IanR

was there a dog tied next to the steel?

A possibility but no.

Barefoot in the shop eh? Don't you blokes down under have some really nasty stinging bugs?

Frosty the Lucky.

All sorts of nasties Frosty, worst one we have where I live is the Sydney Funnel Web Spider, possibly the deadliest spider in the world. They are ground dwellers but mostly come out at night, but are known to hide in shoes if they dont make it home after a night out. First and last time barefoot in the shop.


I'm taking a length of the steel to Get Hammered at the end of the month to see if any of the guys there know what it is. ;)

I've added some photos to this so I thought I would bring it back to the top.
Cheers ian

Jocko, you really need to get out more.
Moonys birthday today, 25 and never been kissed (if you believe that you'll believe anything) (that he's never been kissed, he really is only 25, he's just had a really hard life so far)

If anyone has a special request for steel let me know and I'll see what I can bring. (and i don't want a request like "oh phil could you bring 24 lenghts of angle iron for me to make a new tool rack, you can buy that yourself. I'm talking alloy steel or steel for tools.

Phil, Happy Birthday for the other day, I sent a PM but your inbox is full. I cant think of any steel I need ,but if I do I'll certainly take advantage of your offer. I started a thread in General Blacksmithing titled 'Steel identification' the other day about some steel I picked up at a garage sale, I'd appreciate if you could throw your two bobs worth in. I'll bring some down to Moony's for some hands on ID as well.

Cheers Ian

Nice work, your friend should be pleased.

As with Fat Pete, most of the links have long gone but the ones I see all point to one thing, anvil abuse. Some of those anvils could have been 100% usable

Hemingray 34's? (Looks like the ones in the big group?)

Now there's a man who knows his insulators.

Nice work Joe, great idea. I have one only, dont think I could get more, but it's given me an idea for one of our mantles. I too use to shot them out in the bush where they were still attached to disused poles, we used to get as far away as possible and use a .222, mostly across valleys so any misses would just strike the hill behind.

Thanks for the replies fellas, today I had a better look and the steel had what appeared to be an brownish oily coating and some of the pieces were mild steel so that may have accounted for the rusty look. I haven't had an opportunity to forge or spark test today but I didn't notice anything unusual yesterday. The piece in the photos I cleaned this morning and it came up with an appearance like it was machined, but on closer inspection it appeared to have a coating which was reasonably easy to remove by scratching with jewelers tweezers, but the unusual thing was the flakes scratched off were picked up with the magnetic tweezers.Next time I have the forge lit I'll wack on a respirator and check out how it behaves.

While on the safety side of things, a tip- always wear footwear in the workshop. I knew today was going to be busy so when I woke this morning I jumped out of bed grabbed the camera and went out to take some photos. I usually have the workshop squared away at the end of the day so I didn't think there would be any hassles, I didn't count on the length of steel falling off the bench onto my foot, I now have a cut and bruised pinky

Thanks again for your answers
Ian

Today I bought some steel from a garage sale ( I can hear everyone go Oh No!). The people were moving overseas and their son was a hobby smith, but he wasn't there to ask about the steel. It was all in lengths about 1.5 metres long, sharp square corners, a semi shiny appearance, some lengths with surface rust and all marked with yellow paint on the ends. There was various sizes ( In metric) 25x12, 20x10, 20x20, 30x30, 6mm round,8mm round and a few other sizes.I assumed it was cold formed steel possibly 1020,it forged similar to mild steel but my concern was the unusual odour it gave off when heated. I will take a photo tomorrow in the daylight.
Can anyone shed any light on this?

Cheers Ian

Beautiful work thank you for sharing. As a horticulturist by trade I love seeing plants being reproduced in metal.

Cheers Ian

One more day till I start counting sleeps :D

I just love watching a good side draught in action, well done, nice looking shop too. I'm currently running a hooded setup with coke, a high 9" chimney and a large roller door opening to my shop and have no noticeable smoke. We dont have winters like the Northern hemisphere so I can keep the door open all winter.

I was just thinking Dale, Moony probably hasn't got an anvil under 250lbs :wacko:

I'll watch and judge.

I'll be head photographer :lol:

Looks great, keep it up and most of all remember to keep having fun.

Cheers Ian

Jeremy, I can sense an anvil lifting competition coming on :D

Grew a mustache when I left high school in '76 had that for about 8 years with a few different beards along the way but always kept the mustache. Then went clean shaven for many years, had a soul patch when I had long hair for about 5 years. When I cut my hair I went clean shaven again with a few different soul patches,biker goatees and the like. Growing a full beard at the moment, but that will probably get modified along the way until I find something I like, then I'll probably shave it all off again. Can't make my mind up really :unsure:

Looks great Rory, thanks for the step by step pictures, Love the tool, great way to clamp an awkward joint.Being a Horticulturist by trade I appreciate the fact the leaves actually look like Aspen leaves. Looking forward to seeing the finished article.

Cheers Ian Ross

Thanks for the advice , I put in a price today but haven't heard back yet. From what the bloke said if the lady can't wait till the end of the comp I might have to make another one Also information that I have learnt on I forge Iron went into the making of this so I would like to thank the site and all its members.

Cheers Ian

Thank you Francesco,what an amazing idea. I'd say to any young smiths out there grab this with both hands and go for it!

Cheers Ian Ross

Thanks for all the comments fellas and Beth, oh, and Bob's wife. Well got a pleasant surprise this morning, the nursery rang me and asked how much I wanted for the teapot because one of their customers wants to buy it! This kinda complicates things I guess, the nursery suggested making another one for the lady, but I was thinking it was like a one of. I have to let him know a price tomorrow so I'll see what I come up with tonight.

Cheers Ian

Thanks for the comments fellas,the nursery's at Werai http://www.countrywideps.com.au/werai.htm the comp finishes on the 17th Oct. so thats before Moonys. Yeh, I was worried the competition might depend on how many mates you have voting and today I found out one of the entries is from the Girl Guides so they might get the sympathy vote. But as I said I'm just stoked that the idea worked :)

This a teapot sculpture I made for a local nursery/tea-house who called on artists to make a teapot for their inaugural sculpture competition. There was 11 entrys using all sorts of media and they will sit at the nursery for a month while customers vote on them. Although the $500 prize money would be nice I had great pleasure making this because after thinking of the idea I had no formulas or guidelines to make sure the whole thing looked right and would balance. After welding the "pour" to the base I suspended the teapot from the rafters of the workshop and used a light spring clamp to bring the two pieces together.Well, there was much celebration in the workshop after welding it all up and gingerly removing the rope holding the teapot and the whole piece sat there balanced. The arms on the base are 12mm rebar with the ends spread and punched to take pegs, the other materials used are 50mm x10mm flat(pour), 10mm round (teapot), 16mm x 3mm flat(teapot),16mm round(handle) and 25mm round(forged into a ball for the lid handle).Base is sprayed with zinc and black anti-rust and the rest is coated in a protective oil which drys to a hard film and should last 12 months before needing a recoat.

Cheers Ian

PS I used wood chip to cover the base

JA, all the best with your home and workshop, the media reports dont do justice to the amount of damage done.

"Does Fosters actually sell somewhere in the world? I know I would'nt buy it for love or money here in Oz"

My thoughts exactly Phil, I think Barry Mackenzie was the last bloke to drink Fosters in Australia. :D

Thanks for the video Grant,it's great to see old machines put to good use. The heated bars seem to come out of the induction coil with two distinct heated areas, is the coil set up to heat two areas where the upsetting is to occur?

Cheers Ian Ross