John B

This is a couple of pics of what with a bit of imagination from the little girl could be a Blacksmithed Barbie, finish it in dayglo pink, Ironwork does not have to be black

Contact from Royal Cornwall Show,

Someone moving house soon has a "Large" anvil in good condition, some stakes and tools that need a new home where they can be appreciated, Someone required to take the lot.

Located near to Plymouth (UK) for futher details pm me

Great idea, would be useful for a large cup wire wheel, not so fierce on workpiece.

Solved a problem once with a similar thing, neighbour wanted to wire brush some old paint and anti fouling off the bottom of a boat, so I removed the spindle with the mounting arbor for the disc/wire wheel which then fitted into the chuck of the drill, and you could control the speed to what worked well without ripping off the underneath layers on the hull.

I just knew I had kept that "useless" angle grinder for a reason.

Ideal demo at a show is a ballerina from plate, simple cutting and forging exercise, I have put some pictures of what I am on about in the gallery under Ballerina Barbie

They don't take long to do, and may fill the need

Great Show, Thanks to all who came along, especially the competitors and organisers.

Some great artistic bits, Damascus bits, Mokume Gan items, Oh and traditional bits and a live competition and demonstration all three days.

The public loved it, good sales too

Well Done, see you next year.

If you want to stop the bars sliding forward, i've used a bucket on each end tied together with a rope to stop the bars sliding forward, then lash the bundle down to whatever,

If you really want to be serious about the set up, and doubt a bucket is man enough to stop being perforated, you coud use the bottom end end of an old oxy cylinder with a couple of holes drilled in to attach the rope to, or even fabricate one up,

5, 6, 7 June 2008 at the Royal Cornwall Showground
Wadebridge, Cornwall. PL27 7JE

Class 1 INDOOR
Any article for indoor use made in the competitor

I believe the word tuyere is of French origin and means a pipe through which air is blown into a furnace or hearth

Pronounce it as you like, but if its a doo-hickey under my firepot, I know it as an ash dump, and on my other forge, the doo-hickey is at the back

Craft show this Bank Holiday, May 24th, 25th, 26th

Oxfordshire Craft Show, Blenheim Place, Oxfordshire OX20 1PX

Live Competition

Hi, anyone out there in West Australia (Perth specifically) looking for a potential client who wants to commision some work doing.

Enquiry came from a lady viewing the ironwork on display at the Devon County Show in the UK, currently she is touring Europe and impressed with the display, said she would seriously like some proper made ironwork, but she knew of no blacksmiths back home.

If any one out there can help, and would like to offer their assistance, I have her email address.

Another idea on air control is if you are using a bottom blast forge with air entering into the side of the ash dump area, if you have an ash dump plate that is pivoted so it crosses the base like a shear blade, as opposed to dropping down, Then by moving the plate across in small increments, then the amount of blast can be controlled as you can balance the amount of air going to the forge tuyere with amount of air being expelled from the exposed ash dump.

Just don't have anything combustible around the base of the forge

This is not a method I would use personally, but it is effective

Garden Hoes confusion reigns the 90 degree bit turns the blade from in line to as it says, 90 degrees, I know this as a Dutch hoe, probably the same thing as a gooseneck hoe, I think I interpreted twist as bend, as I could not visualise why a twist would be needed.

I think part of the confusion is that because smith's made tools for individuals' requirements, there are many interpretations and names for them,

Then again there are wide blades hoes and narrow blade hoes each being used for a specific application

Its getting to sound like Santas coming

Hoe Hoe Hoe

Wish I had telepathy, what you say(Write) is not always perceived as what you mean.

Sorry for any confusion

June 5th, 6th, 7th at Wadebridge, Static and live competitions, with over a 120,000 visitors a great marketing opportunity, and a chance to learn or show your skills Come along an enjoy yourself

With respect to irnsrgn, draw the blade out before putting in the 90 degree bend, access to forge it out will be easier

That's a backlash eliminator.

The point to removing any sloppiness due to wear on nut or thread is to help prevent the cutter taking control and dragging the workpiece under the cutter, as it tries to 'Climb' and pull itself along the workpiece

Hi Colleen, The nearest show to you would be the Royal Highland Show which is held on 19, 20, 21, 22 June, see their website and contact them for details. They used to be on the NBCC's circuit, and had a gate makeing competition, live blacksmithing alongside the farriers, and a metalwork display/competition in the crafts tent. There are very many 'smiths in Scotland, so they should be able to support it and put on a good show for the public.

Another show that has a forging competition is the Great Yorkshire Show at Harrogate held on 8,9,10 June, Don Barker is the guy responsible for this section and would be able to tell you more, I know they have an excellent static competition, but I am not sure if they have a live competition as such.

I would think some of the smaller Highland Shows would also appreciate your presence, why not enquire?

Good luck with it and maybe our paths will cross one day.

Devon County Show on May 15,16,17 Live and static competitions demonstrations and ironwork on sale see wwwblacksmithscompetitions.com for further details Entries accepted up to 14th May

Results of North Somerset Show now in, go to National Blacksmiths Competition for them click on results

Hi, if you are only going to be demoing for a couple of hours with beginers then the time will fly,

If you don't want to use tongs try demoing something like a meat fork or steak turner, you can work each end seperate, and then if you want you can put a twist in for a handle

good luck with the demo and enjoy it

Clydesdale shoes, big ones, an old farrier friend of mine used to shoe them and regularly forged the shoes using a piece of steel 24" long for each shoe, and that particular horse was only a "young 'un"

Draw filing is just an initial operation in polishing, start rough and work to smooth, files should be "Run In" on some soft materials to remove their initital sharpness when new, and drawn back towards you, the effect is similar to a spokeshave on timber, small curls of metal will be removed,

If you find the files are 'pinning' (clogging with pieces of metal) using some blackboard chalk on the files cutting face will help to prevent this. Just fill the teeth by filing the chalk down, this can easily be removed by using a file card (a short stiff wire brush like, matrix mounted on a wooden block) and brushing across the teeth. the same file card can be used to remove any 'pins' in the files' teeth, if you must remove them by some other method, use a soft probe, not an hardenend one like a scriber as this would damge the teeth and produce an uneven finish.

I have sometimes burnished metal using a hardened polished steel.

Sorry about that, got carried away with the 's' on the end, have corrected it and it is now OK (I think)

There will be the Oxfordshire Craft Show on May 24th, 25th, 26th, at Blenheim Palace where the Guild is attending which should be near to you,

There will be an open to all live blacksmithing competition, with

North Somerset Show at Wraxall near Bristol on bank Holiday Monday May 5th live blacksmithing competition and static ironwork competition and display throught the day, come along and introduce yourself

This is the first qualifying show on the NBCC circuit in the search for the British Champion Blacksmiths 2008

For details of other shows on the circuit National Blacksmiths Competition

North Somerset Show at Wraxall on Monday May 5th (Bank holiday) The live competition is to make a shepherds crook to a sample from material supplied, for entry details see www.blacksmithscompetitions.co.uk and click on North Somerset
Also a great display of forged work to be judged, and for sale.

One problem I find when people discuss using sand as a flux is there are many types of sand, problems also with inclusions, where it was stored etc

One very well experienced blacksmith I know swears by rock, crushed up obtained from a range of local hills near to his smithy

Borax has been used for many many years, and is relatively easily available and works well.

So try different compounds, and ff it works for you, then go with it.