jayco

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!