UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH AN AMAZING GATE

As a student of Blacksmithing, to come across such an amazing piece of work, and actually be able to talk with the maker proved to be a highlight of last years Forge In at PCAD. The gate was designed and made by Joff Hopper who runs Metal pig Forgehttp://www.metalpigforge.co.uk/ a nice guy to talk with who also happens to be quite Humble when given compliments about his work. This gate actually won Joff Hopper the award of National Champion Blacksmith

 2007. The detail and craftmanship has to be seen to be believed.

I love the door latch, the free flowing forged uprights providing the gate with structure and enough tension for the forged latch to operate.

THE REAL OXY POST : OXY- ACETYLENE

Previously i wrote one line describing my frustration with Oxy - Acetylene, if any body actually reads this crap they must have, in all probability, more than a passing interest in Smithing.
So the question remains why do i manage to frustrate myself with two cylinders and a bloody torch!

Well believe it or not the answer really is quite simple - I CAN NEVER REMEMBER HOW TO TURN THE DAMN THINGS ON.
Now before you start believing the author of this post to be completely stupid, which in part is true, i can do most things, i can cook bloody well, gut a house and re build it, make furniture and produce functional items out scrap material, but i can't for the want of trying ever remember how to light the damn torch.

Now like most folks at Plymouth college of Art, i have a sketch pad. In the front of my pad secured with multiple staples lies a set of instructions on operating Oxy equipment and lighting a forge with above mentioned. Now i will admit to being shown once or twice but most visits to the college workshop result in at least one forge blowing and normally two sometimes three. Seeing as most of our work at present is achieved using a forge, i have found Oxy amnesia wholly unsatisfying, until last week when i had to admit it wasn't just Oxy amnesia that i was suffering, it was fear as well. Not fear of an explosion , but fear of someone, anyone finding out they had an Oxy fraud in the workshop. So i swallowed my pride, i didn't have a choice to be honest, Mr Wood had kindly let me come in on a Thursday to catch up, as that damn inconvenience that goes by the name of JOB had managed to rear sharp claws and mess up a perfectly good Tuesday college session. After listening in on a first year Degree talk which was very interesting Mr Wood gave me the nod to light a forge. Now here was the problem, with  two options. Light the forge with sticks and paper or light with Oxy. If i was to try and light with sticks and paper i would probably fail to light a cigarette, let alone a forge, or should i fumble around with the Oxy and hope that someone i know comes to my rescue? Second option !!
In walks Second year Ryan, (who is actually holding the torch in the above photo, i decided to chop him out just in case he didn't want to be seen or associated with a blog post about Oxy incompetence)   A quick call for help, and a little memory jog and we are up and running. Later that day i re- lit the forge after lunch, confidence was that high i even lit a forge a passing lady, now that was confidence.

What is the point of this post, well after the half term break i needed the oxy again this time for some wrap work on a since binned door knocker, could i light it NO. This time the problem was not how to turn it on but the fact that the last user had probably not closed all the valves and i could not figure out for the want of trying where to start from!!

                                                                                                                       

OXY-ACETYLENE

Who would think that two bloody cylinders could cause one man such a headache!

FIRE WELDING - LOSING MY VIRGINITY

 Previously i posted about my first day back and how nothing is quite as it seems in the forge. As luck would have it i was an hour early for our second session.With the forges still blowing and the workshop still being supervised(believe me it needs to be supervised when I'm there), i was able to crack on and get 45 minutes extra forge time.

But the same as last week, simple tasks were still failing me. I thought as a warm up i would make a couple of hooks, then a snail in prep for November. The hooks were swiftly abandoned, the snail was slow.
I think at this point i was seriously demoralised, not to the point of wanting to go home, but seriously pissed off, then the magic happened!

At the start of the class, Richard asked if we would like to do a taught session on Fire Welding. Everybody was well into the idea of a taught session and having some of the myths demystified.

Absolutely brilliant session, with Richard explaining in depth about managing the fire, and the importance of a clean managed fire when Fire Welding.

After our session it was time for us to step up. As a class we all were successful after a couple of attempts, i managed a scarfed Fire Weld of two pieces of 12mm sq. First attempt was a nightmare the second i managed the join with a little help of some Borax.

We made some attempts at bending the material back on itself and Fire Welding to form a thick end., which resulted in one of the class then making a spoon. After a couple of attempts with varying degrees of success i attempted an animal head of unknown species!! As we are learning, the look of the head was unimportant that will come later.

By the end of the session, i think we were all happy, especially myself as my confidence had been restored to pre- christmas levels.

Picture of animal head and scarf Fire Weld - click on picture for larger image.

FIRST DAY BACK

5 weeks off  for the Christmas break, itching to be back at the anvil, what could go wrong?

During the Christmas break i lasted a couple of weeks before my feet started to itch. You cannot begin to imagine the turmoil that not having made something could bring.

Solution?

Make something;

Outcome;

A single bed.

So what could go wrong? Well for starters i was on a high, the bed was a complete success, the design and execution I'm more than happy with.

Float into college with a head full of ideas for some simple fixtures and fittings for the spare room, still riding high till the first couple of heats.

My ideas are OK, just not the execution. The bloody Material does not want to play ball, a head full of the recurring frustration that is evident on most visits to the workshop, a couple attempts at slightly different brackets to add to the bed, all should be well.

All i am trying to say is the session did not work out as planned- another recurring theme at the anvil!!!

PESTLE AND MORTAR

HAND CARVED PESTLE AND MORTAR!

A present i made for my sister, very pleased with final product!!!

Off cut of rough sawn Teak rescued from the missus's Dad who was going to use it as a lump of firewood. Handle, carved Teak. Mortar finished with Walnut oil, Pestle, carved Teak with forged handle made from 20mm sq mild steel, twisted with scroll end and hidden tang. Forged handle heated and finished with olive oil, whilst hot.

20mm sq mild steel salvaged from the casualty scrap bin at college.

A great little achievement considering all components were destined for the Garbage. 

MY FIRST SNAIL

AH BLESS, HOW CUTE!

Jokes aside, after the trip to Finch Foundry, back in November for St Clemence day(patron saint of Blacksmiths), where an annual Snail race is held, i thought i would attempt one myself.
For me this was a major stepping stone, it may not be perfect, but it sure looks good!
After watching the professional Smiths during the race, this attempt was made from memory.

The object of the snail race is to make a snail that will stay upright, resemble a snail, making it in the fastest possible time. All entries are not judged on looks, so they would not be polished like this one.
If memory serves this one probably took about 25 minutes to make then a couple of minutes on the polishing machine.

The eventual winner of the race at Finch completed in 8 minutes. Now i realise that 8 minutes is probably not attainable, seeing how my second attempt three weeks later was a complete disaster. But maybe i can practice over the coming year and get down to a respectable time.

NEW YEAR GOALS

I have never been one for the New Years resolution, but this year i have set myself a couple of goals for the coming year. First and foremost is to continue the learning process at Plymouth college of Art. With one course starting next week and hopefully a place on the hot metals in March, i will at the very least continue with college to June. My first goal in the coming weeks is to attempt and complete a fire weld, a task not yet attempted, which could prove to be headache, but you never know it could also be fun!

Later in the year if Forging Fawks is to be run again, i would like to at least finish and complete my entry into the competition, even if i come last. Last years entry was started way to late, as i spent most of the morning talking,snapping photos and generally hiding! It was only my fellow student Harry's call of help that let me overcome my fears of ridicule and attempt an entry. Last years theme was something to wear, so i made a belt, only for the pin holding the buckle to fall out at the last minute. But no the pin couldn't fall on the floor it had to land in the bloody water trough, much to the amusement of judge for the day Bex Simon who happened to be watching!

I would also like to enter the St Clemence day snail race at Finch Foundry. Last November we made the journey to Sticklpath, Okehampton for the day. A good fun day out at the last remaining water powered forge in the country, here is the link -www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-finchfoundry
The winner of the Snail race completed a snail from start to finish in 8 minutes, i have already had a go at college(photo will follow), i was no where near 8 minutes but the snail looks good and now lives with the salad in the kitchen, well the mantle above the fire!

These little goals are not a tall order and are very achievable, if i can also continue with my interest in wood, which incidentally has had a great start to the new year with a single bed being made over the last week. The bed was a success and not a screw anywhere near. A lot of joints, Mortice and Tenons, Mortice joints and Dowels were used. When completely finished, i will do a whole post on the making of the bed, as it is for the spare room that is currently being redecorated, and i also decided over Christmas that all of the furniture and fittings would be handmade.

This has already caused alarm amongst friends, who only buy high street shite made in Massive Chinese factories. Why they ask don't you just buy a bed, buy a curtain pole, buy some hooks, buy a bedside cabinet. Why i say, don't you just Feck off and leave me be. Why i say; Why because i can!!

Which also brings me to, a little project i have had on my mind for a while. Born out of the misses's moaning for myself not wanting to throw way odds and sods, this and that and bits of useful material. All this stuff has a use and can be remade or recycled. My idea is to come up with a name for the project, lets say project 52 for sake of an argument and reuse and remake 52 items over the coming year. Now i will cheat a little as i have already started at the end of the last year and remade a couple of items. This could be an interesting little project including items small and large, as long as they are say remade as a functional piece.

We will see and time will tell!!!