Completed projects!

You have probably heard me rambling on about my front steps project where I took out the old steps and completely re-modelled the entrance with steps leading off to the side instead of the front. All done with scrounged bricks (took me ages to clean them), Well that part was completed a few weeks back but was a bit of a deathtrap without railings. i always intended to make the railing in the same guise as my gate and fence and finally finished them. After a coat of paint they don't look three bad so I was chuffed that project is just about complete.

I also scrounged a big lump of wood from a tree that some one was keen to get rid of. This I planned on turning into an anvil stand and yesterday my youngest son gave me a hand to construct my 'Garden Folly' Maybe not to everyone's taste but its at the top of the garden, unseen from the French doors and patio and with plenty of room around it so I can shape metal to my hearts content!

Here's  a few piccies.

You're a very clever man, Vinny. The gate and railings are works of art.
As for the anvil... I used to have a huge metal ?vice/tool thingy that I found in the garden that sat on the wall beside the steps and I would pretend I knew what it was for. Gardens are for using as you want! I'm never sure whether a garden is another room of the house or another part of the shed!!

Vinny your finished step and railings do look good

MrB has an anvil he bought a few years ago with the aim to make a forge he's gathered some bits but got side tracked with other projects like you do.

So talented, Vinny! Looks great.

Wow, impressive!!!!!

Very impressive Vinny, I love the steps and railings. No wonder you have an anvil. It looks like a fairly new one not like the old anvil my dad had that my brother later sold for a few bob drinking money.
Challenge for you, can you lift the anvil up with 1 hand and carry it to another location ?. Just to let you know it can be done, my old man showed me how years ago and I made money taking bets from my friends. Let me know how you get on.

The anvil is a new and  75 ib  in weight. Large anvils, even old battered things cost a fortune these days and are way beyond my means. The main thing I needed was a Hardy hole in it. Having a Hardy hole means I can fabricate numerous jigs to fit into it which makes life a lot easier.
Bought the long coach screws yesterday to fasten it down and need to make two straps with holes to clamp it down solid. Then going to start on making a temporary iron/steel cross for Helen's grave until I save up for a headstone.

P and I are gobsmacked Vinny, your iron work is truly impressive, not only the iron but the artistic skill too. It's a masterpiece. I bet you get loads of passers-by admiring your work. You should start taking commissions. I'm fascinated by the process. Where do you forge the metal ( if that's the right term)? You should have a new project and take us through it in pictures, like SC's build, you know how nosy we all are.

How you found the time to be Helen's carer, walk the dog, run a plot and do the steps and railings and everything else is beyond me! Respect!

Very professional, well done!

What everyone else has said matey, superb job.

Do you by chance have a before photo?