jayco

Well, I got the side draft flue installed today. It worked really well dispite the fact that I only had 8 ft. of 10in. pipe for the vertical part.

The horizontal section is the casing from an old pressure washer.
10in. x10in. x 30in. It all fit together surprisingly well.

I'm now on the lookout for a couple sections of 10 in. pipe to add height to the stack. It worked well enough today, a clear weather, high pressure sort of day.........but I'm not sure how it will be on rainy , low pressure days.
We will see.

I now have power to the shop, and lights. Moved my main anvil in.....gotta set a post for the post vise.

I've done a little trial forging in the new shop, but I'm resisting the urge to bring all my tongs,hammers,chisels,hardy tools, and other assorted smithing 'stuff' in until I have proper hangers or shelving to store stuff.
That's what the problem was with the old shop.....no organization!

Here are some pics.......(there are more in the gallery)

The work.......continues!

James

Smokey Rick, welcome to Iforgeiron.

About uploading pictures:
I find that I can upload small (640 x 480 ) pictures to the forum by clicking on 'Go Advanced' and using the 'Manage Attachments' box to upload directly from my computer.

With larger pictures, I upload them to the IFI Gallery . You can then link to them or copy and paste into the forum.

The Gallery automatically resizes images.........Hope that helps!

Jason, it might not be 'period correct', but you might use a section of heavy woven tie down strap for belting........the kind you find on ratchet straps.

Another alternative would be to stitch,rivet,or glue one or two old leather clothing belts together.....the kind that holds up your pants,

I have a belt drive blower that I use a washing machine motor and an old car 'fan belt', or 'v' belt to run it....It works well enough.

Hibjib,there isn't a lot of blacksmithing jargon used in my area.
Of course it could be because there aren't any smiths in my neighborhood except for me.
When I question older folks about the local history of blacksmithing, I encounter an absence of information.

The one term that often comes up is "beating out" something.....as in beating out the edge of a hoe, axe ,or mattock.
What we would call 'drawing out a taper'.

Even the word blacksmith is mostly missing from the local vocabulary.
Folks will say, "He had a shop", or "He made stuff on an anvil"
The funny thing is......when you mention a 'shop' to older folks, they always mean a 'blacksmith's shop'.........not a tire shop.....not a sewing shop.....
But, they never use the word "Blacksmith"!

By the way, that's a great avatar pic.....I know that guy!

I can remember several years ago when the wire frame election signs first gained popularity around here. It seemed that every candidate for every office had a sign at every intersection.
That's a lot of signs!

The funny thing is.....for the first few years they were used .........no one picked them up......In fact, the county and state mowing crews ran their bushhogs right over them after the elections were over.

After a certain amount of time, folks started complaining of the 'trash' problem.
Kentucky has a program called " Adopt a Highway". ( in other words..you volunteer to pick up the trash along a certain section of highway.

My father-in-law adopted a couple of sections, and I wound up helping him a few times.
Needless to say, I now have plenty of the election sign wire in my resource pile!

Now, the candidates come back after the elections and pick up their signs ( at least most of them). They discovered that it was just good "PR" to do so.....

Turinsbane,welcome to Iforgeiron!

Where are you located?
Please go to the top of the page and click on the 'user CP' and add your general location to your profile. You never know, there might be other blacksmiths in your area.

We also love pictures.....pics of shops....pics of tools....pics of your work, etc.
If you have any questions, just ask....
Enjoy!

Bart, that is nice work!
James

Sometimes a deep forge can be handy.....sometimes they can be difficult to use. It depends on what you're forging.

My old wheel forge is 20 in. across and 10 in. deep.
Real handy for deep fires, but unhandy for shallow fires and small work.
The notches are 4 in. wide and nearly 6 in. deep.

Cutting the notches with an arc welder was the most difficult part of turning this wheel into a forge.

This forge is currently disassembled.....I'm experimenting with a flat, table type forge.

Noah,welcome to Iforgeiron!
The 'Getting Started' section on the home page has lots of good information.
Just follow the links.

Blacksmithing groups in Washington state?

NWBA Blacksmith

Bart, welcome to Iforgeiron!
There's plenty of material to read on IFI........enough to keep you busy until your ankle is healed.
Besides.......there's more new material added every day!
Being a boy near a blacksmith's shop and finding a bunch of smithing tools.....both are fortunate events.

By the way.......we love to see pictures!
If you have any questions,just ask........
Enjoy!

Welder19, I don't have the side draft flue set up yet. What you see in the pics is just a piece of 10in. Stove pipe laying on the forge table. When I get everything set up, I will post more pics.

Pat, welcome to Iforgeiron!
If you do mostly blades, as you say,....you might want to check out the Friday night 'Knife chat' at 10:00 P.M.
There's always a bunch of bladesmiths there.
If you have any questions, just ask.
Enjoy!

Selden, welcome to Iforgeiron!
Where in Ky are you located?
I'm in Greenup county, and there are more smiths scattered about the state.

This is a large site with lots of information and friendly folks.
If you have questions.......just ask.
Enjoy!

James

I got the forge set up and of course....had to try it!

The forge table is 40 x 36 in.........with 8 x10 in. rectangular fire pot.

Haven't got the side draft flue in yet, so I used charcoal (less smoke)!

Here are some pics.......more in my 'New Shop' album in the gallery..

I haven't moved the anvil,post vise,tools,stock, or anything else yet.

There is still much to do!

Chris P, that's a big forge you're planning!
Cast iron bath tubs are really heavy.
It might be tricky getting it raised and set up at a comfortable working height safely.
No reason you couldn't just use one end of it I suppose.

I once had one I made charcoal in........covered the top with a big piece of sheet metal.
But one day I wanted to put the fire out quickly and dowsed the fire with a bucket of water...I forgot it was cast iron.....it cracked from end to end.

I also remember that when the baked-on enamel got hot, tiny shards of glass like material popped off the tub in all directions. Safety glasses are a must!!

hammer fist,welcome to Iforgeiron and welcome to the world of blacksmithing.

Please check out the 'Getting Started' and 'Lessons in Metalworking' sections on the front or home page. Just follow the links. There is much helpful information there.

By the way, blacksmithing becomes addictive, you know ........

Enjoy!

dablacksmith, I plan to put in a set of double doors when I can,...for a few reasons

increased ventilation in summer
for getting larger pieces in and out...and as you said
if someone wants to watch, they can have a full view of everything from outside the shop.

Sam, it's just a rectangular piece of mild steel I found one day at the steel recycler's yard. I placed it on an 'extra tall' stump to put it at proper height.
You would need the stump as well.......can you imagine the shipping charges?!?

James

Bentiron,you're right about the fire hazard near the forge. I haven't gotten pics of the inside yet, but there's 24 in. wide roofing metal on the inside walls near the ground (sort of underpinning'. That will be a big help with fire safety, but there are also 2 x 4 stretchers running 12 in. high from the ground. I will have to put flashing metal over these 2x4's to keep sparks and hot bits of metal from starting a fire there.

A smoldering ember in a crevice,forgotten, can be the end of a wooden structure.

I saw an old wood structure shop once that had all the horizontal beams hewn in such a way, with a peak, that no hot metal could stay there without rolling off to the ground.
evidently, the builders were thinking 'fire safety'.

MRobb,Bentiron, I thought I was having problems....bending nails.....finding time to bend nails.
I guess I should count my blessings that I can build a shop!
From the posts I've read, there are a lot of folks that are in one way or another 'restricted' and can't.

These past few weeks I've made little progress in actually moving in the shop, but I'm pretty close to making what we around here call "a real showing".

I've been nailing some of the 'battening' over the cracks between the siding boards and have my electrical stuff all ready.

Most importantly, for me anyway, I've been experimenting with what type of forge setup I'm going to use in the new shop. I have a 4 ft. x 40in.x 1/4 in plate that will most likely become the table for the forge. I've made a 3 in. round tee to go under it.......must do something for a firepot.......Havn't decided on that one yet.

I've got a little portable forge set up in the old shop so I don't suffer 'smithing withdrawl'.......

And here are a few pics........

That's the 3 in. tee in the car wheel forge
The one on the steel frame is my portable forge

Andy, an anvil that rings really loudly can (over a period of time) damage your hearing.

Wrapping the chain around the waist of the anvil does work. I have 4 wrapps of chain around my Peter Wright. I'm not sure if it works on all anvils or not, but it works on mine.

I have a 2 in. x12 in. x 16 in. chunk of iron I've also been using for small work.

It rang so loudly I thought I would have to quit using it.....but I draped a loop of chain over each side of the face........problem solved.

Now I just have to be careful not to hit the chain when hammering........

Anduril777, I use mild steel for most of my tongs. Easier to forge and easier to change if I want to adjust them to fit something.

Anduril777, welcome to Iforgeiron!

So you want to build a forge?

You can go to the front ( or opening) page of IFI and go to 'Lessons in metalworking'....or the 'Getting Started' section.
I think you can follow the links and find information on 'forges.

You can also use the Search at the top of the page and just type in the kind of forge you want to learn about.....coal forge, gas forge,etc.
there's lots of info on forges all over the place here.....happy reading!
Any questions you have are also welcome.

Enjoy!

L.Stanley, welcome to Iforgeiron!

You are correct...there is a lot of info here.....and lots of friendly folks too.....

If you have questions, just ask.

It's funny you should mention aircraft.
I was at a U.S. Air Force museum this summer and saw some near 100 year old planes.
Some of the earliest ones had some parts made by blacksmiths!

Anyway, welcome and enjoy your stay.

James Flannery

Oh, I forgot one tool I use quite often....I guess it's a fire tool.

My basket I use to sift ashes from the forge or to sift ash from my home made charcoal. It's made from 1/4 in. hardware cloth.