Oh, I have been checking the website every day since i heard about The Tree Project yall are doing a really great thing there. I will get more leaves going your way if time permits. I am sure you will post it if you need more leaves or gum nuts. Your branches look GREAT.

Hey All. I've got good news and bad news.

Good: I was able to complete four copper leaves over the weekend, and was very satisfied with how they turned out. Art took some photos, but I do not presently have those. Will have to get them from him.

Bad: When I went in to ship the leaves today, I discovered that the general method of shipping runs between 7 and 10 days. At best, they will arrive just before the deadline. At worst, they will arrive the day of or after.

The lowest rate I could on expedited shipping would have been slightly over one hundred dollars. It was either the leaves arriving in a for certain timely fashion... or me having money for groceries and lunches this week. Thus, generic shipping was the choice.

Crossing my fingers! Hope they can still be used if they do not arrive before the 30th.

Edited June 22, 200916 yr by theYTmassacre
Mis-spelling.

YT , send them to Cal , they's still excepting them for awhile yet


Dale Russell

Edited June 23, 200916 yr by Dale Russell
spelling

Yuck. I thought I was too late for that. They had already been turned over for delivery by the time I made my post yesterday.

I made 4 leaves and the gum nut which are in route already. I sent directly to Paul Mills. The post office said they should be there by June 30th. I was going to weld them into a branch but left them separate so the assemblers can use their discresion as to the placements and the shipping was easier. I'm glad I could help out with this project. The finished tree should be a wonderful sculpture/memorial. - Jeremy K


picture #1 Austrailian tree project donation 2009 - Blacksmith Photo Gallery

picture #2 Austrailian tree project donation 2009 - Blacksmith Photo Gallery

Edited June 24, 200916 yr by jeremy k

I made 4 leaves and the gum nut which are in route already. I sent directly to Paul Mills. The post office said they should be there by June 30th. I was going to weld them into a branch but left them separate so the assemblers can use their discresion as to the placements and the shipping was easier. I'm glad I could help out with this project. The finished tree should be a wonderful sculpture/memorial. - Jeremy K


picture #1 Austrailian tree project donation 2009 - Blacksmith Photo Gallery

picture #2 Austrailian tree project donation 2009 - Blacksmith Photo Gallery

Great leaves there Jeremy - and the gum nut looks amazing too, can't wait to see that on the tree.

Thanks Jeremy,

I cannot say how proud I am to be involved in this project. The support that we here in Aus. have received from the international brotherhood of blacksmiths has been simply amazing. The support from the people in the fire affected areas has been astounding to say the least, and as has been said in this thread more than once before (and will be more than one again) the thanks from all those affect to all of those involved is truly inspiring. So from them to all of you, I sincerely thank you.

Cheers,
Paul

I made 4 leaves and the gum nut which are in route already. I sent directly to Paul Mills. The post office said they should be there by June 30th. I was going to weld them into a branch but left them separate so the assemblers can use their discresion as to the placements and the shipping was easier. I'm glad I could help out with this project. The finished tree should be a wonderful sculpture/memorial. - Jeremy K

I just thought I'd let you all know that I will be arranging for the leaves from Cali & London to be shipped by Qantas freight in the next week or so, so hurry up and get your leaves in!

Paul

Edited June 27, 200916 yr by Quang0
Added details

The latest news from the tree project is up, showing a few famiilar and not so familiar faces from the Upper Yarra demo last weekend. Check it out here: The Tree Project: News

Happy hammering!

Paul

Did a demo this weekend and ended up talking to a family on holiday from Australia, when I mentioned the tree project they had never heard about it....
Gave them the details and they were going to call some friends to see if they had heard.

Hello
Not too much English text. A photograph of end of demonstration (" chimes of anvils " ). In France it is the beginning of the summer but some sheets fell for the Australien tree.
Pascal

Hello
Not too much English text. A photograph of end of demonstration (" chimes of anvils " ). In France it is the beginning of the summer but some sheets fell for the Australien tree.
Pascal

Wow!

Look at all those French leaves! Fantastic!

Hi Guys!

I have a leaf to send but I wanted to make sure that it's not too late. I've been bogged down with life so it's slipped my mind a bit but I would really like to be a part of it.

The other thing is that my leaf is a real chunky thing compared to what I've seen from others as I'm very early in my experience of forging and my equipment is limited. On it's own, I think it's acceptable but in comparison to the real leaf, it's probably way off base. Is that going to be a big issue?

G'Day Stew, firstly , send directly to Paul / QuangO , but i wouldn't wait much longer to send .

Second ,, what ever size leaf " you " made is fine

Third , got to the User CP , click on your profile & update where you are from , you never know , there mite be a smith " around the cnr , next burb or a 6 pak drive away " ... :)

Thanks Dale.

Ah, hadn't noticed that I hadn't put a location in my profile - I'm in the UK.

hey stew im uk too - not that many of us on here!! hello! im in gloucestershire.. i was a bit worried about if my leaf was right or not but i reckon anything we make will be really nice on the tree - i thought it was a great idea, i sent two copper leaves and it was the first time i had forged copper so they are a bit weird! what kind of work do you do?

How many folks get to take their anvil to the office for a days work?

Well I was lucky enough to do just that on Monday, along with Doug, Paul, Ash and several other smithies. We set up a demo for the Tree Project in the car park of the Country Fire Authority in Melbourne and showed the staff there what we do. I know that this really helped the CFA staff to open up a bit, relax a bit and talk about the fires with each other some more, and for some it was an emotional experiance.

My heart felt thanks go out to the Tree Project supporters for supporting me and the rest of CFA on Monday - it was a great day and has had a very positive effect on CFA HQ.

(And has introduced several more people to blacksmithing - expect the barn to get crowded).

Funny thing was I walked back in to work the next day in suit and tie and to everyone who saw me and said 'gee you look different today compared to yesterday when you were a blacksmith' - I said 'I am still a blacksmith, this is my formal smithing attire'.

Life is good.

While a leather apron isn't generally considered office attire, it's nice to be able to combine the two for a change. The event on Monday at the CFA HQ certainly was a nice note for us to end the public demonstration phase of the project on, and I am very pleased to hear that the CFA benefitted from us being there too.

For us to be able to give a little back to those tireless CFA volunteers and staffers who served so many so well is just fantastic and I am very happy to have been invited.

While the CFA demo may have been our last public event, the project is far from over. We have received over 1250 leaves to date and are still awaiting the UK and USA shipments, and we still have a lot of sponsored leaves to knock out yet.

Stay tuned to the The Tree Project website for updates on how the tree is growing. Coming soon will be a new blacksmith leaf gallery with pics from all over, so I'll keep you posted.

Cheers,
Paul

Good Lord, this is the first I've learned of the Tree Project. Is there still time to get leaves to Jim Austin??? I'd like to make and send some on behalf of my fire department.

G'day Mark,

You may have missed the boat with Jim, but we're still more than happy to receive some leaves from you. The best thing to do would be post them directly to me. My details can be found on our website here: The Tree Project: Postage Details

Cheers,
Paul

Good Lord, this is the first I've learned of the Tree Project. Is there still time to get leaves to Jim Austin??? I'd like to make and send some on behalf of my fire department.

Finally I have a few leaves to pop in the mail: mean't to finish them off ages ago but ripped my right thumbnail off which made smithing a bit uncomfortable. You'll get them this week, Paul.

Thanks again for the work you guys are doing.

Steve.

Edited July 18, 200916 yr by Glug
didn't proof read.

Posted mine from the UK about a month back. Hope they arrived ok.

G'day Mark,

You may have missed the boat with Jim, but we're still more than happy to receive some leaves from you. The best thing to do would be post them directly to me. My details can be found on our website here: The Tree Project: Postage Details

Cheers,
Paul

Paul,
DO you have any word on the leaves from California?

Hi all.

I've finally got it together this afternoon & started doing SS leaves.

Here's a picture of the first one. What I'd like to know is:
Is it good enough for the project?
It's definitely a leaf that's seen some life. However, I've been studying the leaves around here & not many of them are beautifully spear shaped & 'clean'.
I intend to get better at these, but can I get suggestions for how this leaf would be better please? Cleaner edges? Better central vein (If so, how do you vein please?)? Lateral veins? Different finish (I did a brushed finish to black heat, then water quenched this one)?
I think the next ones need to be thicker, as this one's possibly a bit thin to meet the specification.




I want to make sure any leaves I send aren't going to detract from everyone else's.
Thanks for taking a look.

hey stew im uk too - not that many of us on here!! hello! im in gloucestershire.. i was a bit worried about if my leaf was right or not but i reckon anything we make will be really nice on the tree - i thought it was a great idea, i sent two copper leaves and it was the first time i had forged copper so they are a bit weird! what kind of work do you do?

Hi Beth! Sorry, I hadn't seen your reply until now. My main interest is knives but the idea of this made me want to venture out. I've only forged a handful of blades so my skillset is very limited at this stage.

Hi all.

I've finally got it together this afternoon & started doing SS leaves.

Here's a picture of the first one. What I'd like to know is:
Is it good enough for the project?
It's definitely a leaf that's seen some life. However, I've been studying the leaves around here & not many of them are beautifully spear shaped & 'clean'.
I intend to get better at these, but can I get suggestions for how this leaf would be better please? Cleaner edges? Better central vein (If so, how do you vein please?)? Lateral veins? Different finish (I did a brushed finish to black heat, then water quenched this one)?
I think the next ones need to be thicker, as this one's possibly a bit thin to meet the specification.




I want to make sure any leaves I send aren't going to detract from everyone else's.
Thanks for taking a look.

Nice one Mat. Good to see you've got your forge going over there!!