Arpspasm

I sent a sword over for a customer in Scotland a couple of months ago and although he spent a while organising the correct permits and such there wasnt too big a problem for him (Though it did get held up by customs for a bit.) I think if any Scottish collector doesn't mind a bit of hoop jumping they shouldn't have too much of a problem legitimately aquiring a sword.

This may be a stupid question but did you use any galvanised steel in the construction of you firepot e.t.c.? I am only asking as burning zinc can be quite hazardous to your health.

I agree with all your points and as I said I had to rush it to have it finished for their launch. Not that I am making excuses but it wasnt finished to the degree I would have liked. I also am no stranger to tidying welds up with the angle grinder, I wish I could afford a mig as I find them a lot neater than the tiny stick welder I own. Thanks for the critiqueing its also what I was after (as well as the ego stroking )

Of course critique away.

Its 3 pieces of steel beaten out into a dome then painted. Thanks for all your compliments guys much appreciated.

Hey all, Here is a couple of pics of a sculpture I did for a friends shop. It was a little rushed to have it ready for their opening so it wasnt as tidy as I would have liked.

Hi there, I have been having trouble finding steel cable to try making a cable knife. Bunnings only has galvanized or stainless cable and any other places I have tried seem to be the same. Does anyone have a good source in Australia?

I didnt realise that the chooks were laying in my forge and I stood staring at the large white piece of coke for a while until I realised it was an egg. Thanks for all the compliments if you could see a close up you would see all the flaws and the non uniformity of the scrolls. I will have to make some jigs up.

What you cant see is all the times I burnt the ends of pieces of metal or all the other mistakes it was a great learning curve. Thanks all.

Hey there here is a pic of my first blacksmithing piece. It came about because my boss asked if I could make him a set of gates, I had been wanting to begin blacksmithing so I used his deposit to set up my forge and purchace tools and bits I would need. The photo is of them before they were completely finished and with all the remaking of mistakes and learning as I went I probably earnt about $15 dollars an hour but I didnt mind as it allowed me to start forging.

Hey All, My name is Daniel I live in Maleny, a small town in the sunshine coast hinterland an hour or so's drive north of Brisbane. Great to meet a few other black-handed Aussies.

in order: Flux yes plain borax. at first I think I wasn't for fear of burning the metal but have been getting as close to sparking point as I dare. Steels a few combinations the once that the welds seemed to fail quickest contained a layer or two of pure nickel sheet. I scrapped the elaborate mixes and have had some minor success with a mild and high carbon steel mix (1010 and r-6?) Sorry for the slow reply I have been making a new letter box which hopefully will buy me enough points with the wife to spend another few days experimenting with the billets. By the way thanks for all the replies you advice is appreciated. P.S. The failures I have had was mainly the welds delaminating Which I think I can put down to "too little heat and to heavy hitting" I will see if I have any luck with my latest billet and post some pics of the success or failures.

Hello all, Have been learning about blacksmithing through trial and error (mostly error) for almost a year now. The last few days I have managed to ruin 5 billets of various metals in an attempt to get a handle on pattern welding I'm not too disheartened though and I plan on trying again in the morning probably with a simpler combination of metals. I suspect the one of the main problems is a bit of a lack of knowledge of exactly what colour I am after for the forge weld but its a joy to have the forge fired in any case so I dont mind if I mess up a few more times to learn. Regards, Daniel