jayco

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.

Here's the fire tools I use regularly. I made most of these several years ago and always intended to make nicer ones.....but these work and haven't broken or worn out....... Left to right... A sprinkler made from a stick of wood and a soup can....a roofing nail is driven through the edge of the can into the end of the handle. I've made 4 or 5 of these in 35 years.....they keep rusting out. A rake made from 1/4 in. rod and a section of metal refrigerator rack.....the old ones were made of steel An ordinary little poker with wooden handle A little scoop made from a piece of heavy aluminum sheet and an old hammer handle. I made it curved to fit in 5 gal. buckets and to clean out my round bottomed 'wheel' forge. A 20 in. long piece of angle iron I use as a slice sometimes.........The end is flattened. What's confusing maybe, is that I might use the scoop to rake coal into the fire....or I might use the slice as a poker. It just depends on what I need to do at certain times........and what tool happens to be in my hand. James

LightSeeker,welcome to Iforgeiron! You say you 'stumbled upon' this site? I happened onto IFI two years ago and have been here ever since. I'm in Greenup Co.......North Eastern KY.....there's a bunch more Ky people here as well. Also, I've discovered that some of the smiths here are originally from Ky, but now live in other states.........so....you got company! Enjoy your stay, and if you have any questions........just ask. James

Around 25 yrs. ago, I was helping my brother-in-law do a sorghum making demo in Wilgus Ohio. It poured rain all that weekend, so no one was really able to demo much of anything. Near where we were set up, there was a guy doing a smithing demo under a tent. Since none of us were busy, I got to talk to him a little, and discovered he was 83 yrs. old at the time! As I recall, he was quite capable of using his favorite 2 lb. cross pien, but had his grandson along to move anvils around......to do the heavy stuff. After I told him that I 'did a little smithing'.....he commenced to explain forging techniques,tempering,calculating bends, forge welding, and much more in a period of about 30 minutes. I never even knew his name, but every time me or the wife pick up the little parring knife in the pic, I remember him....and how alive he was at 83........he how much he loved the craft of blacksmithing. And yes, I've wished a thousand times over that I'd had a tape recorder, or better yet, a movie camera to have recorded that meeting. He had a lot of different demo items there to sell, but the elegant simplicity of the little knife caught my eye. It's a real simple construction....bandsaw blade, piece of maple, and a harness rivet I think. It's been my wife's favorite for 25 years, and has cut up unknown quantities of vegetables and literally truck loads of apples( we do apple butter making demos.) I'm always looking for demo items to sell myself.......might try to make a few........probably have to charge more than $3.00 though That's what he was selling them for back then.

Meancoyote, looks like you're making progress to me!.The last pics I saw of your new shop, you could see through the walls.....now you can't....that's progress in my book. I like the idea of the metal construction.(my new shop is a wooden structure). In one fell swoop, you've greatly reduced the chances of your shop burning (old wooden shops are quite vulnerable to loss by fire. And you don't have to worry about termites and rot! By the way, I haven't gotten any more work done on my shop, lately. A whole bunch of other jobs have come up that must be finished first. I've been using the break in shop construction to think about how I want the forge to be set up. There's no time lost in careful planning. Your new shop is looking good!

wolfshieldrx, welcome to Iforgeiron! There's lots of folks here interested in blacksmithing and metalworking in general. I've been hobby/smithing for 35 years, so I can identify with your 'addiction' comment. You might click on the 'user cp' thing at the top of the page and post your general location in the world........there might be other blacksmiths near you! If you have questions, just ask. enjoy!

I've been thinking of what material to make a heavy rectangular style firepot from for my new forge. I've got a stack of tie plates. It would require 4. Some serious A/O torch work and some arc welding would be involved. Haven't even laid them out to see how it would work yet, but it looks possible. If I get it done, I'll take some pictures.....

Curly George, that canning jar opener is a neat idea........I gotta make one for the wife Thanks for posting that!

I'm interested too. James Flannery

Thanks guys for all the great suggestions. I'm gonna try the linseed oil(boiled, or mixed with turpentine). I'll try the glue also. I enjoy a good experiment. I'll be trying these different ways to secure handles. I had always done mine the old fashioned way........wooden wedges.....and most of the time.......it worked.......but lately not so good. As far as just soaking the hammer eye in water.....yeah, it works....but only temporarily. As the wood swells, the wood fibers are crushed, I think........shortening the life of the handle. But I must admit....I've done it.......when there was no time to refit a handle.......

It's been hot and dry here all summer. The handles on too many of my hammers,handled punches and chisels are getting slightly loose. Is there some way of getting a little moisture to the wooden handles? Just some humidity to tighten them up? I would prefer not to have to re-wedge all my handles, since I'm sure the problem will end as soon as it rains here. Would an application of linseed oil do the trick?

I have a pile of lump coal out in the open.....on the ground. The problem with that is that the coal tends to sink into the ground after a year or so. I also have numerous plastic and metal 5 gal. buckets filled with coal.......also outside. The problem with that is that the metal buckets rust out rather quickly.....and the plastic buckets fall apart after a time. I guess I need to either build a coal bin.......or use the coal faster!