G’day All,

I have been lurking and learning for a while now. This site is truly amazing! The amount of information, knowledge, skill and artistic ability shared on this forum just boggles the mind. There’re so many clever buggers out there....Great!

I live and work in a remote place in the Northern Territory of Australia. The nearest town is 500 Km (310 Miles) away and the nearest city, Darwin is a bit over 800 Km (500 miles) by road.

I’m not a trades-man (and I don’t pretend to be a, or use the name of, ‘Blacksmith’) but I’ve been building things and practicing skills for most of my working life. I’ve taught myself (through trial-and-error, books, and asking advice) to Oxy, Arc and Mig weld, which is a help when living remote. I like metal working.

I have wanted to try ‘Smithing’ for some time and have tried doing a few bits and pieces in the past, with varying levels of success. I used Oxy to heat, but that’s slow and expensive for bigger material. I built myself a forge and bought a bag of coal and had a go, but wasn’t very happy with the results (wasn’t getting enough air) Of late, things have picked up. I’m now making my own charcoal and getting good results. We have a tree that is common in the NT and across the top of Aus, the “Ironwood”

It’s well named, as it is up there with the hardest and heaviest of woods. It also makes great charcoal, with little ash. (Just go out and get some fallen dead stuff and cut to size with a chainsaw [chain will last about one tree before needing sharpening- it’s hard stuff!]) Melting iron in my (latest) forge is no problem....Well, actually that is a problem...I have to keep a close eye on the metal when I work it thin, or it’ll become a sparkling blob real quick.

Anyhow, I’ll post some of my stuff in the appropriate locations and keep reading and learning and getting great ideas...

Whirly

PS. Apologies in advance to Randy, Clinton, macbruce, etc....there will be RR Spikes, however at this stage, no horse-shoes.....

another aussie!
im in far north qld mate, and im glad to see that even out there you have been bitten by the bug!
good on ya, and i look forward ta seein more!

woody.

Welcome to an awesome site have fun ask questions that is how we learn .

Sam

I knew once I saw G'day that it was another aussie coming on board, just mind the vernacular australian expressions though some of the furriners that run this place don't understand the aussie language, and get a bit narky with stuff that we would just let go.

Phil

Welcome aboard Whirly glad to have ya. You blokes down under make up a sizable group here on IFI. Don't sweat getting it "right" right off, heating and beating steel/iron will teach your muscles and eyes the feel and motions needed to make it do what you want, THEN you can figure out or learn how to do the fiddly things.

Of course there are a bunch of us here more than happy to answer questions, make suggestions or just make stuff up if we don't know.

Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks for the welcome Fellas, good to be here.

Woody, Cheers Mate, just as soon as I work out how to get the photos from Photobucket to show up in threads, I'll have a few bits to show you..

Sam, you're right, it's an awesome site and I've already learnt a heap, and that's before asking questions...Ya gotta luvit...

Thanks Frosty, it's the experience of people who've been belting metal for awhile and are prepared to share their knowledge that make sites like this great...and if I can't find an answer somewhere, believe me, I'll be asking...

G day Whirly, good to see another Australian on IFI. There is a great wealth of info here as well as advice when required. Australia also has a few blacksmithing groups which you can get in touch with. It's not a huge community here, but we generally share what ever we have. Next month the Artist Blacksmiths of NSW is holding forging in July, with a international smith leading the weekend.

Regards Drewy

Drewy, thanks Mate. As mentioned, I'm a long way from anywhere, and the chance of me being able to attend a get-together are diddly squat. Not to say it'll always be that way and I hope to be able, in the future, to meet up with others of a like mind and sit in on some show and tell skill sessions

Welcome Whirly. :) Just remember when hammering to keep your elbow in and your joints relaxed. You only need to hold the hammer tight enough to stop it flying off. If you tense up & try to wallop the living daylights out of things, you'll damage your joints in double quick time.
Looking forward to seeing some of your work. :)

Ratel, thanks for the good advice on hammer use, I post some pick as soon as I get a reply from Phil on stickin' photos to messages...