Fafnir

I had to give up looking for soft firebricks. They don't use them much in Ireland, people make wide eyes every time I ask if they sell them. Instead, I decided to build a trash can forge insulated with perlite/aluminium oxide mix, following this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQN7EqGMTuo. What do you think of this project? Do you have any advices regarding forge diameter or shape and placement of the burner?

​A beam, unfortunately.

When I first became interested in blacksmithing, I asked a local blacksmith for advice. He pointed me to Perun website and said that I can get needed tools there. What he didn't tell me was that I can start practicing with a 3,5" wide piece of rail, two firebricks, plumber's torch and a hammer. I used the TPAAAT for the first time and I gotta say it works. My novice skill shows though. I searched for a scrap heap in my town, after asking few people all I found was a car scrapyard. There they told me there is a scrap heap in nearby town, five miles away. A friendly taxi driver pointed the exact way. At the place a secretary told me they have a contract and can't sell me a single piece of steel. What kind of scrap heap is that? In my country there are at least two in every town and they buy/sell as you please. It seems I am going to have a problem with acquiring materials for practice. Then TPAAAT made me go to the other side of the road where I found Coen Steel warehouse. There a kind old man gave me a piece of rail they put under their rebar piles and told me to walk away. I thanked him and walked away with a big smile on my face. It weghts around 5kg and I don't even know what kind of steel it is, but it'll do for now. I also acquired two heavy firebricks and I'm trying to figure out what to do with them. The "heavy" part makes me wonder if I made a mistake.

It seems the Ireland law doesn't allow the use of pull-behind motorcycle trailers. That's one less decision to make...

Wow, you guys are really supportive. Thank you. ​Now you are tempting me to merge my two obsessions - motorbikes and blacksmithing. Even a custom made trailer would probably cost less than a VAN and would be much cheaper to maintain. What about the capacity and weight though? Workbench, forge, anvil, vise and other tools take a lot of space. ...unless I use the trailer as a workbench, as well as use a small gas forge and a lighter anvil. This idea sounds so crazy I'm probably gonna go for it. Do you have any specific advice for setting up a compact blacksmithing tool set? ​I grew up on a farm with workshops and a lot of tools to play with - I can build a well hatch or shape a steel wedge to fix a loose hatchet. Aside from that I know a bit about programming and I think I could handle milling machines (is this how they are called in english?) after some quick study, but that's not really something I'd be happy to do. Call me crazy, but I prefer engaging, physical work. Drawing is something I'm trying to learn, with little success so far. As for now, I'm planning to take a leap of faith in a month or two, quit my job, move to Cork and try to find any job in the steel industry. Then I may look into doing some welding courses and go that route until I'll be experienced enough with a hammer to set up a real workshop. ​This is something I know I really need to work on. Aside from poor social skills, I find it hard to talk to people about blacksmithing, because I haven't even started practicing it yet.

Hello, I just wanted to introduce myself and to ask question. My name is Jacob and really want to get into blacksmithing. I'm from Poland, currently living in Ireland and I have no space to set up a workshop. I'm going to buy a VAN and slowly turn it into a mobile workshop or at least storage for tools I could deploy somewhere and lit a fire. I know it is going to take MANY years until I'll be able to earn living from blacksmithing. Until then I need a job. Currently I work at a fast-food restaurant and for some reason I don't like it. I would rather work in anything related to shaping steel. I'm thinking about moving to Cork (where factories are), but honestly I have no clue what kind of a job could I get with no experience. So, my question is: What kind of job can I do with no experience that is at least loosely related to blacksmithing? Money is not a problem, it can only go up from my current wage.