Hard work paying off

Its been a busy couple of weeks for me, contacting people and getting out there to try to find a workshop space and outlets to sell my work and now its finally starting to pay off. I may have found some places that will exhibit some of my guitar hooks but best of all I have my first order!!!

A music shop I know very well has asked for a small designed guitar hook to have in the store with a few pictures of the my other works to have around it to help boost interest in what I do. It may not be much but its a small step forward, so I'm going to spend the next day or two getting a great design down with a Maquette and full scale drawing, so hopefully I'll be able to get back to mid Wales very soon to get forging again. !..!,  

Society Of Designer Craftsmen

Today I received a letter congratulating me as I have been accepted as a member of the society of craftsmen and my details will be added to the societies website, this will all provide great opportunities for me in the future. !..!, 

Last Day in Buchan's Workshop.

Well I've been here in mid Wales for about a week and now sadly it has come to an end because we finally finished all Five vessels. After and elven hour push yesterday, finishing all the drilling and riveting them all together and seven hours today tweaking everything, its a huge relief now its all done in time. Although tweaking can seem like it will never end, you know its the final step and by the time we finished cut brushing the last vessel both myself and Nick were to tired to celebrate. I feel that I have learnt a lot about using time efficiently and planing a course of action while doing this job plus its been great to team up with Nick. I hope to return to Mid Wales very soon and continue to work with Nick in his workshop creating some of the designs I have for a new guitar hook and guitar stand. Until then I will return to Bristol and continue to look for my own workshop space. !..!,  

Two of the final vessels.

Day Five in Buchan's Workshop.

Today we both felt pretty confident with what we had left to do and reckoned that we could get it all finish today with one last big push. With all the pieces forged we spent the morning forming all components on a jig that Nick had made in collage and by lunch time everything was looking very positive .  

Second half of the day didn't quite go as planned (putting it lightly) we got back to work knowing that all we had to do was drill all the components cut the rivets and put them all together. To drill all the holes we had to use this awesome looking pillar drill, naked as it was it was simple yet effective and I love using old simple technology that could last a life but I spoke to soon as after we drilled two holes we blew out the motor which will now have to be replaced. We were both gutted and down hearted but we weren't going to be beat at this last hurdle so as I cut the rivet to size and Nick marking all the holes, we grabbed two hand drills and got drilling again but by the end of the day we only had ten holes to show. I'll admit I'm still a little down after we got so close to finishing but we still have two days to complete it all which is more than enough time to get it done, so it'll be all about tomorrow, hand drilling and riveting.
Lets do this... !..!,     

the awesome pillar drill but now burnt out.

 

Day Four in Buchan's Workshop.

Well its my forth day forging in Nick's workshop and the pressure is easing each day as we come closer to finishing all five vessels. There have been a few hiccups over the past two days but nothing major and therefore we've pushed forward in the last few steps and I'm feeling confident that they'll look amazing.
Its been a great feeling getting back to the forge and working again, its been about two months since the last time I forged so I knew I was going to be abit rusty but over the past four days I noticed it wasn't long before my forging skills cleaned themselves up. Today It even got to a point where we had four pieces of metal in the forge at a time, pushing ourselves to be better each day, working as a team with Nick has been really fun and we still have a few more days left.
I hope to post more on our progress tomorrow. !..!,     

 

Day Two at Buchan's Workshop.

Well I've been working with with my friend Nick at his workshop in mid Wales for two days now and we've accomplished alot in this short space of time. Nick has to have five vessels fully finished by a deadline for a gallery, by himself this could be extremely difficult but as a team of two the time to make these is cut in half so that is why I'm here in mid Wales to team up and power through the work ahead.    

As it stands we've done the main bulk of the work now and its going at a steady pace with no problems so far (touch wood). Nick's workshop isn't very big but it has all the essentials any blacksmith needs. The designs Nick has for his vessels are pretty much the same as the ones he made for his final project but with a few small variations. we are hoping to complete all five vessels within the next three days if things all go to plan.  

We left the workshop today very pleased with what we have achieved over the past two days and know that all the vessels are starting to take shape. We're hoping that by the end of tomorrow to have all the components fully forged out and ready to be drilled for Tuesday morning. I guess we'll have to see, I'll post on our progress with some more pictures tomorrow.    

Break over, back to work.

As it stands I'm down south in Dawlish Warren, Devon where I've had a relaxing week holiday with the family but today instead of going home back to Bristol I will be travelling straight up to mid Wales to go and work with my close friend and fellow graduate Nick Buchan in his workshop, giving him a hand to finish off some work he's been doing. I don't know how long I'm going to be away for but that's what makes it all the more fun!!
So I guess the breaks over and now its time to get back to work. !..!,