noobrider Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Hello from me, hello from Germany! A long time I am a lurker and now I decided to give it a chance. I am from Germany, about an hour away from Cologne if anybody knows it. I am 22 years old and started my first trys in smithing 10 years ago. Over the years I had only a few times the chance to work for myself or to learn something, but the time has come and now I have the chance to learn and try. So I just started to build my own "shop". It's a small area like 2x2 metres outside for the forge and my table. And i have got a 1,50x1meter workbench to finish work, or to work with leather and the other materials I use. My anvil is a 14x14x14 cm steel dice, weighs round about 40lbs and works well for me. I use a scrap vise and some hammers I found at flea markets. So long story short -> I improvise everything and try my best to have fun with this hobby. If there are any questions, just ask! I hope the language isn't too bad to read and understand! Oh and if theres criticism just tell me, I think I will learn from anything the "more" experienced people tell me! :) And some pictures of some of my works. First Picture is a Viking-Knife I made. Another Viking-Knife My forge at the moment. A bottom-blast forge, without any ash-can, works well, but a new one will be built in a few days! Then my Table and anvil-stand: My fire-hook, i just finished it today! and a birthday present a friend got last year: A viking-knife, 30cm long , and a oak-wood-stand for it, all by myself. So hope you had fun reading and looking! Greetings Kai alias noobrider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Welcome from Georgia, (United States, not the Asian one). I like the large cube of steel. Everytime I see something like that I always wonder what it was used for in it's previous life... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedefiddle Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Good Morning and welcome to this side of Life. There is nothing wrong with lurking, It is called learning with your mouth closed and your mind wide open. I have a couple sawyers anvils, that look like that. Any anvil that works, is good. Regardless of what it looks like. Your English language is fine, no problem. It is WAY better than my German!!!! :) :) It is quite normal for people to start out making different knives, It is the form of learning manipulation. Sorry for the big word, It is the form of learning how metal moves. I use clay or play-doh to figure out what something will look like and how to shape it in sequence. Enjoy the Journey, there is no end!!! Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Hi Kai, and welcome! It's always good to see an other European on the IFI! Very good starting work! You can find a big bunch of other new project ideas around here if you ever need it. But maybe you already know that. And nice starter anvil, too. Will be good and useful for a long-long time. Although is that tree stump stabile enough? Those cut lumber pieces don't look like they make impossible the whole setup to tip over. And if you don't want to improvise only here are some good helps: http://www.hlcollege.ac.uk/Downloads/cp_blacksmith.html http://www.mrsoso.nl/bushcraft/basic-blacksmithing.pdf Happy hammering! Gergely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Welcome aboard Kai, glad to have you. Looks to me like you have about as much kit as has been used for millennia. If you nail some blocks of wood to the stand around the anvil it'll stay put much better. You're English is as good or better than a lot of the guys who live in the US. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Hello and glad to have you here with us. I have family in the southern part of Germany in Aalen, but I haven't visited then in years. I enjoyed my time there visiting them but I was really glad their English is a lot better than my German. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noobrider Posted August 22, 2014 Author Share Posted August 22, 2014 Hey, the stump is improved, there are some woodblocks put under there and i added two layers of bitumen , to reduce the hammering on the floor. And thank you for the nice welcome here! i think i found the right place to learn and maybe give some input if others need it. Also thank you for the links, i will start reading after i finished the two books I just got. (Lars Enander, German Title: "Schmieden Lernen" ; my translation for the title : "Blacksmithing Basics" , and the little red book all german smiths read: "The Smith at the Anvil " , "Der Schmied am Amboss". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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