jayco

Rich, I,m going to set up a slightly taller forge for him (and anvil too) so he can try standing, as you suggest. I noticed at his first session that he was doing some bending , stretching and reaching that seemed awkward.

Larry, my grandson has already learned the lesson of hot scale on the bare legs. He will be wearing long pants. His first session was a very hot day....he didn't have any long pants available.....but insisted on trying anyway.

Glenn has suggested that my grandson should try 'choking up' on the hammer handle and using a 'Hofi' hammering technique........we will be trying that also.

Several of you guys noticed that I named this thread 'Little Smiths'.
Being that Chris is a Little League ball player,.....I also think of him as a 'Little Smith'.
Little League coaches these days stress not doing injury to young bones and muscles that are still growing and developing.
That's why learning to hammer and otherwise work at the forge correctly is important.
I also think of him as little in the sense that he is young and inexperienced.........That reminds me to keep a watchful eye on him at all times.

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions,

James Flannery

Watcher, welcome to Iforgeiron!
So you're a woodworking nut, eh?
Along with metalworking, we also do woodworking.....
You'll fit right in........
Enjoy!

Devfix, welcome to Iforgeiron.
There is a vast amount of metalworking information here.
There are links on the front page to help you get started.

Enjoy!

My 8 year old grandson has taken an interest in blacksmithing.
He has gradually went from occasionally cranking the blower for me.....and asking "What does this tool do?" to wanting to hammer some steel himself.

So far , so good. But now, I must go into the archives and do some research on exactly how to go about teaching him.....properly. I remember there being some threads which discuss this subject.

I started out by finding him a smaller hammer 1&1/2 lb.....setting up a little forge where he could sit down as he learned hammer control, etc.

My thinking is to keep things simple so there are not so many things to learn at once.......If possible.

This is a good time for me to consult the 'wisdom of the community'!

My idea is to keep it 'safe'.......'fun'........ and a learning experience.

At this point, he is just learning where to place the stock in the fire for proper heating.......how to adjust the air gate to get the amount of heat needed.....that a yellow heat is hotter than a dull red heat (and easier to forge) etc.

His first forging was to taper a round rod to a point. As soon as he got done with the taper he asked "What can I make with this?"
I answered "Well,........you could make a hook."

To which he replied......."What's the hook for?"
Kids will keep you on your toes!

Using the smaller hammer and sitting down at the forge are just ideas I came up with........and may.......or may not be good ideas.

What do you guys think?

James Flannery

Jim, welcome to Iforgeiron.
There is a massive amount of information on metalworking here, and lots of friendly folks too.

So you're working on KY rifles........very interesting!

Be sure and post some pictures when you can.......we all love pictures.

Enjoy!

Dave, I would encourage you to not 'give up', but rather, to look at it as a temporary change of plans.
I've had long periods in my life that I didn't do much smithing due to working at carpentry, constuction, and yes.......farming.

Does this sound familiar?

There is an old saying about farming........."every one else goes out to work........farmers wake up surrounded by it"

Even today, I,m still pressed for time to do all the things I want to do.
I still farm a little, help my son with his lawncare business, take my grandson to little league.......and smith when I can.

I am reminded that I have orders for little Christmas things which I must get forged.
Anyway Dave, think of it as a 'break'........and good luck to you!

James Flannery

I use both coal and charcoal.

One problem with coal is finding good metalurgical or shop coal to use.
I live in coal country, and I can find coal pretty easily........but 99% of it had sulfur and other nasty stuff in it. In other words, it will burn and get iron hot, but it is smoky,creates a lot of cinder, and it takes me some effort to weld with it.

Charcoal makes a cleaner fire, but is more bulky.......it takes a larger pile of charcoal to make a forge fire comparable to a coal fire.

A charcoal fire seems to put out a lot more radiant heat than a smaller sized coal fire does.
Radiant heat in your face in hot summer weather can be downright uncomfortable .
On the other hand, that extra heat often feels good in winter!

If I use charcoal in hot weather, I place a piece of scrap sheetmetal over the fire to deflect some of the heat.

One handy trick you can do with charcoal is that if your coal fire is getting low(almost all your coke is burned up.......and you want to do just one more heat), is to throw a couple shovels of charcoal right on top of the fire.
You don't have place it around the edges of the forge and gradually rake it into the center like you have to with coal.

James

Justin, thanks for the ideas.

It's good that we keep this thread alive and keep coming up with more ideas.

I,m 52 and have back problems..........meaning that these ideas could come in handy for guys like me!

I would imagine that when I,m 72 I will have decreased mobility......but I,ll probably want to do some smithing.

This thread is probably where I will look for information!

James Flannery

thorssmith, Welcome to the wonderful world of blacksmithing and Iforgeiron.

ENJOY!

Nice work, John!

James

I have had a few pieces of really old rebar that I thought was actually pretty good stuff.

Meaning predictable,,,and acting like mild steel.

I don't know if I have any of it left or not.........the thing is, it's so old that the patterns of ridges on it are far different than modern rebar.

I've had poor luck with the 'modern' rebar.
A couple years ago I broke one of my logging chains and needed to make a quick repair.
I found a piece of 3/8 in. rd. about 7 or 8 in. long and figured it would 'do in a pinch'
I heated the piece with the A/O torch, bent it into a crude 'link' shape and arc welded the two ends.........no forge.......no quench.

The first time I used the chain after the repair, it broke like glass.....right next to the arc weld.

So, I still use rebar once in a while........but not for 'critical' uses.

Dan, Aaron, the animals you guys describe as not paying any attention to your presence,........sounds a little the symptoms of rabies.

My dad always said that if you see an animal that seemed to be in a daze or oblivious to your presence........that it could be rabies.

A few times in my youth I remember seeing dogs(sometimes cats, too) rapidly trotting up or down the road near my home.

Dad would shout at them or call to them........if they looked around or responded in any way, he figured they were probably rabies free.

We haven't had any outbreaks of the disease in years(that I know of)

just something I remember from when I was a kid.........Funny, I hadn't thought about that in years........

James

I got so mad at an old push mower once, that I shoved it into the creek after a hundred or so cranks didn't get it started.

And yeah, I had checked the plug,checked the gas, filed the points( it was an old lawnmower), and sanded the 'mag'........

Left it in the creek overnight.

Well, next morning, it didn't look quite right there in the creek, so...I fished it out, brought it back to the garage and let it sit there for a while.

I don't know what made me do it,( stubborness, I suppose), but I just had to give that old lawn mower one more crank.

And it started! It just goes to show you,........sometimes funny things happen!

James

Welcome to IFI, Dan.
I live in a 'holler' too!
I guess I'm across the river from you.....more or less.

James

My shop has two different values.
An A/O torch,arc welder. anvil, couple of blowers, post vise, a few beat up hammers.
Not worth a whole lot on the open market, really.

But what the shop has allowed me to do,.......and what potential it holds for the future..........are priceless!

James Flannery

Welcome to Iforgeiron, JMP!

I,m not quite sure what a "trackback" is either.

Although I,ve been a member for a year and a half, there are still features on this site that I am unfamilar with.
(I,m a computer newbie)
Maybe someone will explain how "trackbacks" work!

Anyway, welcome to blacksmithing and IFI community!

James

I overheard a couple of guys at the local hardware talking about seeing copperheads around here recently.

The funny thing is that these snakes are scarce for a few years, then,....they're everywhere. Must be a big year for copperheads around here!

One of the things that makes me a little afraid of being bitten is that from what I can learn about snake bites, everyone has a different tolerance level to the venom.
I've heard of old folks who just put a poltice on the location of the bite and claimed to be alright after a couple days.

My aunt was copperhead 'bit', 40 years ago, and went into extreme shock. If my uncle hadn't been there, I don't know what would have happened to her.
She spent 2 weeks in the hospital and was 'poorly' for the rest of the summer.

Rich, welcome to Iforgeiron!

I don't know where Pine Grove West Virginia is, but since I'm in Greenup Co. Ky, you must be one of my neighbors I haven't met yet.

What you said about 'no time like the present'..........I couldn't agree more.
At 52, I'm trying to catch up with all the things I wanted to do at 25.

Anyway, Enjoy the site!

James

Since you're a CBA instructor, you probably have information about smithing to share with us!

Whether it's a RR spike knife, how to sharpen a lawnmower blade, or just where to find coal, all information is good and 'comes in handy' for someone.

By the way, I've been 'hobby smithing' for 35 years. Here on the farm, I'm always breaking and wearing stuff out.........that makes me my own best/worst customer!
How confusing is that!?

Anyway, welcome to Iforgeiron, and continue to enjoy the site!

James

I had my latest snake adventure just this morning. I did a little forging early this morning, but it got hot here early in the day.
So, I decided to pick blackberries instead.

I climbed the high hill to where the berries were and began filling my bucket.
I was picking berries and daydreaming of cobblers and such things, when I happened to look down and saw a rather large copperhead glide silently into the heart of the blackberry bushes.

Evidently, he had been within a foot of where I was standing. Lucky for me he was not in the mood for biting.

At first I kinda thought this was a "bad luck day", but no, this was a "GOOD LUCK DAY!"

James

Rthibeau, you raise a good question.....what is scrap? what is stuff?

I think of scrap as 'something left over.....something unusable........but........
If I collect someone else's 'scrap'....it becomes my 'stuff '.

If I have cutoffs or drops that could still be used, then it is both scrap and stuff........sort of 'scruff'!?!

Oh, I,m getting a headache! This sounds like a George Carlin routine!

Frosty's correct..........this should be a Blueprint.........and I will be taking notes!

Nice work!

James

Chris, Welcome to Iforgeiron!

I should warn you that IFI and blacksmithing are ADDICTIVE!

There are links on the front page to help you with 'getting started'.

Join in........Enjoy!

Nice forge, Aaron..........looks like it would melt down a Buick!

James

Thanks, Finnr

As to anvils, mine was old and well-worn when I got it. There's not a square edge on the face anywhere. I have a couple of 'blocks of iron' with sharp corners to use for sharp edges on forgings.

I can arc weld a little, and I've thought about attempting a repair on mine.......
but the rounded edges and missing chip don't really affect my forging, so I just use it 'as is'.
And, if I don't do the repair correctly..........I might make it WORSE!
So, I'm just gonna leave it alone.....and use it.