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I Forge Iron

Perato

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Anchorage, Alaska
  • Interests
    I am interested in firearms, metal working, and most common electronics.

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  1. I don't know if any of you have seen the science channel recently, but Tony Belleci from Mythbusters is hosting an event on "flying anvils" where contestants launch 100 pound anvils using 1 pound of gunpowder. My first reaction is one of utter disgust! With how hard it has been to find an anvil in Alaska, and they are just launching perfectly good anvils for fun? Haha, I wonder if they will let me keep an anvil if I can catch it... might be worth the try to obtain the elusive piece of steel. The show said its a 200 year tradition and I was wondering if anybody knows more of the history of this event?
  2. Looks great! You will be up and running in no time.
  3. Thank you Frosty, I would appreciate that as well. I am really anxious and motivated to learn this new craft. Oh and teenylittlemetalguy, I still need to call you, I was so busy today I forgot but I'll give you a call tomorrow if thats good with you. Today I took a trip back to the farthest point on Fort Richardson and I found some railroad spikes, plates, huge bolts, and some railroad rail. The railroad rail piece I found is two rails bolted end to end which makes it way heavier and thicker. I can definitely feel the difference when I hit it with a hammer. I am going to mount the rail to a railroad tie using the railroad plates and railroad spikes. I also found a solid steel round that I could weld to the end of the rail to act as a horn. I was also thinking of welding a 2" thick by 4.5" 12" long piece of forklift tine to the top of the railroad rail. Altogether that would give me at least over 100 pounds of steel under the working surface. I also chopped up an old '88 F-150 and Im going to be saving all the good steel (leafsprings, coilsprings, sway bars, etc.) from that but Ill probably sell parts and with that money buy a torch and make myself a little gas forge. I'll also use the drum brake from the truck to build a coal forge using black iron pipe and either an electric leaf blower with a gate or a blow dryer. Other then that, just slowing start acquiring hammers, tongs, and blacksmithing tools as I can. I'll keep you guys updated as I move along. Here is the pic of the railroad rail http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y197/Perato/photo13.jpg
  4. Wish i could find something like this in Alaska! Beautiful!
  5. Its a long drive to get coal, but I may have to do that if I can't find a good grade around here.
  6. That looks great Thomas! This is why I like working with metal, because with enough ingenuity, it seems like I can just make my anvil here locally and of course the forge as well. Really awesome way to recycle old steel!
  7. I will probably get started on some stock removal knives before I get my forge and anvil set up as well.
  8. Thank you! I'll keep you guys informed on how everything goes. I'll try to put up pictures of how I set up my forge when I set it up this weekend. I was looking online and there is a place that sells a 4" X 4" solid steel block for 85 bucks. I'm wondering if that will work if attached to a 4 X 4 that's cemented into a bucket. I also found a supplier of coal in the valley that sells 50# bags for 10 bucks. Hopefully everything starts to come together soon.
  9. I'll definitely join! It would be great to have some local experience as well as some people that know where to go locally for supplies and whatnot.
  10. Yea, I am at Elmendorf so I will have to pop into metals tech and see if they have any scrap lying around that could be used. I am excited to get started!
  11. Thank you, I'll try to look around for some rail laying around the old railyards, I might get lucky. I'll keep an eye out for those plates that the rails attach to as well. I see about finding a metal scrapyard to see what they have lying around. So the most important thing is that the mass that the rail or metal is attached to is significant to bleed away the energy from the hammer blows?
  12. Hi all, I've been wanting to work with metal for almost for about 5 years now, and my journey in the Air Force has finally given me time to pursue this interest. There is one problem I have run into though. I live in Alaska, and cannot find an anvil anywhere. I have heard of people using railroad rails as a low quality substitute and I am wondering if this is ok to start with. I want to start perfecting scroll work, tool making and repair and possibly blade making. Thanks for your time
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