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nexusone
15th Dec 2004, 09:18 PM
Hi, I enjoy visiting this forum a LOT. Entertaining and educational. Since my actual first love is metalwork (woodwork a sideline), I'm wondering if anyone out there knows of any Australian metalwork forums which might be of similar quality to this one.

Steve

craigb
15th Dec 2004, 09:39 PM
Have you tried Google?

Dan
15th Dec 2004, 10:38 PM
Try here too,

http://www.metalbashatorium.com/

This site is run by one of the members of this board (Grue), it might be worth a look.

gatiep
16th Dec 2004, 03:00 AM
What about this forum! I'm sure Neil would be happy to ad another............. Did you know that EEE is an excellent product to keep your metal projects rust free...............just buff them with some EEE for shiny rust free metallic doohdahs.

I am sure that most Woodies do a bit of metal work or would like to if they knew more about it.

:)

RETIRED
16th Dec 2004, 06:40 AM
You can post in The Nothing to do with Woodwork Forum. As some one else has said a lot of us use metal as well.

silentC
16th Dec 2004, 08:17 AM
I searched for a forum like this one for metalwork. If you find one, let me know because I couldn't. Best I could find were a couple of Yahoo mailing lists: castinghobby and gingerymachines.

echnidna
16th Dec 2004, 09:52 AM
Reckon its impossible to get a metalwork forum just like this!
There aint enough mad bustuds to go around!!

HappyHammer
16th Dec 2004, 10:11 AM
What about this forum! I'm sure Neil would be happy to ad another............. Did you know that EEE is an excellent product to keep your metal projects rust free...............just buff them with some EEE for shiny rust free metallic doohdahs.

I am sure that most Woodies do a bit of metal work or would like to if they knew more about it.

:)
I second that thought Gatiep, it would be good to have here, maybe it can be other handcrafts and include metalwork, ceramics, Glass etc. "Nothing at all to do with woodwork" is full of too much other stuff, IMHO. :D

HH.

echnidna
16th Dec 2004, 10:27 AM
Now That metalwork is part of this forum,
Any comments about the small milling machines in the carbatec cattlelog.

silentC
16th Dec 2004, 10:42 AM
I reckon they're a bit pricey for what they are. The smallest one looks like a toy and you could probably achieve the same results with your drill press and a cross feed vice. The bigger one is very expensive. Hare & Forbes sell a couple of machines around the $1500 mark that look like a better deal to me. You can also buy a bench lathe for under $1000 at H&F.

One day when I learn how to melt metal, I'm going to make one. After I make the metal lathe. Maybe next year.... or the year after that.... :(

HappyHammer
16th Dec 2004, 10:46 AM
Silent,

Have you seen Modern Masters on the How To channel? They often have blacksmiths on and it has sparked an interest in metalwork for me especially combined with other materials like wood and glass.

HH.

silentC
16th Dec 2004, 10:59 AM
I've only caught the tail end of it while waiting for Woodworks. I'll have to make an effort to watch it.

I've got some PDF books on blacksmithing and wrought iron work which are interesting to look at. I downloaded them from here: http://www.countryside.gov.uk/NewEnterprise/Economies/theblacksmithscraft.asp. I can't find the wrought iron one now but it's on that site somewhere if you want to look for it.

I wish I had the time to explore some of this stuff a bit more. I like the idea of learning some of these old skills and maybe passing them on to my kids. Might be helpful in the event of a global catastrophe, assuming that anyone survives :D

Peter T
16th Dec 2004, 11:06 AM
Try a google search for "metal-crafts australia". When I can open the short cut I have for this web site I'll post a link here...... when I get to it.

HappyHammer
16th Dec 2004, 11:07 AM
Thanks SC, I've downloaded them and I'll have a read on the ferry home tonight.

They had a bloke on last week who makes Rocking chairs and he talked about how he's passed the craft to his son and how it was passed to him by his father.

HH.

rodm
16th Dec 2004, 11:35 AM
There is an Australian site that is struggling to get up and running
Try here
www.tokentoolroom.com/forum/
A bit of talk on the X3 mill which is the $1900 mill they sell at Carbatec.
Silent is right about the mini mills - if you have room go for the H&F mills for around $1,500. Like kitting out any machine the cost is considerably more for tooling. Dial gauges, Mag Mounts, cutters, collets, etc add up. Ebay is good for these items and you can build it up as the hobby grows.

There are quite a few lathe and mill forums overseas
Try here
www.chaski.com
www.homeshopmachinist.net
www.practicalmachinist.com
Look for the forum links on these sites.

Yahoo has heaps of lathe and milling groups but the best (most active) is the 9X20lathe group.

DanP
16th Dec 2004, 11:49 PM
Echidna,

Buy from metalwork machinery from Hare and Forbes (Herless). They have been in the metal machine game forever. It is their true line, they just dabble in woodworking stuff. Get the Metalwork Cattledog for free from their website. They aren't a bad piece of kit, depending on what you spend. Used to work on one of their cheapest and nastiest lathes and it did the job. You will get what you pay for.

Dan