Hello all! My name is David A. Gregory, known to many around the
world as Black Angus or just Angus if you like. First of all I would
like to say to those who created this site thank you very much! There
is an abundance of talent and here to keep someone like
me in “the loop”! I also enjoy looking at all the great tools,
equipment and workbenches that I cant afford to get! Oh, as I was
saying I am Angus! A medieval and fantasy style blacksmith, jeweler
and leather worker. I mostly work in brass, copperand nickel due to
that is what I can afford at the moment. Although my favorite jewelry
metal to work in is silver. I would post pictures to the sitebut I am
not very good at taking pictures so they would not meet the quality
standards. If you would like to see some of my work go here…
… Warning I am not great at websites either so even though this
has been 2 years in the making there are a lot of blank pages and the
whole thing is a work in process! As am I. At this time I am focused
on etching. The supplies needed are really inexpensive and I can do
it almost anywhere. However I would like to start making the higher
class pieces to show people what I can really do! Repousse, chasing,
casting and pmc work are some of the few I am planning to start on
once I canget the tools. I broke down last summer and bought myself
a new jewelers saw and better quality blades then the $5.00 bulk
pack. Just that made a big difference in speed and frustration. I
also carved an oak form for my Viking brooches and started trying to
figure out my mini torch that has been inthe box untouched for a
couple of years! I purchased a never used $500.00 beaders kiln, a
few weeks ago, to use as a small burn out kiln. I got a very good
deal on that and it will help me get to my goals of casting and pmc
work. Other then that I use a baseball bat as both a bracelet mandrel
andsometimes a hammer when I use my large doming blocks for round
pieces. Most of my files and and other odds and ends jewelry tools
are makeshift itemsand inexpensive Harbor Freight tools. Oh and my
workbench is a bar stool that I c-clamped a piece of plexi-glass to.
I cut a slot into the plexi-glass to use as a bench pin. My tools
and equipment may be sub par but theykeep me making the stuff I love
to make! And I hope keep making my art/craft for many years to come.
Thank you for reading this and I hope to learna bunch from all of
the great craftsmen and women here. Maybe I will also be able to
throw my two cents in once in a while.
Angus
