CHRISTMAS CRAFT FAIR - SALTRAM HOUSE PLYMOUTH NOVEMBER 23 2013

Last minute addition to my good friends Mr and Mrs Chadwicks lovely Glass work stall at Saltram Christmas fair. We decided last minute to put a few pieces of forge work in to see how they sold. No problem with the selling, just the scared people trying to sell!!! We started the morning like scared Rabbits frozen in front of car headlights!! By the end of the day we were a little too confidant. Good day and a very good learning curve. It is one thing hiding in a workshop and another dealing with the general public!!

RECYCLED HORSE SHOES - DOOR KNOCKER

 What to do with a bag of used horse shoes?? Had a look on Pinterest and found all sorts of novel uses!! Not my cup of tea, but I am sure some people like this kind of stuff.

 Now I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy making this!!

Finished knocker with punched fixing holes!!

RECYCLED DOOR HINGE - CANDLE HOLDER

Playing around with some old scrap, found two Door strap hinges. This is the smaller of the two forged into a candle holder.

SMALL COKE FORGE - HAND BUILT

 Small forge all ready to go, the dodgy looking bloke in the photo is Harry, a good mate from the College of Art. Managed to find an Alcosa hand blower on e-bay for £80. Blower is a bit ropey, we have already stripped it down once, and will need a another strip down as really difficult to turn.

Not the easiest thing in the world to light, normally two attempts and a whole lot of frustration!!!!
once going we have found that a little Air pump the same as the ones used for inflatables give an excellent fire.

Hence the coffee can lid and a whole lot of tape!!

Biggest problem with this forge is time, or lack of it on my part!!

Sometimes there is only an hour spare, and the time it takes to light, it is just not worth it. Gas has solved that problem, for the odd hour but has worked out to expensive for learning with.

YET ANOTHER BOTTLE OPENER

Once you make one for somebody, everyone wants one!! Not complaining having had a 12 month lay off any metal bashing has got to be good!!

Not all bad though a good chance to use lots of different techniques!!

WORKSHOP NEARING COMPLETION...............................................................

                        At long last some progress, and the some order. New gas forge and a pillar drill!!

Still no electric, so being careful with the extension leads!! Absolute big thank you to Stu Palmer and his Dad for the Pillar drill, life is a little bit simpler with this bit of kit!! Gas forge has made life a lot simpler and certainly healthier. As time is not always on my side the gas forge is a blessing, sometimes you need to make something with only 30 minutes, it was taking that long to light the coke forge sometimes longer and a whole lot of frustration!!

 

 

 

STAINLESS STEEL FORKS

Back in February I managed to blag a couple of hours with friends in their glass workshop. Really enjoyable making beads, well trying to make beads and some fused glass plates. Although not really for me, the whole experience was very worthwhile and you never know I might have another go soon. Anyway moral of the story?? I found some old forks whilst clearing out the original workshop, me being a mini hoarder could not possibly throw them away, so a use had to found. Result..............

Why not make some small plate holders for the fused glass. Here is the result. Nothing special, and a pain as I was using the left overs of an old Mapp gas bottle. Interesting to forge and quite a bit different from mild steel, but the result was pleasing.
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FORGING FAWKES NOV 4TH - 5TH 2011 PLYMOUTH COLLEGE OF ART

JON SNOW (WINDYSMITHY)

RICHARD WOOD

LISA HARRISON (SMYTHICKFORGE)

JOFF HOPPER (METAL PIG FORGE)

THEME OF THE FORGE IN WAS SOMETHING TO WEAR - NECKLACE MADE BY LISA HARRISON

DAN 3RD YEAR DEGREE STUDENT FORGING A BOW TIE!!!

WINNING PIECE BY JON SNOW - BLACKSMITHS APRON COMPLETE WITH FRINGE!!!!!!!

BRACELETS BY JOFF HOPPER

UNFORTUNATELY MY ENTRY A BELT FELL TO PIECES JUST BEFORE JUDGING. BELT WAS ALL BUT MADE,  HELD TOGETHER BY A PIN THAT CONNECTED THE BUCKLE TO THE BELT. I MANAGED TO LOSE THE PIN  IN THE WATER TROUGH, MUCH TO THE AMUSEMENT OF THE JUDGE BEX SIMON. I THINK SHE IDENTIFIED WITH MY FRUSTRATION, AS IT WAS JUST BEFORE JUDGING THERE WAS NO TIME TO FORGE ANOTHER!!!!!!!!

BOTTLE OPENERS

CLICK TO ENLARGE PHOTO Having a play with some square bar

BACK ONLINE AT LAST

At long last back online. New computer, so hopefully I can get back to writing a little about my journey so far. A little update - Forge is now almost complete. Will a forge ever be complete????? Lots of recently acquired gear and a lot of luck. Hopefully some photos soon, but first I have to get my head round uploading and finding them.