Everything Else

recovering from my surgery, doing my PT. even a little more as suggested. not violating my restrictions. the doc said, no bending the hip less then 90 degrees, no turning the surgical leg inwards and no crossing of the legs. beyond that if I can tolerate it, I can do it. Well Mrs. Moto caught me dropping an oxy tank into its cart yesterday and she blew a gasket. I showed her that the walker was right there in easy reach. She is just now starting to talk to me again. my explanations are not seeming to work she doesn't even want me in the garage.... live and learn...

Does anyone know how if farriers generally take on apprentices or do you have to go to a school? Its something I'm thinking about getting into, but I'm not sure how one would go about it. As a side note is it a pretty decent area to have a job or is it a pretty hard area to make a living?

Hey, not sure if any of you remember me from several months ago. I'm coming up on the tail end of my deployment out here in the Middle East and just wanted to get back into the swing of things here and see how everyone was doing. I'm excited to dive into blacksmithing once I get home!

In many of the questions I've asked and read, venerable smiths have answered questions with facts/statistics that aren't found anywhere else on the internet (at least as far as I've found). My question is how these smiths came to find these oft quoted facts, especially that relating to blacksmithing in the past. Many smiths talk about how blacksmiths would work historically, but I've seen little to no facts online about it. How do they find thee things out? Is it books? Other smiths? Something else? I'm very interested in history, so I'd quite like to know of any sources I could use to learn about blacksmithing in the past. Any help is appreciated, and recommendations esp…

I'm finally able to share that I will be on Forged in Fire Tuesday, September 4th. Hope some of y'all can watch. "Come see a mediocre smith turn junk into a knife!"

Interview by Joe Rogan. Much of it is Joe asking questions like "what is tempering?" and "how do you sharpen a knife?" but I found it to be a very interesting interview despite the dumb questions. This guys work is amazing.

Hey there! Hunted a bit for a proper place but couldn't find one, so I'll make a post here. This isn't my own work, but that of my grandpa. He made this piece years ago and I aspire to someday reach his level of skill and knowledge. He did everything, including the glasswork and wiring! These aren't the best of pictures truthfully but I took then after o had gotten off work. I plan to latter take some during the daytime and hopefully they come out better

As summer 2018 comes to a close and the kids start back to school, what better time to start learning again. Learning can be fun so challenge yourself to choose ONE thing and learn about it, and learn how to do it. It does not matter what you learn, just that the knowledge gets you out of your box and out of your comfort zone. This summer I researched how to stack firewood. I wanted to find something that was different from what I have been doing for years, and maybe would work better. Things such as long row stacks, round stacks, wood sheds and etc. At the forge it was time to rethink how I was doing things and if I had the work triangle set as a good pos…

Greetings, I.F.I. denizens! ( especially science & metallurgy enthusiasts, on this site), I have chanced upon a concise, highly readable, history of iron and steel manufacturing, article on the net. SLAG highly recommends the following reprint. Try, www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a20722505/history-of-steel/ SLAG.

Is Brazeal still doing classes? Everything I can find on the internet is outdated, and I emailed him with no response. Is he ok? I haven't heard that anything happened to him.

I was magnet fishing in the lake near my house and I picked up these, there is a railroad on the side of the lake if that helps. I don’t know what other details to put in, but if you have more questions just ask! What are they, and what are they made of? Some peices look a bit wood-grainy, which I have seen in a YouTube video but I forget which one. thanks, Awrkiron

Ok so do to asking very nicely i obtained the hub from a tractor the other day and wanted to know if this would be made of cast steel or not because if it isnt forgeable then its going to the metal place to give me a few dollars tomorrow along with 500 pounds old broken steel fencing

From a few years back, a Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City) blog post about Yellin's contributions to The Cloisters in upper Manhattan, where much of the Met's collection of medieval art is housed. https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/in-season/2014/samuel-yellin (Side note: I used to live right next to The Cloisters and would visit frequently. Never realized that the ironwork was Yellin, but am totally unsurprised!)

A joke from a friend’s six-year-old: ”Why did the chicken swallow an anvil?” “Because he wanted to get to the bottom of the ocean.”

While taking a walk I found this large nut and bolt on the sidewalk, in the middle of nowhere. I couldn’t find anything that was missing a bolt nearby, so I decided that it could be counted as litter, and picked it up. Does anyone know or have any guesses as to what this might’ve been used for?

Took a walk around one of our scrap piles today looking for some junk art stuff. I am always impressed by the artistry and blacksmithing skills involved in the old machinery. The artistic possibilities are endless. Here are a few interesting pieces for those of you who like photos of old stuff. 1. The handle on the ore bucket in this pic must have taken some effort to bend. The stampers would make great post anvils. 2. The design elements in this sheep shearing wheel are cool. Made by the Wolseley Co. in England - I wonder if it was the same company that made Wolseley cars?? 3. The curves in this fluming (?) would have been difficult to achieve. Don't know …

You DO know you're just over the hill from Hwy. 395 and seriously intense obsidian country. Yes? I used to collect obsidian from up by Sweet Water for the "Davis creek mahogany" obsidian and north to Glass Buttes Oregon. Knapping flint, chert, etc. is okay but good obsidian is spectacular. There is flame and fire obsidian on the Glass Buttes and there are beds of pale green clear near Burns Or. Knapping is zen-like skill, very meditative in nature. Blacksmithing is meditative as well same path different footprints. Frosty The Lucky.

The road to the workshop. Only 50 meters, but it takes half an hour to get to it.

Happy July 4 to all our I Forge Iron members, & lurkers & anyone else that chances upon this site. ALSO: All Americans. Y'all have a happy, safe, and wonderful day. The SLAG, and Marg.

It all starts at the scrap yard. You can see the bearing in the lower left corner of this picture. Lock it in the vise so the 2 openings are facing you. You will see what i mean in the next couple pictures. Place a bar in the hole the bar must be slightly smaller than the hole if its too small you cant get the leverage you need. Pry down until the bearing starts to turn and then put the bar in the backside and pry up. And the bearing should spin almost 90° Im fighting for service with 75,000 hippies at a festival about 5 miles from me. I have more pictures to upload but im going to post this for now before i lose half if it…

I was just searching the net for various items and chanced upon the Quick & Dirty Tool Company web site. I noticed that each and every item that is featured for sale is denoted as "sold Out". Is there something wrong with their web site, or the company? Are they out of business? Information concerning this question would be appreciated. Thanks. SLAG.

I got some old L.P. gas pipe, how do I get the residual fumes out? It wreaks of propane in them and one was smoking when my buddy put one of his pipes in the forge, any suggestions how I clean it out?

Would those who volunteer at historic forges please share your volunteer policies/handbooks. We’re trying to revise ours at Jerusalem Mill in Kingsville, MD. Thanks.

Happy Fathers Day to all you fathers out there. Enjoy your families. Ken.