Blacksmithing Practice

Michelle's turn to have a go with the forge. She wanted to make a camping tool - one of those devices for lifting pots out of fires. It was to be a present for a friend. We cranked up the blower and heaped up the charcoal.

I decided to see what I could do with a 100mm nail. By holding the nail in a pair of tongs I could heat up the end and then shape or bend it.

 

 

Michelle hammering on the anvil. We alternated between the forge and the anvil and had to be careful to follow the same path between the two to avoid hot metal singing soft flesh.

The result of playing with nails and making swirls and 'koru' shapes. It was very satisfying to transform the utilitarian nail to an aesthetic hook. All good practice.

Samhain Pumpkin Feast

 

Samhain in the Northern Hemisphere has become identified with Hallowe'en - the evening before All Souls day. It has always seemed strange in Australia to follow the same calendar. Last year at school they carved pumpkins in October and the local supermarket had to order some in especially as no one had any left in Spring.

So we like to celebrate Samhain - the Celtic festival that marks the end of summer and the start of winter - at the end of April.

At our local show in March my youngest child won the largest pumpkin. It seemed fitting to use this for a family carving and the centrepiece of a homegrown meal.

 

The kids took to the pumpkin with knives and spoons and each carved their own design. With tea lights inside and the light off it looked pretty amazing!

First-time Firing of the Forge

 

My Christmas present was an anvil and a forge. It may have taken four months to get these items set up in their own dedicated space, but there was no shortage of enthusiasm to get the forge fired up. First I needed some charcoal. I sourced this from a forest coupe that had recently been burnt. This seems to work well and saves a lot of hassle than trying to create charcoal myself.

 

 

The anvil is sitting on a wattle stump with a piece of recycled workbench top nailed level. As the anvil weighs many kgs it was a slow job to lift it up there using stacks of concrete bags as steps.

The forge is a 44 gallon drum with a bowl in the centre. Air is blown up through holes in the base of the bowl by an electric blower powered by a battery charger. The blower is situated to the left so that the coals fall straight down and not into the blower. The circle cut to fit the bowl is ready as a lid to restrict air to the charcoal when you finish. All homemade by Michelle's son and passed on to me. 

 

A small fire is lit in the centre of the bowl and charcoal heaped on slowly. Once well alight the blower was turned on and the heat started to roar.

 

I started with a simple rod offcut and heated it in the bowl.

 

 

 

Lot of hammering the end to a point and then I started to put a bend in it.

 

A nice curve to make a hook. The coals certainly seemed to be hot enough to make the steel glow.

 

Once I was happy with the hook at the end I cooled off the rod and could work on the other end.

 

 

A very satisfying start to my blacksmithing. Lots of possibilities and lots of questions to be answered.

Garlic Planting

Our tradition is to plant the garlic as close to Anzac Day (25th April) as possible. So this year on the 26th it is time to clear the bed of its assortment of lanky tomatoes, overgrown radishes and beetroots and a weed or two and ready it for the garlic.

 

 

After weeding and forking the bed, my daughter (who miraculously decided to be helpful) separated the cloves. Lines were raked and the garlic placed carefully and regularly.

Five rows with a path down the middle should be enough for this bed. A similar amount planted at our other property should provide us with enough garlic for the next season. This variety is an early one which means we can pick it in November when the bed can be used for some later summer crops.

Ear Tagging the Pigs

The pigs are getting fat and the weather is turning cold. Time to take them for their one bad day. In order to identify them they need to be eartagged and branded.

 

 

The ear tagger is a simple device that locks a plastic tag through the ear making the hole with the connector. It is a swift procedure once the ear is in place.

Having missed the first time the pigs were not that keen on having their ears held for long enough for a sharp plastic tag to cut through their lobes. BoBo was definitely unwilling and is seen here backing away squealing. It took a few minutes being patient to find the right moment and the deed was done.

 

Food is always a good distracted for pigs. I have parked the trailer in their pen and begun to put some food on it. The pigs are learning to leap on which will make it much easier for loading them up. It is always sad to say goodbye to the pigs as they are such characters with very knowing eyes but it would be hard to feed them through the winter. At last measure they are about 65kg each so there should be plenty of pork about in a couple of weeks.