Mick

6 Just think Dale, tomorrow you can put one glove back on.

Top of the morning to you Michael, oh boy oh boy oh boy, where to start. First I would suggest you take off the rose coloured glasses where blacksmithing is concerned. Simply having a passionate desire to promote blacksmithing is never going to be enough to get this off the ground, and your passion is not going to be widely shared. Analyse what you are trying to sell from the viewpoint of a sceptic, non believing, long pocketed financier. When you have done that you should be able to identify the weaknesses in your proposal and take steps to negate them. I don't know what government funding in Ireland is like but I suspect its much the same as near everywhere else in the world, hard to come by and even harder to keep. Politicians will only give support to causes that are politically attractive, and that they believe will benefit them politically. Good luck trying to convince a Poli that blacksmith training has any political merit. If I were in your shoes I would target the commercial blacksmithing community with a package designed to attract their interest, keeping in mind for almost any business to offer sponsorship they expect a benefit to their business in return. Mate if there is any infrastructure of the old school remaining I suggest you convince as many smiths as you can find to form an association and get the thing up and running as an operating, self funded smithy, no matter how small. It is always easier to gain support for a struggling reality than an ethereal concept. To my way of thinking if you can't garner support for you project from within the smithing community you have got no chance with those outside of it. All I can offer you is my complete moral support, I would love to hear in 6 months that you have been successful. Best of luck Mick

Doc, good luck with breathing life into your new find, I can't help you with identifying the anvil but I just have to say, and please don't be offended, but that is one ugly lump of metal.

7 This is nearly as much fun as an advent calendar.

I trolled this up with face book. Wish I knew better how it works but there you go. I too was anxious for news on the big fellas progress. De Frost | Facebook I was concerned about privacy but this is public domain stuff. I haven't tried to contact deb or add anything to her page but at least I got an ieea of where Frosty is at currently.

A total cure might only be achieved through brain surgery in a procedure known as an anvilotomy.

8 getting scary close now Dale.

9 You can put your slippers back on Dale were down to single digits.

Even i would want a sleeps counter for that one.

10 yes that's right just ten more sleeps Dale.

Ill be available ifn they need a striker.

11 Who said I missed it. Dale ifn it was cortisone you got it may take a day or three to kick in. Have had a few of those over the years with mixed success and one catastrophic failure.

12 Getting closer Dale.

All I have to say to that is MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM chicken.

Now I SEE where I went wrong, you gotta wait till after the chook lays the egg. Can anyone help with a Martha Gardner remedy for feather and giblet stains?

Should anyone who uses this site not be aware, Dale is looking forward the 'Get Hammered at Moony's' weekend with more than a little excitement and enthusiasm. I thought it would be cool to help him count down the number of sleeps till the big event. So here we go: 13

So is that 16 days and fifteen sleeps or 16 mor sleeps?

Heres the result of some simple math. Speed at the rim of a 6" diameter wheel at 1850 rpm = 48 feet/second. Speed of a 24" wheel at 1850 rpm = 194 feet/second. Speed of 24" wheel at 100 rpm = 10.5 feet/second. Sam if your bench grinder wheel size and rpm and your pedal grinder wheel size and rpm are even remotely similar to these then this was always going to be a recipe for disaster. Your observation of the difference in the composition of the original sandstone and the modern composite wheels is very valid but even if you tried to spin a modern wheel up around 20 times its design speed I suspect you would get a similar result. Really glad you survived the experience unscathed.

This wasn't funny enough to make me laugh.................but it did raise a chuckle.

Don't get the wrong idea Ian, I am not prejudiced, I like all denominations.....carpenters, electricians, painters, brick layers, I even have a friend who is a PLUMBER.

Ahhhhhh I rest easy now.............. trained poms. Just a thought........are they house trained?

Dale you didn't tell me there's going to be a Pom coming to Moony's. We better organise a pie warmer to heat his beer up.

Check the OD of the rod is not larger than the 1/4" die.

Words are just simply inadequate. Mick and Julie

Colleen, when stair makers do this they will pre-assemble the stairs in the workshop and make the railing to the staircase. You will need to recreate the stairs in your workshop with a dummy structure and fit your rail to the curve. measure each tread of the stairs very carefully, (make sure you measure to the same points on each one) also measure the height of each one above the last. On site set up a gauge pole, that is long enough to go from ground level to the top of the stairs, absolutely plumb, (vertical). Position the pole where an extended line from the face of bottom stair and the face of the top stair intersect. Take accurate measurements from the pole to front corner of each stair tread. In the workshop mark the height of each stair on the gauge pole, and set the pole up plumb. Make a pattern of each stair tread (16mm mdf would be good). Using your offset measurements you can then fix each tread to scaffolding (basically joining the dots) You should end up with a very accurate copy of the stairs and a working platform. Build your rail to this. If I were you I would subcontract this portion to a carpenter, for airfare food and lodgings I would be happy to do it for you but I guess it would be cheaper to use someone local.