Andy Ternay

Looks a lot like my Sisco anvil but the "Made in Sweden" is different on mine and mine does not have the mark to the left of the "Made in Sweden."

It's a good suggestion but I have not been able to get the instructor's contact information because it is a continuing education class and the instructor is not faculty with a college provided email address. The course description states: I could wait but I must admit I am pretty much counting the days until this starts on January 21st and thought a hammer was a pretty safe investment as a tool choice.

Well said! I think I am going the inexpensive route for now... Harbor Freight and then we'll see how this hobby develops.

Thanks for the input. If there is no compelling need to buy a hammer specific to blacksmithing, I will go to Home Depot or Harbor Freight if only because they are local to me. I was looking at a 2lb hammer... did not want to go too heavy at the beginning. I understand that there are advantages to using a true Hofi hammer but I believe you also have to use his methods to reap those advantages? I think I had better keep it simple and let the person teaching my class show me his techniques first. Again, thanks.

Thanks for the welcome!

Hi, I have signed up for a beginners blacksmithing course via local community college. I am thinking of purchasing a hammer for this class. It's been suggested to me that I just go to Harbor Freight and get a 3lb cross-pein sledge as my starting hammer. But I was considering the Blacksmith's Depot Czech style hammers: What attracts me to this is the description which says: Basically it says the hammer was designed for a beginning blacksmith. The soft(er) head and less squareness allowed them to sell at a lower price. Does this sound like a good first hammer for someone just starting out?

Sounds like it will be a fun Christmas at your house; hope you and your son have a blast learning.

Very much a beginner here... got started with bronze casting by attending the Bronze Age Sword workshops put on in England by Neil Burridge: http://www.bronze-ag...rkshop_2011.htm I suppose the first anvil I used was to cold forge an edge onto my bronze sword... anyway I was hooked by both bronze and iron. I took a very basic blacksmithing course from a gentleman named Fred Christin who did the blacksmithing at Dallas Heritage Village. I recently acquired a SISCO anvil, 126lbs and a Canedy-Otto forge and blower (both of which need some restoration) and am signed up for basic blacksmithing classes at Brookhaven community college here in Dallas. Yes, I do want to make a sword but I know that I'm probably three or four years away from making a simple knife. What I need now is a place where I can set up shop and practice and that might be hard for me to achieve in my current rental location. Good to be here! Andy

I am signed up for the Beginning Blacksmithing course. Hope to see you there!

Hello, I'm also a beginner, probably much more so than you. I am in Dallas. I don't know if you are aware but Brookhaven Community College is offering Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced Blacksmithing courses through their continuing education division. It's at the very bottom of this link, under "Welding": http://www.brookhavencollege.edu/course-schedules/non-credit/arts_academy.aspx They are every Saturday starting in January and the teacher is Kris Kring who was the blacksmith for Plano's Heritage Village. Hope this helps.