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. 

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!!!

BACKGROUND AND REFLECTION

Why? Why become so taken by the fire, i know it is not the frustration that is so evident, even amongst experienced Smiths and students alike, definitely experienced by myself at least every 20 minutes. Why?...............................................
Put simply - As frustrating as can be, it is equally satisfying and rewarding at the same time! The highs outweigh the lows easily, the feeling of triumph and reward when a finished piece is shown to others, the inner feeling of knowing how much work went into the shaping and sculpting of the metal.

I never opted for Metalwork at school, somehow never setting foot into the metals classroom during the 5 years of secondary school. I did however opt for Woodwork, probably a natural choice at the time having grown up around a Sawmill, plenty of Oak and a very handy Father with a love wood. A love we both, still share to this day. Do i regret not discovering Metalwork earlier?
Strange as it may seem, no i don't. If i had discovered Metals earlier, would i have the appreciation for the craft, would i be able to watch a skilled Smith at work, and marvel at there required skills and dedication, probably not!

If a person is of a practical nature i do believe they can embrace other disciplines, of course skills have to be learnt, from the bottom up, but in a lot of respects for me this is a whole new learning curve. The forge, how do you light the damn thing? Can i remember how to operate the oxy, not always(hardly ever).

My greatest passion is to cook, one of the reasons for my starting the courses in the first place was to require enough skills to be able to make practical cooking tools, explore methods of cooking. How does this relate to Blacksmithing. In every way really, the idea that i could eventually design or redesign bbq's, look into methods of open fire cooking, thus be able to design and make spits, trivets and assorted cooking appliances. My love of street food around the world was another reason, someone somewhere makes charcoal grills,special food carts with 50cc chicken chasers attached and griddles, not all of these are mass produced! Many years down the line i would like to be able to design cook knives. To be able to explore the ergonomics of the knife handle. Could i eventually make a beautifully hand crafted cooks knife, custom made for the user? I sure know that in the past i have spent a small fortune on cooks knifes, mainly blinded by looks and not whether or not they are comfortable to use.

10 months down the line, has my emphasis shifted. Maybe, maybe not. What i can say for sure is that a whole new universe has opened. All the time we are encouraged to design and make are own pieces, at home we sketch an idea, not all of the sketches are ever seen, but the point is, we start to take on the persona of a designer/ maker. To think differently.
While this craft is firmly rooted in the past, it has never been so modern. Could the main attraction be the diversity of the blacksmith. The routes that could be followed are many and varied, i have a sudden interest in engineering and of course the art aspect is always evident. To question why? What are we trying to say?