Hi Janet!
Thanks! Regarding plans, I'm going to a show in May and will hopefully sell it. We'll see.
Congrats on your Florence invite, by the way! That is very exciting. I'm really glad you are taking the Oracle. That is a wonderful piece and will be very popular there. Can't wait to hear how it went. I think that the most famous person ever to sit in that chair will be the person pictured above!
Rob

Hi Nelson!
Thanks- I'm glad you like it. The steel was finished with (my favorite) salt patina, followed by a finish made from 1/3 linseed oil, 1/3 turpentine, and 1/3 Turtle Wax (liquid car wax).
Rob

Hi Rich!
Thanks much, my friend. How are things in the islands? I have to say after a cold winter here (I think I hear Frank, Paula and Jake chuckling in the background) I envy you. Are you traveling up this way any time soon?
Rob

Thanks Jamie! It was a fun (and interminable) project.
Susan is still enthralled with the wonderful ring you made for her. Thanks again for all the work you put into it!
Rob

Thanks Gerald!
Yup, I'm looking forward to the other seasons as well on so many levels.
Are you doing any more of your wonderful forged critter heads these days? I really admire not only your work, Gerald, but also your personal dicipline in your training. You are truly a better man than I!
Rob

Thank you so much, Paula!
I hope I get to see some more of your wonderful birds soon. You have such a wonderful color and design sense with them. All of your work has a very gentle touch that is amazingly sensitive to the natural characteristics they represent.
Rob

that's really nice of you to say so Rob.....still working on the eagle, it's not so pretty right now, but birth never is. :)
Paula
Guthrie, MN

patinaThanks Mele! The salt patina is very simple and very safe (my wife says that my goal it to only use patinas that you could brush your teeth with or use on a salad). This is a close-up picture of the patina. For the salt patina: • Wash the piece thoroughly with hot water and cleanser. • Sand blast with 120 grit aluminum oxide (wire brush would work as well for a slightly different effect). • Heat lightly with torch to dry the steel • Spray the warm/hot steel (steel should be just hot enough to steam off water, not boil it) with fresh hydrogen peroxide • Immediately brush steel with salt. Coarse kosher salt gives a more mottled appearance, and regular table salt gives a finer, more consistent apearence. • Continue this application over the entire piece working in small areas at a time. Leave the mixture on the steel for about 30 minutes, keeping it wet with the hydrogen peroxide the whole time. It is not necessary to continue to heat the steel after the first application. Add additional salt as necessary • If you want a darker appearance you can rinse of the mixture and repeat. I usually only do one application, however. • After the final rinse of the salt/hydrogen peroxide mixture, immediately coat steel with a thick slurry of baking soda and water. Leave this on for a few minutes then rinse with very hot water. • Allow this to air dry completely before applying final finish. As it is drying it will form a beautiful, delicate rust patina. I find that my linseed/turpentine/Turtle wax finish allows the salt patina to show through very nicely. The woods I used were black walnut (for the top and shelf), bittersweet vine, sycamore (for the carved pieces at the top of the vine that support the table top) and ebony for the keys. Are you still doing your wonderful garden flowers? Your oak tree was aan amazing piece, by the way. What was the finish you used on that? Rob

Thanks for that great info. I'm not doing so much outside stuff, I have gotten more interested in the other things. I will still do outside flowers. My friend will be very excited to see the table and the woods you used. He's a freak about that stuff. I heated the tree and brushed it with a brass brush. I read that on here and wanted to try it. I was thinking of trying this salt patina on the next one, the motled finish might look good. Patinas are a weak point for me so I am trying to learn more about them. They can really make a difference on how a piece turns out.
I welded on my new table this weekend for the first time and it was so great. No more rolling around on the ground. I fabricated a new stand for my vise out of rebar and it was square! I have always said I am not a good fabricator but I think it was were I was trying to do it.
Anyway great table, thanks
Mele

Rob, yeah great job, really cool table. The mortise and tenon joinery on the curved piece gets me dizzy just trying to figure how to lay that out.

www Metalrecipes -- heat and beat to the desired shape, repeat as necessary.
warren

Thanks Jake!
I always admire your obviously thoughtful and wonderfully artistic work. I just imagine your planning and designing done ahead of time- a wonderful ability to see the project from beginning to end up front.
For me, there is basic object recognition associated with a lot of grunting (uhhh-stick?-uhhh) followed by intermittent synaptic firing interspersed with vacant stares and drooling...
Rob