Strine

Pass with honours. Pretty good stuff in my book. But my mentors would have a little giggle at the wheel holding up the gate. "The boss'd always say if our gates needed a wheel they're no bloody good!" Apparently he thought it an insult to his ability as a smith. I reckon if it will help the gate in lasting a thousand years rather than only 500 all the better.

Chef, there a lots and lots of different types of scrolls or spirals in a mathematical sense if you like and you can alter the shape of the scoll by altering one of the variables in the formula. A simple formula for a spiral might look something like R = P I doubt whether you could get any simpler eh? Apply it like this Draw a point on your layout sheet and call it the centre of the scroll. Draw a line sideways from this point and call this the baseline of the scroll. Now plot points on the sheet where R is the distance in cm from the centre and P is the angle in degrees the ruler makes with the baseline. When you get to 360 degrees ie all the way back to the start the angle just becomes 370 (10) degrees and the distance 370 cm. That gives one scroll with a particular length depending when you get bored with the plotting. Instead of R = P make it R = 1.2 x P, or 0.1254 x P, or 112.365897 x P. Do you get the drift the length could end up as anything depending on your formula. My advice...go with the flow. Draw your scroll any which way and run a piece of string (or any other long skinny thing) around it to get the length.

And I've noticed over the years that the hinges were invariably made from old wagon tyres, which meant the face corners were nicely rounded, i.e. worn down after much use behind a horse. Welded eyes in wide stuff, mmm....if I could do that I could at last make that froe I always wanted, er... sorry, needed luv;)

Re: BP 150. Yes...that is a nifty way to do a hinge eye if you have to do them by the hundred. However for me there is no greater satisfaction than doing it by hand. Blacksmithing for me is only about self indulgence so I can take all day to make one eye. By all means satisfy your demands but at least give the old fashioned method a go. The skills you learn or improve on will stay for ever. You will be surprised at how quick the 'by hand' method can get as HW has already mentioned.

Sorry Don I thought you were thinking carry-on luggage portable :)

Don, it is possible with 3" wide flat to roll it around a mandrel the same as you'ld start a scroll. Start by tapping it over the edge of the anvil into a scroll until the mandrel will stay in place. Obviously the mandrel is the same size as the pin. For 6 off, and a couple of practices you'll get it right fairly smartly. I hope we are on the same sheet of music with this!

Don, for portability ie less strain on the back muscles. might I suggest a much thinner plate than 1/4", and use a light frame to support the actual pot.

Haven't used a deep well socket but a mate worked in the police department armoury and at the time of the great firearm hand-in, had plenty of 1/4 inch monkey tools of any length you preferred as long as they weren't the original length :)

Only recently I was asked about my intensions as to why I was studying the Governmant House gates from a few inches away when 'normal' people look at them from afar, take a photo and nick off. When you study a gate from that close it sure doesn't appear that you're looking at the gate but rather what's beyond. In the end the security guard, who appeared from his hidey hole, took a keen interest in the finer points of his charge and we had a great old yarn.

Wow! So elegantly put...a masterly insight into the craft. Thankyou Ed for the inspiration.

Quarries are excellent sources of stuff. I visit two to three per day. When I need some particular item I'll take it home otherwise I graciously allow the quarries to store material for me free of charge. Everybody is happy then . I have a ready source of material and the quarries maintain graveyards they can be proud of :)

LOL, I began cleaning off the dirt and grime with a high pressure hose. The first thing I discovered was that it was originally Brunswick Green in colour not grey. The grey just flaked off under the hose. Under the grey was a sticker showing the name Wolfenden Bros with a picture of what looks more like a bear than a wolf as you would expect. Another sticker up the top is open to interpretation! It has the number 7019 stamped on the edge of the table. A search for "Wolfenden" revealed nothing at the site you suggest but thanks fore the link...very interesting

My turn to have a win. At approx US$150 could you pass this up? All I need now is an extension to the shed to house it!

To the man of many wives. Nah, not offended at all. I had an incling that the point was missed. I too tie a lot of knots in string and rope and leather and all manner of other long skinny stuff. I've spent a fair amount of time at a forge as well, and noticed there's a lot of long skinny stuff laying around the shed. I thought it time to marry the two pastimes. Tying a knot is not a big deal for me. I've even invented a four lead four bight turks head which is mathematically impossible so they said. In short and desperately not trying to be short we are talking iron or steel, oooh, or brass...that would be nice! Sandpile, Leg vice...check, vice grips/tongs...check, doh...no oxy gear! Notice in the picture I attached, how compact the knot is. As with any complex knot you begin by tying it fairly loosely then gradually tighten it into its final size. My first attempt at this method, albeit without oxy gear, was pretty dismal, not that I want to discourage this plan of attack. Grmme. I think thinking outside of the square as you suggest is the way to go. Since we're using an entirely different medium it may call for an entirely different approach. However there is no backside to face to London on the knot. Footnote: Thanks fellas for your interest. It's relieving the torment no end.

Thanks Tommo but I'm only working on the Sailor's Lanyard Knot

Number 8, yes I knew the knot before I wanted to tie it.... in steel. The purpose of the exercise is to add a decorative object to my meagre repertoire of decorative objects. We could discuss the "purpose" of a scroll in the same context, ad infinitum. What springs immediately to mind is a knobby handle with a hanging loop on the end of fireside tools. It could be added to an upright in a gate as a decoration. It could be used as a fancy priest on your next fishing trip. The idea of my post was to get ideas so that I can shrug this monkey off my back. I'm in a rut and need some fresh avenues to pursue. Sooner rather than later I will post a series of photos showing progress so far. In the first place I thought it best for folks that may take up this challenge, to have a finished article tied in rope in front of them, as a model to work from. This way, those game enough to try might come up with a completely new tack rather than be swayed by what I've been doing. We don't want the rut to get to crowded. JWB I was using 5/16 round because it was the same size as the rope I had. LOL, now if all you have is a 6 inch hawser, go for it. That'll probably give a knot about 8 feet across!!! Wow!!

Dear fellow smiths I need some help or more precisely some new heads to think about this conundrum. I want to tackle the problem bit by bit rather than swamp you with the whole headache in one hit. The challenge I set myself (stupidly as it has so far turned out) was to create a turk's head style knot from steel. There are a few around such as the claydon knot but this is not suitable. The simple reason is there are as many "strands" going into the knot as coming out. I hit upon the Sailor's Lanyard Knot as attached. It has a handy loop and only two strands heading into the knot. Perfect! So in the first instance I ask that you all have a go at tying the knot in rope. This will give a good idea of the final shape I'm after rather than what can be gleened from the attached photo. The best instructions I could find on the net are here http://www.ropeworks.biz/reader/boatswai.pdf. For those keen enough to try a length of steel, be my guest. Later, I'll post the progress in steel....the progress that has come to a screaming halt for lack of brain power. I'll then post what I thought would be a great way to accomplish the much sought after final product...the method that just confirmed my incompetency A warning...this has taken me to a depth of frustration not ever visited before and don't wish anyone to fall into the same trap.

Try this, Find a lump of wood and drill a 3/8 hole in it. Find a lump of plasticine or modelling clay and make a sausage. Taper the sausage from say 1/2 diam to a little under 3/8 diam for a length of about 1 inch. Continue the 3/8 diam till you run out of plasticine. Now poke the plasticine into the hole in the wood. it should easily go in until it hits the taper. Guess what happens now. apply a little pressure to the top of the taper with your thumb and eh presto...a head. Now try and pull out the plasticine. Can't be done eh? That's because there is too much friction between wood and plasticine. Tapering the hole in the wood from the underside side will reduce the contact area considerably and therefore the amount of force required to get the plasticine out

Bum....I thought it was another countryman but not so. G'day to you too Brian

Glenn, Glenn, Glenn, I'm not overly superstitious but I worry that you are. Post something quick to ease my mind. Beware the debil's number!

Glenn mentioned sand. Go for "sharp sand" or "washed sand" as we call it here. It's used for concreting. "Fatty sand" is used for bricklaying and has a certain amount of clay and stuff mixed in with it hence it's orange colour. I have never bothered with it as my mentors always use sharp sand. Suck it and see and let us know how it goes. Please don't report back saying it's a bit gritty in the mouth As for borax if you can't find it in the shops ask Grandma, she might have a box of it somewhere :wink:

Excellent first effort Dennis but the arithmetic is a tad out. You started with three layers...mild steel/spring steel/mild steel. and doubled it over. This results in...MS/SS/MS/MS/SS/MS. The two adjacent MS layers become one i.e. you now have MS/SS/MS/SS/MS (5 layers). Doubling again, using the same theory will result in 9 layers...MS/SS/MS/SS/MS/SS/MS/SS/MS. and so on and so forth. In other words the number of layers is one less than twice the number of layers in the previous fold. So after 3 folds I reckon you would have 17 layers. I'm sorry to burst your bubble and don't want to dent your pride but I thought it only fair that I pass on the humiliation as it was passed to me many years ago. But I pass it on in the same good humour and concern for your edification. I thought I'd have to carry this snippet to the grave having waited such a long time to offload it. I hope your chance will come a little sooner. Good luck and happy layer counting.

Well....that makes my making of a gum leaf from 3 inches of 5/16 rod pale into absolute insignificance. Karl's efforts are truly blowing me out of the race. But I'm not complaining, just lamenting a little bit at not having access to such facilities nor the knowhow to use them. Keep up the good work. On the other hand we all can exceed at something, it's just a matter of discovering what that something might be. Some people, like Kallsme, have found it early and good on him

Fantastic site. The other videos as well are a must see for novices and pros alike. I particularly liked the repousse one. It gives a whole new avenue to pursue. Thanks AIW for the "eh boys and girls avalookoverere"

Can't do any better than Smudger. And to add fuel to the fire, on the way to work I pass a building whare the positions vacant sign out the front has 'blacksmith' at the top of the list. That's in the western suburbs of Melbourne.