Glenn

M.G. have them supply their own wine bottles. (grin)

If you get the anvil, use the rent to own system, that is to charge your self rent every time you use the anvil. At $1 a day you will pay for the anvil in under 2 years. If you pass on the high dollar cup of coffee, put that money toward the anvil. Trim your spending when you get a chance and put that money toward the anvil. If you sell something made on the anvil, put that money toward the anvil. If it is a gift, put the equivalent money toward the anvil. Do not count the money you put aside for the anvil for a year. Remember you are paying rent to use the anvil. That size anvi

Follow the advice and instructions given on the site. Build something and learn how to use it so you have some experience on which to base your questions. If you build a suggested forge, the site can assist you as they know what you are doing. Keep things as simple as possible until you know what to change and then only change ONE thing at a time. Going slow is easy as it only creates small failures that can be fixed. You learn how to improve from each failure. No one ever did everything right the first time. We want you to succeed, and to be a small part of that success. Acc

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." Natkova

IF the hair dryer it putting out too much air, leave an air gap between the hair dryer and the pipe going to the forge. Aim more toward the pipe for more air, and not so directly toward the air pipe for less air. You can spill what you do not need.

You know you're a real blacksmith when you make a tool to make a tool to make a something. George NM

A quick search of the site produced the following. https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/16997-inswoolkaowool-saftey/

When someone questions your standards, evaluate YOUR standards to see if they need raised. Do not be afraid to raise them again if needed. As your standards rise, the questions then become why are your standards so high. Smile and say Thank You.

In 1840, American humorist Seba Smith indicated in her short story “The Money Diggers” when she wrote: “As it is said, ‘There are more ways than one to skin a cat,’ so are there more ways than one of digging for money.” In the 1855 classic, Westward Ho!,” Charles Kingsley wrote, “There are more ways of killing a cat than by choking it with cream.” Mark Twain in his 1889 “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”: “She was wise, subtle, and knew more than one way to skin a cat.”

Look up the TPAAAT thread on the site. Apply it early and often. Many times you will find what you seek close to home.

If you trim everything down to the minimum, you will be surprised how little you actually need. The big items will be the fuel and the metal stock. But if you are not doing massive railing projects, or other large projects, you do not need a 500 pound anvil and a ton of coal. Always carry 5 gallons of water and a fire extinguisher. If someone with authority rolls up, you can show them you can put out any fire and be out of there quickly and without an argument. A couple of bottle openers under the front seat (as gifts) will forgive many complaints and smooth over many problems.

One of the things you can do to create an advanced warning is to place a strip of drywall into the hole above the utility or material. This way when whoever is running the digger hits a white layer, they know they are getting close.

Take photos of the trench anyway, with a yard stick to shop depth of the hole. Easier to find the photos later for proof than to dig a test hole.

Bury the electrical cable in conduit and deep underground. You have the cost of the hole already involved, so a bit deeper now should not be an issue. Below plow depth is not deep enough. Photograph the hole from both ends and draw a map of its location ( with distances to solid reference points such as corners of buildings) for future reference.

Leave that piece of track loose in the stand so it can be removed, placed on a table, and to make use of all the inside and outside curves like a swage block.