Author Archives: Alistair Fenwick

I remember sitting in my first apprenticeship, staring at a piece of expensive mild steel and feeling that knot in my stomach because my freehand measurements were off by a fraction of an inch. I’d spent three hours prepping the Continue reading Creating Templates for Metalwork→

I remember sitting in my first apprenticeship, staring at a piece of scrap that a senior smith told me was “just metal,” only to have it shatter under the hammer because I hadn’t respected its composition. I’ve spent forty years Continue reading Stop Wasting Material: Why You Must Master the Differences Between Steel and Iron Before You Strike the Anvil→

I remember a rainy Tuesday back in ’84, standing over a piece of fine-grade steel that I’d spent three hours prepping, only to watch it slip because my bench-top vice decided to give up the ghost. The sound of that Continue reading How to Use a Metalworking Vise→

I remember standing in a fabrication shop back in the late eighties, watching a kid try to scrub oxidation off a piece of heavy plate with a wire brush so flimsy it looked like it belonged in a kitchen drawer. Continue reading Using Wire Brushes for Metal Cleaning→