre piece is magnificent. The amount of bending, weaving and tweaking would have been awesome. A real masterpiece.

Tried another John B twist today. This one is 8mm square bar and was a bit easier to twist than the 10mm. I have not shown the side with the alignment punch marks because they didn't line up this time. Nevertheless, I am happy with it. I do a lot of pokers and usually make a leaf wrap handle, but this method is good for getting a wider and more comfortable handle. I thank John for the guidelines on forging these.

Wow. That's a courageous venture. Keep safe.

Never thought of that. You could have rump steak with a flower pattern. You always think outside the box, Frosty.

At least you had your forge to keep you warm. That place looks sooooooo cold. Exactly the opposite here. I quit my demo early today, as there were very few visitors and the heat was oppressive. Storm season - hot and humid.

Nice twist. The grooves on the face of the bar give a crisp look.

I just kept it really hot, almost sparking, and hammered very gently with a light hammer. Scrolled the tip quickly before the tongs took out the heat. And one point was a little raggedy so I cheated and filed it back

Well, I did manage to wrangle the wrought enough to make a couple of usable hooks. I'm not sure I even like them, but it used up some stuff that was otherwise scrap. Perhaps a whole bunch of them with different patterns in the cast would look OK on the wall. Relics of the Victorian era.

Wow, That Unimog is superbly restored and looks like it will see service for another 50 years. It would love Australia!

Lovely work with the bracelets, Gerald. I admire the consistent symmetry of your reverse twists, and the way one twist flows smoothly into the other. Well done.

Great ideas. I really like the twisted spanner. So was the business end a ring, or was the loop formed from the shaft of the spanner? It doesn't look thick enough to provide the mass, so I'm thinking it must have been a ring/open end spanner. And that's how I test mine, too. No need to open them … unless you're thirsty.

Visited my son in Townsville at the weekend. He's always doing mechanical work on race cars and keeps likely-looking scrap aside for me. The bearing races I will cut for the balls, the selector shafts would make good punches/drifts and the gear cogs could be scrap owls The gearbox shafts would make great hammers, but that's a bit beyond my skill level. Might try some Damascus with the chains, although that gold plated one (cadmium?) looks a bit dodgy. It's handy to be on good terms with a mechanic.

A few bits and pieces from today - a couple of bull head lifters, a bull and a ram bottle opener, a troll cross and a cobra.

Love the herb knife, mate. And a lump of hoop pine for the handle??? Send Gary up here when you're done. I want one of those herb knives!

Das, the skier is really well done. I always like the finish you get on those pieces. That one has to be sand (or bead) blasted? Or soda?

The feet do look like Peter Wright, and the numbers would indicate British. Never seen a PW with double horn though. Very nice. The weight (287 lb). It will do everything you want and more. A bit of chalk or powder rubbed over the writing may reveal more lettering.

That is one of the most frequent comments I hear at my demos. We all know different. Wales is a nice place. Went there once. Very scenic. We have an interest in railways and locomotives and enjoyed a visit to Betws-y -coed. (I had to Google that for the spelling!)

Yes, indeed. And after a while we ourselves become asymmetrical. Have a look at your hammer hand forearm muscle compared with your opposite one. Sometimes I feel like one of those crabs with the one big nipper. I don't have a death grip on the hammer either. A physio friend of mine said I should practise hammering with the other hand, even if it is just belting a block of wood or something. I cannot forge left handed no matter how I try. No control at all. Not ambidextrous. Ambidangerous. I get a bit of wrist pain at times, but mostly it's the little finger that feels the strain. Less so, since I lifted the anvil to wrist height rather than knuckle height. And how many of us actually do a warm up? I know I should, but …..

Yep, I've done a few, too. I don't get the lifting tab as neat as that though. I like the very clear oval shape there. People have called me a vandal for using good spanners to make bottle openers, especially if they see a Whitworth W stamped on. I rarely use a valuable spanner and the other end is often broken. What's your excuse , Mark?