Well today was the formative assessment for CP2, it went really well. What came out of it was just make the gate as critism.
I wanted to post the large drawing up on the blog.
As you can see from the lack of info here i am getting into that easter fever and the work ethic is slowly draining down.
I think i will get a post up tommorow about my last day in the forge, after that dont know when i will be starting it back up.
Think i will have a little bit of a break before i get back into work and forging.
Well a short post here, we have had a few little changes to the idea. When i had a tutorail with Adrian and he is liking the design heTh just thinks he needs a little refining.
This is what me and adrian were talking about, the frame work around the grass work. He said it would look better if it looked more like it was a run down piece of steel work similar to the steel works Sheffield as the grass works across it. So i did a couple rough sketchs on different ideas.
This was the first idea i had, i like it but i think there is too much symmetry in it, making it seem less run down and more like it is an artsy descion.
This is a design i drew up which i was really happy with, i need to start tweaking it with a half sized drawing over the weekend.
In other news i did a quite nice sample.
I really liked this sample because of the layers and how they sat on top of each other, i really wanted to start making this up full sized to see how it looked so i made on up with the help of Ambrose. Not only did it take alot longer than we thought but it became almost un workable torwards the end so we were brain storming about ideas and we came up with.
This is what we came up with, a power hammer tool to forge up all the blades quickly. It needs some working aswell as some pictures of the large sample for tommorow.
Till then goodnight
Well its been a manic weekend getting on my disatation with reading so put this on the back burner for a few days so i could back at it fresh.
I wanted to talk through some of the samples of Wednesday and Friday and some of the changes to the gate.
This was the first sample i did which was working on the connection i was looking to do, it was difficult to do and i got annoyed with it. I was going to look into different kinds of connecting that this one when i had a tutorail with Adrian and he really did make me think.
I had this stuck in doing the research Ambrose had set me on when Adrian said to me, what looks nicer it cut off at the bottom or flowing both sides like its growing from the center instead of that horrible cut off. It was one of those moments which was staring me in the face but i had just not thought about it, one big flash and i was onto even more ideas.
These are a couple of really fast sketches i did with pen i kept the cut off on a few like it was growing but on others kept it flowing from both sides. One thing Adrian did pick up was me having the frame and the bulky heel tennons holding it together, i want to keep it in myself because i think it really shows off the couple in both elements. He used to work in the steel industry doing large pieces and she is actively in her garden so thats what i want to marry with this piece, industrial steel elements and a sort of garden like flow.
These were a couple quick designs i got down on to paper that i really want to start working with more espically the idea above with the wrap around the center dragging it and it bursting out the sides, quite exiced about that idea.
Well thats about it, im working on drawings for the rest of the night, expect a post tommorow.
Quick finishing note, i have a box now under my desk im gonna fill with samples so my desk isnt so crowded as it was last hand in. So look there when marking me.
Evening people, well its been an eventful kinda day where ive had a good tutorail with Ambrose and did some work on the design some more.
As i spoke about before with wanting to involve grass in the project because it is something that is really important to them in there garden, so i got pictures of grass close up and started refining the shapes.
Here are my drawings in the sketchbook, after that i started printing off some blanks of the frame of the gate and started filling it with a few different ideas.
I will go into more detail when i start refining a few of them more, i really like this system of printing out blanks and drawing over them.
Will deffentily work on this system more, got a long day in the forge tommorow so i will post the samples and the tutorail sheet from Ambrose.
Well been a slow day people, was mostly catching up on sleep or emailing people but i did manage to get some time to get the pictures i was speaking about taken.
Ive got some samples here i did in the forge i want to talk through.
These were the first samples of the day, using the method i knew well of forging the curve on the flat side of the bar, i was liking the shape but i felt i could do more with it so i tried above to use a top fuller and a bottom swage to put a ridge down the center see if that was the materail i wanted to shape sort of the line in steel form and i just didnt think it did it justice so i went over to something Ambrose said about going agansit the flat and bending flat bar on the side, its harder to get a smooth bend but looks nicer so i tried that.
This is the first sample i did on the side bending, as soon as i did i knew that this is the way i wanted this project to go. There is a real elegance and flow in the steel when its bent like this, your eye just follows the line along which really compliments my idea of the gradual line shape.
So i wanted experiment with it more so i made up two and fire welded them at the bottom to see a sort of layering effect to them.
As soon as i stepped back when it was done i fell in love with this piece, there is just something so pleasing to the eye the way two of this bars compliment each other when they are stacked together. On wednesday i really want to look into layering up more of these to see if i can work on my asethic a little more.
After i had done the piece above i had a little mess around with an idea that came to me while forging the first sample of the day.
I did a gradule twist in the center of the bar just to fill the space, its a really intresting idea but to me it just makes the line too busy and takes away from what im trying to bring the piece, a feeling of motion and the eye following a line. Im sure Adrian will disagree this isnt a good enough reason not to explore it further but there is just a gut feeling that this isnt the way for me to take this project adding twists into the mix.
Above is my two tutorails of the week, one with Ambrose and one with Adrian. I was skeptical about putting my idea to Adrian because i know he knows me and he knows what i can do and if he would have said me i couldnt make the gate in the time would have forced to go down another path but he sat me down and said i can do it but i need to get this design down and simple enough that im not making a really busy image wise gate. As for Ambrose he has really got on the idea of this gate and gave me some great tips for fixings and how to put it together, ive still got some way to go with the design but i can see it coming together in my head. Just need to get it down on paper now.
Dont know whether i will get a post up tommorow im tooling up in the forge with a big pair of hollow bit tongs and a butchers block hammer all day.
Well this post is a little late for me but ive just woke up, as soon as i got in i fell asleep so this is my evening i guess.
Just thought i would get a quick re cap to just get some of these thoughts out of my head and onto paper. Pictures coming tommorow.
First off comes to my samples, i had a real break through today after i spoke to the big man about an asethetic i got on the phone to the customers and started talking about there garden and something that would link it all together. The main thing that she came forward with was her grass which was a great moment for me because ive done samples that look pretty grass based so a little tweaking and i can get my designs to work with it.
She said to me that in her garden her lawn is essentail in her garden, she gets a company to mow her lawn into strips to make it look just like a manor house. I really like that idea of using little things to make your house be your own little castle, i will have to talk this over with Ambrose on Tuesday see if it is a strong enough idea to stick.
Now onto the tennons, i made up two yesterday with Ambrose and really enjoyed doing it, its simple enough to do you just need to remeber the steps and be slow with and upset alot more than you need. The first one i was striking watching Ambrose show me the the second i did myself, i think the second one went well just the rodded butchers block wasnt easy to use so i think with a section of EN9 i have i am going to make up one and as Adrian says 'Tool Up' for the job and make two more next week with Ambrose. I honestly think i can do the two for gate in this project, with a little help from a good striker i can get them done.
Going to put up a post later today with pictures of my samples i made yesterday and a tech journal post on Tennons.
Today i wanted to talk about choosing the curve, i want to be a little decisive in tthis project so i wanted to get this curve nailed down quick.
at the forge i did a few samples.
These are a few of the first samples i did in the forge, i was liking what was going on with the curves but it wasnt quite the curve i wanted or as i am refering to it the Jack Curve.
Then i got onto this piece, a slow gradual curve going over a long distance. There is something about it a sort of elegance, flowing and buetiful, i really find this curve sexy and i just wanna work with it more.
So i did some drawings of the curve.
I think i got it pretty fast with this curve and i couldnt be happier because it gives me a rock solid starting point, i have alo more to learn about gatets and the differances but my asethetics is starting coming together.
I had alot of ideas running around my head so i decided to get a few of them down on paper.
These are a few really intial ideas i just want to lay out on the table, i want to get on with some more refining and researching gates then my big talk with Adrian on Wednesday before i start getting more ideas together next week.
I have a tight time plan on this project, i wanna get making as soon as i get back from Easter.
This morning i woke up with the intention of looking at gates and starting to get an idea of what kind of gate i want to make whether its more tradtional or a more modern take on it.
I have assembled some pictures here some from the internet and others from my own personal books.
I have got a lot of different kind of gates here, some quite tradtional patter and others a little more radical in there approach to what is considered a gate, the more look into it i think i am going to need to have a sit down with Adrian and talk over my ideas with him because he is the man best to put into action what i can do.
So far i am leaning towards a more panel style gate but we will see if that changes.
