beatamax

This video shows the peat cutter in use YouTube - Cut Peat and your competition Demand for peat tools on the up and up - Stornoway Today Strange thats she's approached a smith at the opposite end of the country One other thing, in your pictures above and the ones in the stornoway gazette the blade is on the right of the spade in the you tube video the blade is on the left. I dont know if its personal preference which way you work while cutting or if it depends whether your right handed or not, but it might be worth checking if your customer has a preference.

This you tube video shows one technique for making bowls, you dont need a pink mallet or the puck thing. YouTube - Introducing the TuckPuck metalshaping tool Traditionally elm was used for doming blocks, it has an interlocking grain making it resistant to splitting.

I bought a small one off Ebay the other week for

I seem to remember seeing hatchets made from old ball pein hammers, you wouldn't need to punch it, plus it should be decent steel and cheap!

Thankyou Charlotte, i've ust had a quick look on google and found that it needs sand adding about a 50 / 50 mix and silica and it still needs heating up to drive off the water. I need to read up a bit more. "I would spring for jewlery investment" We Yorkshiremen have a motto See all, 'ear all, and say nowt Eat all, drink all, and pay nowt An' if tha does out for nowt Do it for thissen Were born with deep pockets and short arms:):)

My mate is a school technician and he'd suggested plaster of paris the other day for an aluminium casting project i'd been considering for my chopper. We can use the school equipment which includes a pottery kiln so happen we would have fired the mold in the kiln first. He thought the plaster would have had a better finish than sand.

Cheers Bentiron, I was looking there last night it comes up first in google. Its looking like the way forward, for now.

Blimey Aeneas's I wasn't expecting that much info thanks a lot. You dont mention using flux, I watched some clips on you tube and a lass was doing some centrifugal lost wax casting and she was using boric acid as a flux (although I think she was casting silver). Initially I had been considering trying to hammer a billet out, but I do like the idea of casting, i'll have a look at cuttlebone and steam casting on google first and see if I can come up with something for a one off. Do you know if a mould made from plaster of paris is feasible? I ordered "The complete Metal Smith" by Tim McCreight off Amazon yesterday so i'll see whats in there as well.

Thanks to both of you, the book link is great. I am not too bothered about the gold content as nothing I make is going to be for resale and wont be hallmarked, but I think I might melt the chains separately just in case. Cheers

Sorry if this doesn't belong here, has anyone had experience working gold. I've got a couple of chains, a pendant and an old ring that I have been thinking about melting up to make our lass a ring. I have considered either having a go at lost wax casting or forging (my first choice). What I wondered was should I forge it hot or cold? does gold suffer from work hardening and if so whats the best way to anneal it? am I barking up the wrong tree altogether? I have found info on lost wax casting and actually smelting the gold but not on forging. Any advice will be appreciated.

I seem to remember seeing a picture of a U.S. bumper sticker years ago that said "if you outlaw guns only outlaws will carry guns" pretty much thats whats happened in the uk. I cant remember the last time I saw someone walking down the street with a sword - Oh thats right I haven't. I am not scared by guns and knives what scares me is the knee jerk reactions that the police and goverment keep making. The problem is not with any weapon or tool (there's probably as many stabbings carried out using screwdivers as there are with knives) its the fact that people have so badly lost the plot in society that an almost instant resort to violence is considered normal.

I've just sold my drummond round bed, i've replaced it with a Viceroy that just come out of a local school (i'll take some pics tomorrow). There is a fair bit of information about drummond lathes (and a lot of other makes) here lathes.co.uk and there is a drummond group on yahoo.

I'm not sure what actually happens chemically between steel and muriatic acid but the metal seems to go rusty at the slightest hint of moisture afterwards. I have cleaned brick laying tools with it and I have to keep them covered in oil when not in use.

dont know where you are in New Zealand but I just got this from google Bryant Farrier Limited - farrier supplies for the New Zealand farrier and blacksmith they sell flux just google blacksmith or farrier supplies. You can forge weld mild steel without flux for practice get used to getting it to the right temp then getting two pieces to stick together.

Why aren't you ready for welding, I learnt forge welding on my beginners course with Steve Hopps and Peat Oberon also teaches it almost at the start of his beginners course. If you can get metal hot enough give it a go its the only way you'll learn.

this is the link Bronze Cable Damascus Tutorial

try googling mokume gane, I cant remember seeing brass and steel welded but I read an article once where the smith had forged bronze and steel cable. I cant find the link anymore but I seem to remember that he opened the cable and put the bronze inside then heated the cable and kept twisting it as he hammered it to tighten it.

I have been taught to fire weld but I find when its something thin like this it tends to get badly deformed or I end up burning it.

Hi it seems roses are popular so I thought you might like to see this one I made for our lass for valentines. I dont have a gas torch and the flower could really have done with brazing on to the stem, but given that it just sits on the mantlepiece. I need to work on my hammer welding though I hate the way ground mig welds look.

How do, i live in yorkshire, England and play at blacksmithing as often as I can. I am currently building a chopper and am hoping to incorporate some forged bits in the build.