ANVIL IN PLACE

At long last the Anvil has landed!!




Doors should be in tomorrow, then at last we can think about lighting the fire!!

Hoping I remember what little I know!!!!!!!!!!!

WORKSHOP DOORS

Making the second door!! 6 mm ext ply and 2x2!!

A COUPLE OF PHOTOS OF WORKSHOP NEARING COMPLETION

Will take some when Anvil and forge ready for use. I have also bought a small stick welder and leg vice, as well as a few sets of tongs.


Starting to get a workshop together, so well happy.

WORKSHOP NEARLY COMPLETED

Workshop nearing completion!! A whole year has now passed since I last forged.
Just the doors to build and hang then we can let good times role!!

AT LAST AN ANVIL

Anvil picked up last Saturday. (Hopefully have a picture soon)

Took two of us to shift it, so it got to be up around 150kg mark and in good nick, so pleased as punch.

Just need somewhere to work. Have use of 20 ft shed space,but need to do some work first to get the shed up to speed. New roof and some of the structure needs repairs.................................................................

Need some good weather and some time off work!!!

BUYING AN ANVIL TOMORROW

Can't wait, counting down the hours as my new baby arrives, well new addition as it is second hand!

Through a friend i have managed to source an Anvil so hopefully i can continue my learning.

The current owner reckons it is in the region of 150kg, so i can't complain and it is coming from a Local

Farrier who obviously cannot cart around an Anvil that size in his van. I have looked for a time on e-bay but

most of what i found in an affordable price range was either right up north or impossible to pick up as i am

down in sunny Devon. Also a lot of what i found was being sold by clueless folk who stick these wonderful

tools in the garden as blooooooooooooody ornaments, worse still they paint them pretty colours as well.

Most bizarre was that in three months i never came across one decent condition and sized Anvil in the

west country, second week of January i find four in the space of two days!! All four were close by as well,

I decided to break my e-bay cherry and place some bids, with a day to go the Anvil i am buying crops

up locally, and would you believe i am winning all four bids and seriously starting to worry!!

Hopefully have a picture in the next couple of days of the Anvil !!

HAPPY BASHING

What can happen in a year

Nearly 12 months since last post, so whats the problem?

Well...............Where do i start?

First we got Fucked over by the Art college, all in the name of money!!

In my eyes we had an amazing set up, brilliant lecturer and a great bunch of tech staff. Our lecturer Richard Wood worked tirelessly to set up evening classes and support everyone from the evening beginners through to the 3rd year degree students. A unique facility which is now sadly lost to the world, reduced to a pile of rubble as soon as the last bell went. The steel form work is already making progress and not long before the latest money making structure will be presented to the people of Plymouth - albeit minus the trainee Blacksmiths and  Hot Metal sculpture students.

What made our facility unique was not only the equipment, and we were lucky- but the people.

A great and friendly bunch - Joe the manager, Melissa and Steve  and of course Richard.
Not only is there now no where to study in Plymouth but no where in the south west. Nearest college is Hereford. We have a small unit in Plymouth called Flame works, but sadly at present it would be out of my price range.

 The remaining degree students have 6 hours a week forge time at Flame works. Now that is pretty shit if you paid your monies to a College on the understanding that you were to study and use the range of facilities you first saw when you signed up, and started to dream about Hammer and Anvil!!

Well that was the start!!

I have a backlog of stuff to post, and lots of photos. I might even have some photos of the workshop before it was demolished.

We found out in may that the facility would be closed. Last session to be held a week before the Summer show.

If i am correct the last people to use the facility was myself Harry Chadders and Tech Steve. We managed to bag a three hour session one evening a couple of days after the close, because we missed a session due to amount of bank holidays last year. It was an emotional session on the whole.
Richard spent the duration trying to sort stuff out, but really he was walking around totally gutted and the three of us spent three hours making Snails. Snails???? Well we figured Snails would be therapeutic. Richard looked on amused he even said " two years and you spend your last ever session in this wonderful facility making bloody snails". I can see his point totally, but we were content.

Now the next part!!!!

After session it was straight to the boozer for another session, to be honest in hindsight i didn't really realise that evening how much of an affect the loss of the best thing i have ever done in my life would have.

Fast forward three hours...................................................

Home from the pub and a crate of Doom Bar waiting in  the kitchen, i thought well Fuck It, i may as well carry on, and totally drown my sorrows!!  Then the Missus decides to tell me our 8 year engagement has finished and she wants me out of the house!!!!! In all honesty things hadn't been great for a couple of months and i knew it was on the cards. But why choose the night that college finished for good. Ah a women's scorn!! I ma sure the moment was well thought out, anyhow she denies that she chose that moment....................

Reminds me of a line from New Order song.......

So fast forward six months and where am i? That's a good question. Well she had her way, i have moved out of our house, i have visitation rights to my beautiful dog but that is it really................

Moved in with my father who just happens to have a massive garden, Started a 3d practice course at the same college, which worked quite well because the main emphasis of the course is furniture, and all along i have been hoping to achieve enough forging skills to combine wood and forged metal in furniture...................................................................................................................................................

Sounds good eh........Wait for it.................10 weeks in and the college strikes again!!!!!! They pulled this courses as well..............Journey 0 v college 2

So here we have it a year on no college,missus,blacksmithing,house,dog all gone.................................

However we will rise above this and forge on. Got an Anvil lined up(150kg), borrowing a forge of Harry whilst he is away, and some kind soul long retired has agreed to let me have his welder!!

So when up and running Happy days will be here again! Even better if i had my Dog along side!!

So a bloody big Thankyou to the good guys and girls of the Hot Metals dept (deceased), for all that i learnt and the good times we had at Anvil........

I have some stuff to post from the previous six months and hopefully i will be up and running and able to continue my forge training. I will continue to post my progress!!!

FORGED DOOR FURNITURE

 

 

 

Although the last photo, the handle was the first to be made. The middle was textured with the power hammer, a piece of machinary i have grown rather fond of!!!!!!


Had some fun with these as they were part of the bedroom project. My goal was to handmake everything in the room starting withe the bed.