A not so poisoned chalice

So we all watched it did we, who’d have thought after Bejing that  we would make a success of the Olympics. After watching the opening ceremony with our hands over our eyes, and then GB doing so well after a shaky start we finally relaxed and it seems most of us enjoyed it after all. Then there was the closing ceremony, a right ol’ knees up, we had a bit of an idea what to expect after the opening one. There were the usual suspects, Brian May and the fat bloke from Bury singing about his curtains, shoe ins for this type of event.  Obviously the highlight for me was the Olympic flame and how they were going to extinguish it.

In recent times the olympic flame has been a bit jinxed, surely something had  to go wrong, I mean it was a minor miracle that 17 tonnes of copper sitting in the east end for almost 3 weeks was still there at all.  I had sat through Annie Lennox on a longboat, the pet shop boys in rickshaws and that well known stalwart of British musical culture Russell Brand on top of a bus. If someone had told me that next up was going to be Bernie Flint and the Grumble weeds  singing This charming man with the lady from the shake and vac ads, I would have had no reason to doubt them. Eventually the moment arrived, the mechanical decommisioning of Thomas Heatherwicks 8.5m high sculpture. 300 sheets of copper were used in the sculpture built in a disused hanger near Harrogate. Each petal engraved with one of the countries represnted in the games, and each one reminiscent of the copper  tube lillies a lot of the old boys I used to work with had made for their gardens.

Often over looked in recent times there are few metals that have the natural decorative properties as copper. Whether bright or aged the range of finishes it produces  make for perfect ornaments and work well when used with other non ferrous metals. Ok so working with it can be a ball ache, but does it really do any harm to brush up on those traditional techniques now and then.  Yes it’s expensive in sheet form, but in this age of austerity  there  is plenty of opportunity to get your hands on it for scrap value. Some of those old boilers have great shapes for lantern tops and clean up really well.  A malleable material that is strong, has good corrosion resistence. Is easy to form and can be finished to a number of attractictive textures and colours, has to be worth considering for the modern metalsmith looking to create something different..

Age of Diversity

So the economy is officially on it’s arse still, the worst recession in 50 years according to those that know these things.  I am listening to one guy on the radio now as I write this blaming the weather, probably one of the same pasty faced quilts in red braces that was telling us that it was all our fault in the first place, for putting the cost of our caravan weekend in Rhyl on our credit card. Other experts offered a more plausible view that a sharp downturn in the construction and manufacturing sectors was to blame. Now I imagine for most people reading this that may not be the news they wanted to hear. The vat increase, very little in the way of grants available and the increasing difficulty in raising finance have all contributed to a difficult period for most small manufacturers, it’s no wonder most are struggling. There maybe however some hope.

One area of manufacturing that is growing is the hand made bicycle industry. Now I am not talking about the type we used to chop up and stick a pair of cowhorn handle bars on like when we were kids. These are mostly bespoke creations built to the customers spec. The customer gets to choose the height of the frame the material it’s made from and all the extras like wheels and gearing etc.  Now as you’d expect all this doesn’t come cheap, prices start from a few thousand pounds to tens of thousands. Now why in this day and age when most people haven’t got a pot to piss in would anyone want to spend that much money on a bike when they can go to Halfords and pick up a grifter for a couple of ton. Maybe because production line restrictions aren’t exactly what they want. And there are still plenty of people who have got pots to piss in, probably lots of pots cast in 24 carat gold and big enough to empty a bladder of Dom Perignon in, who know exactly what they want and don’t care how much it  costs to get it.

Now unless you’re a bike builder you might not think this is that relevent, but hear me out. For Halfords read Wickes or B&Q. Most have us have heard someone say that so and so only costs such and such in the garden centre when enquiring about a job, I bet it does, it’s most likely not a patch on what you make your self. What I’m saying is you know the value of your own work. If you are getting a lot of customers asking to make them something they have seen imported from the far east at a fraction of the cost you can even get the materials for, then you are appealing to the wrong market. Attention to detail and craftsmanship over high volume productivity should be your main focus. Make sure people know they are getting a prestige product, bespoke and unique to them. If people want something enough they will pay well for it.

By the way I Just noticed todays other big news story £13 trillion hidden from tax man by global elite in offshore  accounts,  still we keep heating and beating eh.

Beyonce’s baby gets new cradle

Before you think we’ve gone all Heat magazine take a look at the photo here. Unless you have been tuning into Lorraine Kelly of a morning or Loose Women, you may or may not know that singing sensation and serial arse wobbler Beyonce has  gone and bought a wrought iron cradle for her sprog.

No doubt the celebrity magazines and red tops will be all over this and you can bet every wannabee footballers wife and Katie price impersonator will be after one for their little princes and princesses.

The victorian appearance makes it fairly simple to resemble using off the shelf components and I expect not beyond the skills of most fabricators. Something to think about for those quiet days in the workshop maybe, especially for you bed makers out there.

The GAGAs

The Galvanizers Association are currently inviting entries for the 2012 galvanizing awards. Six categories including Architectural, Detail, Sustainable, Engineering,  Duplex and a new award for this year International are up for grabs. Applications must be recieved before 20th April 2012 and the only criteria is that your project must have been completed after January 2010. A £3000 prize fund awaits as well as a galvanized watering can for the outright winner, how good will that look on the mantlepiece. All that’s required to enter is a few high quality photos and some background information on the project and you can enter online here http://www.galvanizing.org.uk/awards/welcome_to_gagas.

The Gate Post recommends that the background information doesn’t include any pieces of your project that were returned a different shape than when they went out, were sent out from the galvanizers to someone else or cut straight through your rigger gloves as soon as they were handled.