Alabama Forge Council

Hello, I have a situation on my hands. My father in law passed this week and used to be into forging and knife making. There are numerous pieces of equipment here that we want to sell but I would like to talk to someone knowledgeable about the equipment. Some of the equipment includes forge, anvil, huge power hammers, stand up belt sanders ect. If anyone would be willing to call me to talk about this equipment I would greatly appreciate it. This equipment is outside of Wetumpka Al on lake Jordan. My name is Chris and I can be reached at xxx xxx xxxx Thanks in advance. Chris

The Athens Forge, a chapter of the Alabama Forge Council, will meet Saturday March 22, 2025 at 9AM. Our demonstrator for the day will be Calvin Garland from Leoma, TN. Calvin will be forging a belt axe, with a striker. Tailgating is welcomed. There will also be an IITH drawing with the proceeds used to buy tools and material for the forge. Visitors are always welcomed. You may also visit us at athenforge.org. We plan to live stream the meeting on YouTube at Athens Forge AFC. DIRECTIONS TO THE FORGE From Hwy 72 turn south on Jefferson street between Marathon station and KFC. Continue while going south on Jefferson, you will pass between the theater an…

The Athens Forge a member of the Alabama Forge Council will meet Sat. March 23, 2024 at 9AM. The demonstrator for the day will be the winner of the forging contest of a utensil handle made from 24" of 3/8 diameter material. The contest challenge is to forge a handle for a cooking utensil from 24 inches of 3/8-inch round bar. As stated the contest requires only a handle. Of course, if anyone wants to produce a complete utensil from the 24-inch bar, that's a valid entry too. So you can add another piece of steel to make the blade of a spatula, or a ladle, for instance. Or knife-makers can weld in some other steel with the 3/8 round bar. Or use 3/8 round high carbon ste…

Looking for some coal around the Birmingham area. Willing to get a pickup truck load if the price isn't too bad. Would be happy to shovel it into my truck as well if I had too.

The Athens Forge, a chapter of the Alabama Forge Council, will have their regular monthly meeting on Sat. January 23, beginning at 9AM. The demonstrator for the day will be Athens Forge member Steve Alford. He will be doing a pass through trivet. AFC members also know Steve is the editor of the Bituminous Bits, the newsletter of the AFC. There will be an Iron-In-The-Hat raffle, donations welcomed. The Athens Forge uses IITH money to continue to provide tools, material, equipment, and fuel, so that AFC members can have a the things they need to learn more about the craft. Visitors are always welcome. The demo will also be live-streamed at Athens Forge AFC on Yout…

Athens Forge, a member of the Alabama Forge Council, will meet Sat. May 28, at 9AM CT. Our demonstrator for the day will be Clay Spencer. Clay will be showing different tools to use on a tire hammer. We meet at 722 Commercial Dr. Athens Al. There will be an Iron-in the-hat drawing. Visitors are always welcome. For more information see athensforge.com. The demo will also be live streamed at AFC Athens Forge on YouTube

AFC Fall Conference: 9-12 September 2021 Tannehill State Park, McCalla, AL. AFC's Yearly Annual Blacksmithing Conference.

Hi North Alabama blacksmiths! I'm only a couple of months into blacksmithing, and have the good old backyard brake drum setup thing going on. It doesn't look like much, but I'm happy with it so far. I still have plenty of learning to do with air flow control, fire management, that sort of thing, and have a few planned upgrades for the near future. However. As I was just getting started and wasn't entirely sure how well it would take, I tried to go as cheap as possible, and that includes buying the cheap ASO that they sell at Harbor Freight. I knew when I bought it that it wasn't awesome, but even with so little experience I've already learned why. I know th…

Batson Blade: 22-27 June 2021 Tannehill State Park, McCalla, AL. 32nd Annual Batson Bladesmith Symposium and Knife Show

The Athens Forge, a member of the Alabama Forge Council will meet Sat. Jan.23 at 9am. We will meet in the new building located at 722 Commercial Dr. Athens AL. This is 2 buildings west of previous shop. You can park at old shop, or anywhere within the fence line of new shop. NOT in front of the Lion's Gym. The demonstrator for the day is our new Forge Master, Calvin Garland. He will be forging a belt ax. IF YOU ARE SICK (FEVER, COUGH, CHILLS, SORE THROAT) PLEASE, DO NOT ATTEND. IF YOU FEEL UNEASY ATTENDING A GROUP MEETING PLEASE, DO NOT ATTEND. Visitors are always welcome. For more info. visit athensforge.com Previous demos may be viewed at AFC…

The Athens Forge, member of the Alabama Forge Council, will hold their next meeting Sat. Jan. 25, 2020 starting at 9AM. Al Stephens will be demonstrating forging flat jaw tongs, and scrolling pliers. There will be open forge time for AFC members following the demo. Ideas and plans for the rest of the year can be discussed. For more info. visit athensforge.com. or Athens Forge on FB. Demo's from 2019 can be viewed at AFC Athens Forge on Youtube. Visitors are always welcome.

The Athens Forge, a member of the Alabama Forge Council, will have it's next meeting Sat. Jan.26, 2019 starting at 9AM. Al Stephens will be doing a demonstration on forging basic tongs. The demo will be followed by open forge time for AFC members to forge tongs. Material will be available. The rest of the meeting plans for 2019 will also be announced. There will be an Iron In The Hat Drawing. For directions or other info about Athens Forge, visit www.athensforge.com, visit the Facebook site at Athens Forge, or see our videos at AFC Athens Forge on Youtube,

AFC Fall Conference: 6-8 September 2019 Tannehill State Park, McCalla, AL. AFC's Yearly Annual Blacksmithing Conference.

SBA Conference May 16-19, 2019 Madison, GA, May 17-19, 2019

30th Annual Batson Bladesmithing Symposium & Knife Show Celebration On April 6-8, 2018 At Tannehill Ironworks at Exit 100 off I-20, 11 miles west of Bessemer, AL Demonstrators Dinner on Thursday Evening is Free to Everyone Registration Fee is $75 to AFC Members & $100 for others includes one-year membership fee in AFC Demonstrators Bill Burke……..Damascus Steel Rick Dunkerley……........Liner Locks James Crowell…Forging,Grinding & Heat Treat James Batson….Heat Treating Extravaganza Joe Keeslar………..…...Handles & Guards Lin Rhea....................Skeleton knives Mickey Wise….Rendezvous Knives Butch Sheely………Hawk Forging Bill Wi…

The Athens Forge is a member of the Alabama Forge Council. We meet on the 4th Saturday of the month at 10AM in Athens, Alabama. Visitors are always welcome. For more info see our website, athensforge.com, or on FB at Athens Forge. The demonstrators for 2018 are as follows... Jan. 27th Al Stephens, AL, Feb. 24th Clay Spencer, AL, Mar.24th Calvin Garland, TN, April 28th Mark Haddix, AL, May 26th Steve Williamson, TN, June 23th Raymond Head, AL July 28th Ron Nichols, TN, August 25th Bob Taylor, AL, September 22ed George Ezell, AL, Oct. 27th Josh Hill, GA, Nov. 24th TBD, Dec. 22ed Date TBD. The demonstrations, are normally followed by open forge tim…

AFC Fall Conference: 6-9 September 2017 Tannehill State Park, McCalla, AL. AFC's Yearly Annual Blacksmithing Conference.

Hi all, I just found a BSA scouting embossed anvil and need a hand getting it to someone that works with the scouts, possibly on the smithing badge. If you know of a group of instructors in the South Central part of AL., would you direct them to my post in the anvil forum. It has the details. Thanks.

I know I am preaching to the choir here since nearly all of you have known Clay Spencer longer than I have but, His current tooling class is an intensive program that has rewards in the instruction, hands-on smithing and the bevy of tools that the participants take home. The current cost is $300 and is sure to rise with the rising prices of steel. Clay furnishes everything but personal protection equipment and he will provide a list participants must supply. I took home 18 pieces of tooling, most of which sell at meets for $35-$45 each. Clay demonstrates the use of each and shows how the tools cut time and effort in many day to day challenges in blacksmith…

Looking for somewhere I can get coal without the hassle of buying bags or shipping. Anyone have any leads? Thanks!

The Athens Forge a member of the AFC will meet Sat. Jan.28 at 10 AM. This meeting will be dedicated to open forge time for any member. So bring your idea's and some material. Bring your latest project so we can all admire it! Visitors are always welcome. www.athensforge.com, Athens Forge on Facebook

The Athens Forge a member of the Alabama Forge Council will meet Sat. Nov.26, 2016 10:00 AM. The demo will be by Calvin Garland of TN. Calvin will be forging a hatchet. There will be an Iron In The Hat. Projects for 2017 will be discussed, www.athensforge.com, Athens Forge on Facebook.

I found a gentleman who sells metallurgical coal and coke. It is the good stuff. The problem we have is most places won't sell unless we buy a truck load. He's willing to sell smaller portions. Anyone interested can message me, I'll give you his contact info. He is in the Mulga area.

Move to Madison Alabama last year. I am new to this hobby and am looking to learn more. I currently have a small anvil and a small home built single burning gas forge. I usually roll that stuff out into the driveway to work. I tried to attend the meeting of the Huntsville Chapter of the Alabama Blacksmith Council at Burritt on the Mountain on Sep 11th but for some reason the meeting was canceled. I though I might ask here to see if anyone is a member or knows an active group in the greater Huntsville AL area. Thanks

Hoping for some advice on tuning a LG 50# hammer ( new style) I just received. Hadn't been run in a few years and clutch pulley was nearly stuck with old grease and would not release. after replacing alemite fittings finally pumped enough grease to somewhat free it. The original 3 phase motor is rated at 900 rpm so it looks like at best I can get 180 bpm with current pulleys. The ram was sticking at TDC until I loosened the top gib somewhat but it still seems to have friction there to change rotation where it is not smooth. The clutch does not grab as well as I think it should but still tries to run-on when I release pedal. I can stop rotation by hand so it is …