John NC

Hey Chuck, glad you're here.

I used to live in Yardley, but I'm glad to be out of expensive Bucks County!

Very nice, but you might want to downsize the images in the future.

I like the bowl. Nice and beefy.

Anvil will ring tomorrow for Mike. R.I.P., sir.

Does anyone have a confirmation on this?

You forgot "15 posters to discuss 'fair use', plagarism, and copyright issues." :D

Stop typing and go get it!

The pictures did not post still

If you have an audience, remove the tool and set a good example

If you walk around to the other side of the anvil, you get the same effect.

Nice looking shop, and the hardware is right on the money.

On this side of the Smokies William Rogers recently worked with Cherokee (Tsalagi) youths to get a tribal blacksmith shop established. I'll have to do a little research to check the status of that project. Always good to get the kids involved.

BTW, if you want to get REALLY correct the man's name is spelled ᏎᏉᏯ or ᏍᏏᏉᏯ.

That's a good idea, Matt. I couldn't imagine flipping the anvil around. I'd be lost!

Ken, I'm sure he did. I'm just a poor student. I'm not sure what your second sentence means.

I wonder if that little girl's last name was Yellin...

And yes, the grade school boys ALWAYS ask if I can make knives/swords/weapons. The proper answer to that is "A blacksmith can make anything he desires except money."

I did a demo for a group of 9-10 year olds the other day and got schooled by a little girl.

When I do demos I like to make little twisty-handled butter knives/spreaders out of 3/8" bar. If I keep three irons in the fire at different stages of completion I can crank them out quickly, and no one gets bored. Of course, the last step is to cut the little knife off then quench it. After I do this (and make sure it's cold) I walk up to the group of kids and pass it around, take questions, etc.

Little Girl: Aren't you going to take that out?
Me: What? I'm sorry, I don't understand.
Little Girl: That (points to hot cut still in my anvil).
Me: Oh, uh, um, yeah. That's dangerous. Many smiths have injured themselves when they forgot to remove the hot cut from the hardy hole.
Little Girl: I know.
Me:

It turns out the kids had watched a blacksmith demo video a few weeks ago in class, and the smith in the video mentioned the dangers of leaving the hot cut in the anvil. I guess he made an impression on this particular girl!

Moral of the story: When doing a demo, think about your audience's safety first, but don't forget about your own safety too. After all, we're supposed to be teaching them the correct way smiths work.

Cool. It's always fun to do demos for kids.

Thanks Hofi. That's very similar to the way I was taught to make leaves, but I did learn a few new tricks from you.

Good stuff!

It looks good to me. Hand made items are supposed to look hand made.

That's beautiful. The birds really 'move'.

I made a whole pile of twist-handled butter knives while demoing at Art At The Park. We had a really good turnout, and I got a few kids some hammertime too.

Sold a few items, and met a woman who wants a quote on a stairway railing. 'Twas a good day.

I had a wise boss once who taught me to always say "Yes, let me figure up a number for you" to a customers change request. Then he and I would figure out the time and materials involved, then double that number in a written quote.

About 50% of these were approved by the customer!

As an aside, about 90% of these change orders were from the lady of the house.

I use ProPay.

They have a number of different plans to choose from.

Don't use 'em. Around here people want to see the hammer marks.

They look great Don.

What's the finish?

I round to the nearest five dollar increment. Makes the math easier. I hate math.