Raven Forge

20/08/2026

It’s not only steelwork at Raven Forge, occasionally its woodwork as well 😜

To that end I decided to upgrade my table saw with a decent fence, the original being totally inadequate for the job.

I amalgamated ideas from YouTube and built a solid new fence and sliding mechanism. I then attached an aluminium T-rail to the fence that allows me to now attach various accessories.

Job done!

I was considering building a cross cutting sled, but I picked up a really nice sliding mitre saw in what I would call a “Revenge Sale” - a lady was selling off her ex’s tools for an absolute bargain😜

17/08/2026

Added a small plasma cutting table with a water bath to my outside fabrication bench.

I am far from mastering the plasma cutter, but now I’ll be able to try freehand and template cuts.

12/08/2026

Properly cold and wet today, had to set up the welding station inside the forge, but Bill and Richard got to grips with flux core and stick welding.

08/08/2026

Ruben and Míla joined us for the Blacksmith Experience today - it was great fun to be forging again!

26/07/2026

My plasma machine does not have a gouging function to remove welds per se, but I found an Australian plasma fanatic on YouTube (Pete’s Tools) who has a bit of a work around - use your own discretion in following his content, some is a bit marginal!

I gave it a go and achieved reasonable results, applying it on two projects with reasonable success.

25/07/2026

I must admit, when this little Mac Africa 180mm cold chop saw arrived from Adendorff’s (great online service!), my first thought was “Ah cute, it looks just like a proper one”!

It has since proven to me that it definitely is a “proper one”, handling any stock up to 50x50 with ease, and solving a gap where my horizontal band saw really doesn’t like cutting thin stock.

Super compact and light, it cuts multiple materials (mild steel, aluminium, plastic & wood) fast, just not stainless and heat treated carbon steel.

With the TCT blade, the material does not get hot, it leaves a very clean edge, and it would make a great job site saw.

No affiliation to the brand, it’s just a great product.

25/07/2026

Both Jo and I are on light duty, battling with the flu, so Forge projects are pretty much on hold, and I’ll have to rely on other content for now.

The importance of a good “earth” is often neglected in welding, so I have devised multiple clamping options that I can swop out using a female Dinse connector on my work cable - hence the magnet option as well!

This was prompted in part when I was asked to weld hinges onto a steel door frame - there was just nowhere to attach a conventional clamp.

I placed “earth” in italics, as the work cable is not always attached to the negative terminal.

eg Flux Core mild steel is DCEN, TIG standard setting is DCEN, and even in stick welding, switching to DCEN brings a whole host of other options, particularly when welding thin steel.

21/07/2026

Mathew and Tatenda on the FCAW course today 👏

17/07/2026

It’s a fabricating forging kind of day.

15/07/2026

How’s this for a clever but simple idea!

fence rail cleaning brush