Zeroclick

I did look at getting one of those but my issue was trying to position them to maximise how much light spread, then I saw Joshua de Lisle use the sticky back LED strips in his new workshop and he ran them the full length to give a really good flood of light. I thought it would work well as 5m is about 7 quid and a transformer is the same, then i can run them up and down the side of the roof beams and even stick them to the bottom with out losing any head room. I may even run them under the workbench to light that area up as well . How do you find the cool white for checking your forging colours does it effect them at all?

Hi All, I was hoping to find out what people feel are the most effective colour of lights for inside the shop. At the moment I have to single bulb lights at each end of the shop pointing outwards, this creates alot of shadow. I am therefore thinking of swapping them for LED strips that I can fasten to the side of the roof beams, and along the walls to really flood the place in light. However I am unsure what colour to go for whether warm white, bright white or daylight ( or any of the others that seem to be available now). Any advice on what people have found best in their own shops would be greatly appreciated. Thank You, Luke

So I didn't do anything in the shop today. But I did manage to get my first commission which I am really happy about. It isn't a big one. It is 4 horeshoe hearts, and a standing horshoe center piece and should be really good.

Just watched this last night and was another really great video can't wait to see more. Thanks, Luke

I have to say that really made me laugh. But it is apparently frowned on by the movement.

I made two of these little camp tripods for the scouts to do their waterboiling challenge. They are 50cm tall made out of some 10mm rebar i had.

JustAnotherViking - well I will just have to suffer for my art Gerald Boggs - That looks really cool I like the handle, what steel did you use?

With the corkscrew I did I used the technique Mark Asprey demonstrated however I made it a lot shorter, for the balance of the whole piece I thought if it was to long it would feel weird when using the other end. It still seems to grip in the cork nice and solidly I will have to try it out a few more times to see if it holds up.

ausfire - I used mild for the one i did and it seems to be working fine so far.

Arkham - those look great. This was my attempt at a double ended bottle opener, and my first go at a corkscrew.

I made another bottle opener today and did my first corkscrew took a few goes to get it right but looks like it works. I also made a drift out of 25mm.

Thanks Stitch I was pretty happy with it for my first one.

I made this bottle opener today, also managed to recover a leaf i was making the other day which was good. I also made another horseshoe heart that i am happy with.

This is my first punched and drifted bottle opener and has been tested and works perfectly. The starting stock was 30mm x 5mm, i chose to do the handle as a split flat bar twist i saw on blackbear forges youtube channel.

@Gergely those picture frames are beautiful, and such an elegant design. @Ranchmanben those tongs look brilliant.

I saw a really nice one on the Blackbear forge youtube channel, it was a split flat bar twist that looked really eye catching. He just split the bar and gave it a standard full twist, then just did a quarter turn back to open it up a bit. Cheers, Luke

Had a bit of a rough one today. Hadn't been in the forge for a few weeks. Made a hook that i was happy with just to check my rhythm, then had a go at a few more leaf key fobs but just kept losing them to cracks which was irritating but can only get better tomorrow. Also made a start on a bottle opener.

I did look at the hofi style, but the walls have not got the structual integrity to handle the hole being drilled through. Also my shed is right up against that wall with only a 6"gap. And i cant go out of either side as the left is right on the border of the property so would be in the neighbours garden and most of the right side is the house. The reason i was initially going out the top right is there it is a wooden board that raises that side of the roof to create the slope. And i was trying to avoid the roof as they are the old asbestos sheets. But i think with the legal requirements and if i put a big pipe in the initial location it will be right in front of the kitchen window which would not go down well. That was why i was going to use the exhaust vent. Cheers, Luke

Ok so after some more research on the laws it has to be at least 5 foot (1.5m) above the highest point of the roof so it looks like I have no choice but to go straight through the roof. So think I will just go with the two options below and make my own cowl to go on top out of some sheet metal I have. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110819610063?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=410068289360&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dektite-Roof-flashing-Premium-Range-Square-Low-High-Temperature-Twin-Wall-Flue/321484393118?hash=item4ad9f68a9e:m:m-rkSwgOZrQUxJxr1Qar0EQ I will just have to damp the roof and wear my face mask when I drill through and hopefully it will go well. Cheers, Luke

Thanks for the reply, I did have a number of concerns myself with the choices but couldn't find anything that I could really apply to my set off in terms of the building I am in, so I thought best post something that may be possible and see what feedback I got. After looking at more setups I do agree that this won't be suitable but it is how to move forwards. In regards to your points. 1. I did read some information about aluminium ducting on the form but I thought this related to the insualted ducting, So would steel spiral ducting be ok as it still has the raised areas. Along the horizontal run I was going to a series of brackets to support. I am guessing this would be ok then. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Galvanized-Steel-Spiral-Duct-Tube-Ventilation-Different-Diameter-Extractor-fans/322263599833?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D49480%26meid%3D510179e5369545ec96215dab30fa897b%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D110826630595&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851 2. Apologies I miss read the spec on the fan I thought it was 298 CFM not in meters, and yes I did have my concerns for the material on it. But I thought the distance from the heat source would address the risk. I agree after reading that spec that it is totally unsuitable 3. I did find an alternative cowl which is made from Stainless Steel and rather than having the backdraft it has a larger opening and only has a mesh on the inside to prevent birds getting in. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01LW17LPX/ref=twister_B075XCPCYT?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 I have remeasured the space I have and may be able to just squeeze an 8" pipe in the space if I reinforce the surrounding area, the only issue i would have is finding a way to mount an up section on the outside of the building I will try to get more pictures of the setup. I will also try to find more on the regulations in the UK I only seem to be able to find ones for internal chimmneys. Many Thanks, Luke

So I was wondering if my previous post was so stupid that it has shocked everyone into silence or it got missed in all the new posts. I am aware that an 8" or bigger would be better, but for now I have to work with what the building allows. When I get a new roof on the place I will be going for a full chimmney with the height and diameter required. But do you think what I have outlined would at least clear the small amount of smoke and CO that will be produced. I am burning coke so the levels of smoke are negligble once the initial start up is done. Also I intend to fabricate a wide hood to help with capture. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Luke

So I need to put a chimmney in as the weather is now taking a turn for the worse and can't leave the doors open anymore. Going straight up through the roof. So I was planning to take the route through the side following the red lines on the picture, then to increase flow add an inline fan where the blue smudge is to keep it away from the heat and then the cowl linked on the outside. I could really do with some advice on this as I have read a number of articles on the site, and I think I have found a midground that will work for my setup but was hoping to get a second opinion. 6" ducting ( I know 8 or 10 would be much better I don't have the space on the exit point to fit the diameter) https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00T1PKRQC/ref=s9u_simh_gw_i2?ie=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pd_rd_i=B00T1PKRQC&pd_rd_r=e71cb7a0-d071-11e7-9237-eb11a6a0f382&pd_rd_w=Nm140&pd_rd_wg=QC0Ds&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=&pf_rd_r=S8V0BHT7BK423CM5HM98&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=187bec3b-0822-4044-bbe9-441718232b3f&pf_rd_i=desktop Inline fan ( hoped to compensate for the samller diameter by increasing the flow) https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N6Y0NLL/ref=s9u_simh_gw_i1?ie=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pd_rd_i=B01N6Y2HSF&pd_rd_r=e71cb7a0-d071-11e7-9237-eb11a6a0f382&pd_rd_w=Nm140&pd_rd_wg=QC0Ds&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=&pf_rd_r=S8V0BHT7BK423CM5HM98&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=187bec3b-0822-4044-bbe9-441718232b3f&pf_rd_i=desktop&th=1 Cowl https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06XF4NN5J/ref=s9u_simh_gw_i4?ie=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pd_rd_i=B06XF4NN5J&pd_rd_r=e71cb7a0-d071-11e7-9237-eb11a6a0f382&pd_rd_w=Nm140&pd_rd_wg=QC0Ds&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=&pf_rd_r=S8V0BHT7BK423CM5HM98&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=187bec3b-0822-4044-bbe9-441718232b3f&pf_rd_i=desktop Thanks, Luke

Just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to our cousins across the pond and wanted to ask what everyone is most thankful for this year. Cheers, Luke

I agree totally with this I have been really lucky in meeting a lot of really friendly and supportive smiths who give me really good advice. That is brilliant and really proves the point that it isn't possible to judge from a single lesson. Which episode was your student in.

Well this is what came to my mind when the statement was made, in this case it was based purely on forging ability. I found it hard to believe that you could tell in such a short time that the ability of an indiviual had gone as far as it could go. The problem is it was something that got stuck in my head a bit like an ear worm, and started to make me doubt myself. My end goal is I would like to do blacksmithing professionally, but what if I had reached the limit of my ability and I just thought this is a dangerous think to say publically.