Introduce Yourself

Hello fellow fire addicts, I am Jo from Lower Saxony in Germany. So far I was only forging on fairs and markets for around 8 years because I didn't have a dedicated shop. Now I bought a house with my wife with lots and lots of space and an extra building in the garden where I can do what I want. My goal is now to get better at blacksmithing because I only did small items so far (limitation of live forging). As starting place, I got the 3 books from Mark Aspery and will try my luck on the ABANA curriculum. There I hope I get better skills and maybe some critique here to improve. Glad to be here, Jo P.S. There is also a picture, so you ha…

Hello, I'm passionate about DIY in general and metalwork in particular. You can find some information about my blacksmithing activity in my dedicated website (www.forgehaiedesloups.be). It is in french. Here is a link to the google traduction. Happy new year!

Hello from SW Missouri! Retired and decided to do a few things I've always wanted to; learn to weld, and learn to make knives and work metal. Got a used welder and took a night class at the local high school VoTech. Can make a respectable MIG weld, starting to make a TIG weld that is okay. Stick, well . . . 6011 it kind of looks like a weld. 7018, we won't talk about that! Plan was to cut, grind/file some knives from bar. Wasn't really planning on smithing a knife but as I researched heat treating I realized I'd be buying/building a small forge. Then I went down the rabbit hole of watching YouTube vids. After seeing a few guys make blacksmith knives I started t…

Hi everyone, I'm a 13 year old from Sydney Australia. After a long periods of begging I've finally convinced my dad to buy a propane furnace kit for me, on the condition that I would never use it alone So we started experimenting with my dad in the backyard. My first melt was an aluminum folio ball that my friend gave me at school. It was a magical experience to pour the liquid metal and turn it into a solid metal ingot. I loved it! Then I melted more aluminum scrap, then copper and I made aluminum bronze. I invested my pocket money in casting sand and I started casting. My latest project was making an aluminum bronze sword. It turned out pretty awesome! …

Not a new member or a new smith but it's been a while since I've posted. The wife and I will be moving from Wa. state to Idaho, Greater Boise / Treasure Valley area next year and our current storage unit there doesn't allow flammable materials. I'm looking for either a blacksmith co-op or perhaps some space in a blacksmiths barn that I could rent to store my equipment and flammable welding gas tanks. Thanks for any help! Larry

Hello everyone, I am new to the trade, which I began as a hobby last March (‘22.) I have become slightly addicted to the feeling of taking seemingly useless and turning into something with a purpose, whether it is a tool for the day-to-day, or just something nice to look at. I am currently a traveling engineer in the healthcare industry. You can catch me in [random city every week] USA on weekdays, and at home on the weekends. Prior to this, I was in the US Navy for just over a decade. If anyone is ever looking for a hand near SC, give me a shout. I have much to learn, and would be happy to see your setup and learn a new technique. Tha…

Hey everyone, I'm a new blacksmith from Louisiana. I've been doing a lot of research online and on YouTube for the past couple years on blacksmithing (still have so so much to learn) and have finally begun my blacksmithing journey. For now, I am learning the basics and working on getting/making more quality tools. I have the basics, a mr volcano single burner forge, a 66 pound Doyle (harbor freight, cast steel) anvil, a bench vice, a recently acquired (but not mounted) post vice, some hammers, and a couple sets of tongs. My overall plan and goal is to have this be my full-time job, my more short term goal is to gain the skills and practice necessary to make quality …

Hello, IFI. I have long enjoyed perusing this forum as I pursued my blacksmithing hobby intermittently over the last several years. I am now in the process of shifting from intermittent hobby to regular pastime, and in the spirit of increased seriousness and focus on this pursuit, I have graduated myself from lurker to forum participant. I look forward to many enlightening and productive discussions with my fellow members. Yours in Forgery, Owlbear

Hi, I'm new to this board mostly because I'm getting more into forging and a couple of weeks ago when searching for anvil information, google brought me here. I'm an amateur toolmaker, but also a woodworker and sometimes guitar maker. I've shaped chisels from thicker flat stock for a while, but have gotten recently more into drawing them out from round stock (why is the selection so poor compared to flat stock?!) I don't think I'll expand anvil or smithing work beyond tools, but it is a nice way to make things more pleasant in what has become a world of sourced parts stuffed together, or CNC made chisels out of flat stock that is just OK for chisels. I'm …

Well since I've gone through the trouble of finally making an account after lurking for close to a year, I guess I should do the socially acceptable thing and introduce myself. My interest in blacksmithing has been around since I was a kid. It started as an interest in swords and melee weaponry typical of a young male. It is one of the very few interests I've had that has never changed or gone away. I've always thought blacksmithing was cool but somehow it never connected in my mind that it's something I could do in "modern times." Fast forward 20ish years, I've struggled to maintain gainful employment thanks to issues with autism, ADHD, anxiety, and depression. M…

Hi all! My name is Tyler and I live in Woodland, AL. I have been a member here (albeit a VERY inactive one) since 2013 when I first discovered my great grandfather's blacksmithing equipment in our basement. 10 years later I own my own property and I am finally going to begin on my blacksmithing journey. I look forward to meeting and learning from everyone here. Included are some photos of my current equipment. The blower I bought locally. The anvil, post vise, and firebox all belonged to my great grandfather. According to my dad, he was a farrier in our little community in the early to mid 1900s, mostly shoeing mules for a nickle a head. I look forward to breathing life a…

Been getting some good info from this site for a while now so thought i'd sign up and say hello. Been doing a bit of blacksmithing and metalworking for a few years now, made my own forge( charcoal) to go with an old hand crank blower, have now set up a 2 burner volcano forge. Make my own tools, garden picks, etc, like pulling a bit of steel buried out of the ground and turning it into something useful! Just picked up another anvil ive wanted for a fair while too, got some pics of it, not sure whether to post them here or a new post in the anvil section? Ahh well, someone might let me know, still trying to drive this thing! Cheers.

Just popping in to say hello I'm 33 and I live in New Hampshire. Been in love the idea of blacksmithing most of my life and finally have the time and space to explore it. I've taken a class and plan to take another, but I've purchased a small cart coal forge and a small (75-100lb?) anvil and have been having a grand ole time absolutely destroying perfectly good metal. I'm sure I'll be asking a lot of questions, please be patient. I make up a lot of my failings with enthusiasm and the good fortune to have a friendly neighbor with access to a lot of scrap metal.

Hello! I've been muddling along for almost 2 years out in the Salish Sea, with the help of a lot of YouTube and ignorant optimism. It is certainly time for a bit more mentorship. I'm an experienced shop rat and woodwork/robotics teacher in junior high. I've started selling the usual hooks and fire pokers in a desperate attempt to pay for propane, while staying within my skills. The current setup, using a borrowed aircraft hangar through the fire season, is a 20kg acciao, teensy single burner propane forge, machinist vise on a stump, and whatever tools I can make. I'm hoping to find other local smiths, maybe arrange a meet-up, and glean as much as I can fr…

Hi all total newbie here near sumter south carolina looking to get into the world of forging, welding, blacksmithing etc and looking to get it on very soon. I've been into wood working, painting, guitar repair, art, mr diy fix it all for many years and always wanted to get into forging and welding for years. 'Ive finally took the leap into getting into forging the past month and have been watching u tube videos forever and reading lots of content here on the site .I like to research everything to death before jumping in and there's some great content here on the site I've been diving into for a week now. Just bought a mr volcano 2 for 85 on ebay last week figure its …

First time black smithing, still a child (17) and have very cheap healthcare where I live. Something about shaping hot steel really calls out to me more than any other activity. Made the entire setup at home so it's not that good but it gets the job done for the most part. Really excited to see how this pans out. For now I'm using a janky setup but I want to improve it over time. Really excited to become a member of thi community.

I'm not a Blacksmith and never will be, but I've taken an interest in learning how to forge knives and some of my woodworking tools. I can't find a bowl adze down here so I suppose I'll have to learn how to make one. I'll likely mostly read here but I do have some questions from time to time. I hope you guys will indulge and old guy. Alan

Hello, all. I've finally come back around here again. Been a few years since I posted, or lurked much, but I'm back with purpose this time! Recently, I started banging hot steel at a local Makerspace. And it's about time! As I'm currently working on hammer control, and getting a feel for moving steel the way I want, I don't have anything worthwhile to show for my efforts in the HotShop. But I have been able to connect with a few other smiths that use the facility, including one that started in the 70's or early 80's.

So, first off my name is Zack, Wanderlost is a business name for me. I've been smithing for several years now, and have browsed the archives here for information in the past. Just usually to hermetic to be talkative. Figured I would finally join and say hello. A little about me and my smithing experiences. I am trained as a jeweler, and a bit into silversmithing as well. I got into forging steel more to make tooling for myself than anything but do more work than that now. I live in the Pocono Mountains in PA, very middle of nowhere. I dabble in wood work and leather craft as well to add to my metal projects. I usually work more in copper alloys than anything, th…

Hello, I am in urgent need of some assistance in continuing my practice. I have graduated Brighton university with a degree in 3D design and craft. Whilst studying I discovered my love for smithing kitchen knives and have produced a few different designs of finished blades. Whilst I am pleased to have finished, the fact remains that I do not have the facilities to continue to practice my craft. I am very keen to continue making and learning and would greatly appreciate any advice for grants/jobs/schemes or contacts of people that have forge workspace/need help with their forge/are willing to let me come watch and help them out. I am living in Brighton bu…

Howdy y'all. I'm moving up to northwest Arkansas at the end of July and starting my own smithing journey. I'm sure I'll have a million questions, but for now I'll spend my time reading the pinned posts so hopefully I don't ask to many of the same old questions. I look forward to knowing you all.

Hello All, I came across this forum when i got an anvil, from the mrs family home in NYC, it was her fathers and wanted to learn about the anvil itself and how to properly clean it up. this post here : After getting the information i was looking for it was suggested that i could start this as a hobby i if wanted. So after watching 100s of YouTube videos, i have decided to give it a go. I am 52 yrs old, carpenter by trade and live in the Philly suburbs. I googled blacksmithing classes nothing came up within an hours drive so ill keep looking for that. I have a garage and a yard and 8x10 stick framed shed any of which i can eventually convert into …

Hi everyone, Im new to the community and new to blacksmithing. I find myself obsessing over ancient history from from Sumerians and prior to medieval times. Somehow I ended going down the rabbit hole on wootz and its origins which led me to Al Pendray and his work. I am here to learn as much as possible and to put everything I learn to practice. I’m happy to join and be part of the community.

Hi all, Nice to meet you. I'm a forty-something guy from a rural (relatively) area of the Netherlands. I came to blacksmithing due to a fantastic workshop with Kees Klaassen at The Green Circle, an astoundingly cool crafts initiative not far from here. I'm feeling the learning pains, especially in the area of design and proportions. But it turns out that my body takes the hard work quite reasonably (despite being a full time office dweller during the work week), and I'm having a blast doing beginner stuff and trying to get regular practice in in my improvised home forge. I attached a pic of a beast of a rake that I forged some months ago. Lesson learned: 12…

Hello, I'm BadLuckBinks. I just got a JABOD up and running this afternoon and was able to beat some metal! I've been reading the forums for a while and just never created an account. I figured since I can actually participate now I should go ahead and make an account. Just wanted to say hello, and thanks to many of the forum users for helping me get started (even inadvertently!) you guys have been an inspiration to get out and about and build something! I hope to become more acquainted with you all over many great conversations to come! Hopefully weather permitting I should be able to work on my 55 Gallon Charcoal retort so I can process big batches in a contr…