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I Forge Iron

Show me your first blacksmithing project


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I can't even remember what my first project was, much less where it is.


Me, too. I regret having not kept some early tries, but I do recall an S hook that had a rather ugly, uneven twist in the middle. No swan necks either, so the shaft of the hook hung crookedly.
And the first ram's head I did was pretty ordinary in hindsight. I thought it was pretty good at the time though.
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I can't even remember what my first project was, much less where it is.

 

All I remember about my first attempts is where they probably are, a S. Cal. dump or scrap yard cir. 45-50 years ago. Then again Mother might have saved something but no telling, we're hereditary pack rats.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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OK, so here's a pic of a couple of first attempts. I'm not sure I feel comfortable about posting the pic, but since you ask ...
The S hook was meant to have a central twist, and as you can see, it is out of balance - aesthetically and physically. It doesn't hang straight.
The leaf letter opener was a first go at a leaf, and I was reasonably happy with that, but it was difficult to get the blade straight as it tended to curve as the sharper side was forged. I can do it OK now.
Anyway here's the pic:
post-50874-0-24902400-1419585357_thumb.j
It's good to look back on first attempts that were set aside. Makes you appreciate the progress made.

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I had an Anvil in the Shop for 15 years before building my first Coal Forge, ... about 12 years ago.

 

Just used a "Rosebud" on the A/O torch whenever I wanted to "work" a piece back into shape, ... or form a new part, ... or Heat Treat a piece.

 

Hard to say when the "transformation" to "Honest-to-God Blacksmith" actually took place.

 

I still design and modify tooling for Custom Automation Applications, ... and find that having the option of Forging odd shapes, to be a real asset in the design process.

 

 

So, ... for me, ... it's more of a "circular" progression, ... having no distinct point of orrigin.

 

 

 

.

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Coat rack; Steel on oak

 

post-38-0-69996600-1419658826_thumb.jpg

 

Close up of hook

 

post-38-0-03886800-1419658859_thumb.jpg

 

There are two boards; one with 5 hooks mounted at adult eye level and one with 4 hooks mounted at child level below ;) My only regret on this was not being able to find square headed lag bolts and not painting the heads of the hex heads; a procrastination that is 12 years in the making LOL

 

 

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My first Project is always with me I have never lost it . You see when I very first pick up a 1 LB hammer I mashed the Bird Finger on my right hand and broke the very tip of the bone in it & Mashed the end very Bad , at the young age of 7 . I still have a pin in the end of my finger However, it was replaced with a plastic pin some years later due to a crooked end of that finger( they broke it and straightened it as well) yet the scars are still there . it reminds me to keep all my fingers tucked in while hammering. By the way I am now right Handed .

 

Ret, Sgt. Yates

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For what it's worth .....

 

Last night it  occurredto me, ... the first piece that I remember "Forging", ...  was a part to repair/replace a broken "white metal" casting, that formed the Trigger Guard and rear portion of the Trigger Assembly, ... on an old Shotgun.

 

( In the mid 1970's, the Federal Government began requiring "Steel Shot" to hunt Waterfowl, in certain areas. )

 

Fearing this hard shot would damage the barrels of our "good" guns, ... many Waterfowlers chose to aquire inexpensive old guns, to shoot the Steel Shot.

 

 

Much has changed since then, ... but that beat up old "Boat Gun", still works better-than-new.

 

 

 

.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I have a  cold chisel made in metal shop.  It's either in my stuff somewhere or in with dads tools someplace.  Just remember that it came out to soft as 2  of the queen bee girls were bs'ing between me and the quench tank.  They moved quick when  being yelled at to move or get burnt...  can't  remember making anything before that.  Did watch Dad make a knife out of a planer blade and Teflon for a handle on his rivet forge,  was for a cousin if I remember right.

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  • 3 weeks later...

This was my first hook and my first knife. I still have both of them.

 

 

Well to be fair my first attempt at a knife was in my coal forge and I was paying a little closer attention to drinking the beer in my hand than tending the fire and ended up vaporizing the old file that I was trying to forge. Since it disappeared into a fire I don't count that one. I didn't try it again till I completed my gas forge. Its much more forgiving.

post-28803-0-01907200-1424143166_thumb.j

post-28803-0-59464300-1424143197_thumb.j

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  • 1 year later...

My first blacksmithing project. My first knife project. About 40 years ago. Didn't even know I was blacksmithing. In my high school shop class, I told the teacher, Mr. Seeley, I wanted to make a knife for my grampa. He handed me a big old flat file and said, "Here, you can make it out of this." And I heated and hammered for days. Fast forward about 40 years and here I am wanting to learn more about blacksmithing and bladesmithing.

SkinningKnife.jpg

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being a guy who enjoys "restoring" tools. That poor draw knife!

                                                                                                                 Littleblacksmith

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The scorp is not a two handed instrument, as most drawknives are. Your creation looks more like an unfinished inshave  (two handled one.).(there are one handled inshaves but they are larger than scorps.) Most scorps are a small to very small sizel. In my estimation, the draw knife to scorp conversion is not a simple beginners project, But it is a more advanced one. You deserve an A plus for ambition and effort. Your project could become a very practical tool. It can be handled and used as a drawknife with a deep belly. Such tools are used by chair makers to hollow out the seat to accommodate The sitter's posterior. They can also be used to hollow deep wooden bowls. A Good job, notwithstanding.

SLAG.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by SLAG
added more "vital" thoughts
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