Kenny Fields

Hello, I just finished my forge and fired it up today and since it didn't fall apart i guess it is a success. The first project that i am going to be working on is a set of handles for a butterfly knife for my dad's birthday. What i have in mind is somehow punching out his name in them but i am not sure how i should go about this. I will be finishing up a pair of tongs tomorrow but other than that i have never forged anything before and have never been instructed in blacksmithing. Any tips or ideas? Thanks in advance for all the advice

Thanks for posting Phil. I found a lot of stuff that i did not know there.

I am going to be making my first pair of tongs today or tomorrow. I will try the brown paper technique and let everyone know how it works for me.

Thanks for all the great advice everyone. I think my project for tomorrow is going to some abandoned tracks not far from me and looking for the spikes. Might even hit up the local flea market on the way. I'm hoping to make my first attempt at forging on Tuesday but i do not have anything other than a few hammers and a vice with a small flat section on the back to use as an anvil. My first project will most likely be some tongs since i will need them to make other things later on. Will the rebar work to make these?

I am getting my forge put together here in the next few days but i still do not have an anvil or the money to buy a new one. What would be some good things that can be used in place of an anvil till i can find a proper anvil?

What do i look for to tell if out gassing has stopped and if i do not separate the alloys will i have the out gassing problem every time i heat the metal?

I have a lot of broken mechanics tools like sockets, ratchets, wrenches, and other tools would these metals be safe to forge? Sorry if this question has been posted before I just started reading the forms yesterday.

I live kinda close to a national forest that was strip mined for coal about 20 years or so ago and there is still a good amount of coal just laying here and there off the road. Would this type of coal work and if so should i break it up more? it is found in sizes ranging from pebble to the size of footballs.

so far what i have gathered up for materials to make my forge is: half a 55 gallon drum, some sections of pipe, and an old roll bar that im going to convert into a stand to place my forge on. For my air flow i have several options. i can make a box with several PC fans in it. i have a shop vac and i also have an old air compressor. I was leaning towards the PC fans cause i can run them off a battery when i dont have electric available but i was not sure if they would provide enough air flow. Has anyone tried this method? will post some pictures as soon as i figure out how to get them on here from my phone.

looking over these forge ideas has made me think of another question. I live in an area that is very open and can get pretty windy a lot of the time. Should i have higher sides on my forge to help block the wind off of the forge?

Since im just getting interested in the craft i don't know a lot about it yet. However, my thoughts on repairing it differ slightly from grinding and welding. If it is possible to do why not just use your forge to heat the anvil and fuse the crack back together? I look forward to reading replies to this post since i have a lot to learn yet.

Hello, I am just getting interested in forging and need to build a forge. I have a lot of cinder blocks laying around in various sizes and was wondering if it was possible to make a forge out of blocks. I do not have a lot of money to spend on getting started but i have access to all the wood i can use and a good collection of scrap metal. This forge is only to get me started in the craft i plan on upgrading it as i get better. Thanks in advance for all the advice.