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I Forge Iron

New guy looking for some help starting out!


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Hey guys!I've been really interesting in learning how to do forging and smithing and all that good stuff for quite a while now and am finally going to make the leap and try and do it.

Just wanted a few tips for ways to make a forge, and for tools and equipment that would be good to use, especially something as an anvil, because I don't wanna throw a lot of money at this yet because I haven't done it and wanna figure out a way to try it out relatively inexpensively.

Any help or tips you guys have to offer for just starting out as far as what I need and can use for starting up and learning would be incredibly appreciated.

Thanks!

Edited by yordo
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Place a confortaboe chair between the frige and your bathroom (if your batchular a miny fridge beside the toylet) and read the thousands of posts here. That same question has been asked a few hundred times.

so lets cover the basics, fire and a way to add air to make it hot enugh to burn steel (gas and electric forges are kindo of expensive) a box full of dirt, a peice of pipe and a hairdrier, or air bed inflater will work with lump charcoal or embers from a camp fire. Not, some way to limit the air is nesisary with most air suplies.

somthing to rest the hot steel on, a large sledge hammer head, a large lump of steel (a 2" solid draw bar from a truck, a heacy drop from a machine shop, peice of rail, granit headstone...)

a hammer, not a framind hammer , you will have to dress it properly, instructions are in here in several places.

a way to hold the steel, a long rod can be held in your hands, infact a good place to start is tongs and the tools to make them, but large slip joint pliers are a reasnable start. A punch, a drift a hot cut chisel and a cold cut chisel can be forged as can most any other tool once you have the basics. But i would by the files, the are tedius to make. 

So lets find a 2- 2 1/2# crosspein, or ball pein, a sledgehammer head or other largish lump of steel with a flatish face a bit bigger than your hammer, a pair of slip joint pliers, some files and a hack saw and a peice of black pipe and somthing to blow air, dig a hole and build a small fire....

read, play, ask, repeat...

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Well, Frosty would say to post your general area, as you never know who's in yer backyard to show you the ropes.

  My personal advice for sourcing beating surfaces (AKA Anvils) would be to check out heavy equipment repair/rental places, or find a friend who works around a machine shop, or works around heavy equipment.  These places/people are likely to have access to large chunks of scrap and smaller chunks too.  Some of them might even be willing to help you out for the promise of a cool bottle opener or something like that.  If all else fails, find a scrap yard or a steel yard with a "remnant" pile, as you can find rather sizeable chunks for less than half the price per pound of new steel.

  For basic hammers, look up local yard/estate/barn sales and flea markets/swap meets, but like Charles said stay away from "claw" hammers if possible, as I've seen the "claw" break off and go flying at speed.  Find a good cross/ball pein hammer if possible.  Dress the face and pein smooth, so that it doesn't mark up your work so badly, and you see the after effects of your strikes.  Also, make sure your handle fits tight in the head of the hammer.  When I was about 6 I had one fly off the handle and come down on the head of the owner of said hammer (AKA my dad).  Luckily he didn't need his cat scanned or even stitches, but he did not appreciate gravity's input on the topic at hand, and promptly gave me a lesson in fitting hammer handles.

  For making your own tongs, without the use of tongs, google up "Guru's Tongs".  It should be the first hit.

Hope this helps.

Edited by Quarry Dog
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Yordo, I have only been pounding on hot steel for about 7 months but I have managed to acquire a whole bunch of good things to use as an anvil including RR track, RR coupler knuckles, some sort of RR connector beam, and a few other things but the one that moved hot steel the fastest was this crusher hammer head that weighs around 65-70 lbs. It is some sort of stainless and has a nice flat area with significant mass underneath it and a nice round area for drawing out and you can flip it over for another useful shape or use the hole for drifting or whatever else. I got it at the scrapyard and I've since seen a few heavier ones. Great starter anvil!IMG_20150506_230313.thumb.jpg.94732469d9

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Mate if there is not a blacksmith you can spend time with then the next best 3 things you can do is read, read and read, then your ideas will come, try them, some will work, some not so good, when they work that is learnt, when they dont, that is homework to do. If you get stuck, plenty of good blokes and information here at IFI.

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