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I Forge Iron

first show


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I had a great time I enjoy talking to people about blacksmithing. I don't want to do demos b/c I like big iron and after laying brick all day I power hammer not hand hammer. Talking to potential customers is almost as much fun as forging. Collecting money is the most fun.

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There's some talent on that table, don't stop. The plant hangers got a good organic feel, which is good for hanging organic stuff from. I'm going to throw some judgements at you, feel free to ignore, but I feel you're just a tweak away from transitioning from nice, to beautiful. Your ball ends are great. That implies you can isolate material at will (Guillotine fuller?). The same technology would allow you to pull a tenon, on everything you have arc welded to a flange. If you punch a hole in the flange, you get a un-copy-able frog-eye look. if you use thick enough material for the flange, you can use an 82 degree countersink from the backside to create a relief, that you can rivet the tenon flush. Worried about the rivet rotating? You're a mason, right? Remember those aweful star drills, four sided chisels that can drill a hole in masonry with a hand hammer, in less than 6 hours? I find star drills on the 'please buy me' rack at the hardware store for a dollar or two. Get the countersunk mat'l hot, and give it a whack or two with an appropriate sized star drill. When you rivet the tenon in, the star drill divots act as detents, the rivet stays put. Your prices are low, because you're arc welding in sight. Don't like riveting? Dont't like punching? Drill the hole, do the same coutersink, and plug weld & blend from the backside. Your work just jumped a league. I like your leaves done over the bick, with the centerline raised. I started doing those a while back , and have no desire to go back to chiseling in veins. The chisel marks never look right anyway. Carry on. Your work is good. The reason I wrote this diatribe, is, my demo table looked just like yours for a couple years, until some old phart gave me the info I just layed down. We pass it along, that's what we do. I did a blues festival in my little town in September, a lot of product like you have. Something weird happened, maybe it was the beer booth down the way, but some folks came by, got to talking, 5 minutes later, they had bought out 2/3 of my stuff, I was low on widgets, but had plenty of money for the beer guy.

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Thanks mike I can and have done most of the things you were talking about. With my time and their money being on the short end the welds keep things priced lower. I do slit and drift a lot of the time and I can forge weld but it is tough to explain why they should spent the extra money for something they are hanging 7ft off the ground. I am doing another show in two weeks and I have the time this week to add some different items. Thanks for the feedback

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That stuff looks good,
I agree with Mike on the 'step-up' but if time is in short suply and you need a quick fix then at the very least punch(you can do it cole with a small lever machine or press if you have one and 'secret weld' from the back. Also your goods look 'new' you should try to get an 'older' look. I'm not sure what finish you are using try quenching some pieces in old motor oil and put them on the table next time to see the customer responce.
We have done quite a bit of wrought aluminium work and some wrought stainless steel and still the bulk of my costomers wanted an oldie worldie look, this is posibly that most people think "if the blacksmith made it then it should look 100 years old"
Ian
P.S. I mean this in a constructive maner, what you have put on that table looks good. people on this site apreciate the effort involved and with some minor tweaking you should become star for the general public. :)

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You have a great collection of items that show you are an artist. Thanks for posting the pics, they're great.

Mike -- Thanks for the great advice. As I am just starting out I will take your comments and put them to use in the near future.

Francis -- I agree about having a forge up and running on site. Nothing gets peoples attention like a little smoke and the "ting ting ting!" of an anvil.

Ianinsa -- Used motor oil huh? I just happen to have some. Will try it this afternoon.

Did any of the RR bottle openers sell? I was about to make some but aren't really sure that there is a market for them. Like Mike said, I reckon it depends if there is a beer wagon nearby. :P

Good luck next time, don't get discouraged!

Mark<><

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You have a great collection of items that show you are an artist. Thanks for posting the pics, they're great.

Mike -- Thanks for the great advice. As I am just starting out I will take your comments and put them to use in the near future.

Francis -- I agree about having a forge up and running on site. Nothing gets peoples attention like a little smoke and the "ting ting ting!" of an anvil.

Ianinsa -- Used motor oil huh? I just happen to have some. Will try it this afternoon.

Did any of the RR bottle openers sell? I was about to make some but aren't really sure that there is a market for them. Like Mike said, I reckon it depends if there is a beer wagon nearby. :P

Good luck next time, don't get discouraged!

Mark<><

I sold two of the bottle openers $15 each, several hooks and a dinner bell
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I do demos up here in Canada, our season is over but when we are out there we have a full setup, forge, anvil, leg vise, post drill. We go in 2 or 3's so that someone is always hammering and someone is on the table. We are finding that benches for people to sit and watch the work being done does alot for sales. When they see what you are making laying on the table they want to buy more. If you have a wife along then that frees you up to hammer and talk to the people/crowd while you work. Nothing brings people to see the Blacksmith and his wares like the sound of an anvil and smoke from a forge. Think of them as a 20' neon sign pointing at you. Oh, have stories ready for people, folklore, history, family stories, crowds love to hear them, share them, talk about them. One sound bit of advice I learned from the guy who taught me demoing, leave your area as you found it. Clean all the garbage from around your site, no ash or clinkers on the ground, no pieces of metal left. Gets you noticed and invited back.

I do like all the things you have for sale, all "usable" things and well priced. The setup was very good too and you posted the prices clearly. If things don't sell this season at least you won't have to toss out the stock, but you will be ahead for next season. Nothing worse then doing a show and running out.

The only other point I can make now is to have fun. Enjoy the people, they are not only customers, they are friends, contacts (for rare finds), people to hang out with for an afternoon.

Do it until you have found it is no longer fun.

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