Xsable

so weird... I spent a few hours trying to find info on hand forged gunsmithing last night and the next day there is a thread with what I was looking for. Thanks for the recommendations ;)

Yeah I can second this, i'm new to blacksmithing but I've been weight training my whole life. You'd be surprised how easy leg pressing 1000 lbs can be, i would almost bet most of the adults on here could do it already.. the bad news is the leg press machine is a waste of time when it comes to strengthening legs.. works very little, stick with squats lunges and dead lifts for maximum gains I think the rate of what smiths hammer at would make it an impressive workout for most of us. Sure the hammers are only around 2-4 lbs but it uses a lot more than arm muscles to keep that steady and accurate. Plus I'd bet if you got your core involved in the motion it would help your endurance... PURELY theoretical because I'm not all that experienced when it comes to hammering iron so feel free to disprove this if any of you have contrary thoughts on that! heh

libraries and amazon are a very helpfull and cost affective way to get info i find. Internet has been very useful as well, can be harder to find things though. as for local hammer in's does anyone know of any in the michigan/southern ontario area by chance? I never thought to ask here before for some odd reason...

I think that can be said with most things, I used to use an expresion similar to that regarding teaching people how to play the guitar... I can teach you everything you need to know in about a week or two, the rest is just practice! I find theres a lot more reading to be done for blacksmithing though, for safeties sake alone!

funny, i never considered the fact that they break so often... I guess these are things you learn fast when you are new thanks for the tips, I'm going to do a bit more shopping around and see what I can find.

yeah that makes sense I guess, i never considered that steal handles would break too where you get your hammers?

are wood handles a MUST? I have a few hammers that seem ideal for some simple projects but they have steal handles and rubber grips.. I'm aware that these things are more susceptible to burning, especially hammers with rubber and fibre glass handles, but is there any other reason I'm not seeing here? Is it better for control? Is it easier on the elbow and joints? or is it just aesthetics? I have read a few books on blacksmithing and just getting started here but I can't seem to find an answer for this one anywhere I've looked so far.. plus hammers with wooden handles are a lot harder to find for me so far. Any advice would be appreciated thanks. ;)

I've just started building up my shop myself and was a bit overwhelmed by some of the prices out there, but when I looked further I realized, as with most things, a little patience and research can get you some good deals regardless of what you are buying. The internet is a useful tool but it isn't the end all to where to buy and sell stuff. Ask around, people you know, people you work with friends of friends. I've come across a lot of people with advice on where to find blacksmithing stuff at an affordable price and it has panned out so far. Antique shops are a great place to get a deal, not because they are known for bargains but because no antique dealer in their right mind wants to keep old dirty tools in their stores for long, they are heavy and take up a lot of room so they want them out as soon as they can get a buyer. I'm still eyeing out a deal on a fire pot though.. I'm sure I'll dig one up for a deal soon, this site itself is a great resource! ;)