Ridgewayforge

A good reminder to always Spade and neuter your pet [snakes]

Interesting side note: All of the anvils I am looking at on the website seem to have pristine edges and faces; Is this a matter of him collecting the best, or is there a general trend towards country's having long traditions in smithing to handle their anvils more carefully? (thinking in comparison to the dozens of farm anvils seen in the US that are marred to high heaven)

Marc, A good variation is to add one avocado, roast the whole garlic head and add that and put some sour cream or creme fraiche. Otherwise I love me a good chimichurri on some flank steak, seared and still red. But if its BBQ that needs seasoned, nothing better than Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City!

Is there a general rule for how many air changes per hour there should be? That would determine my CFM, in turn helping me choose an exhaust fan type. Additionally, my thought would be to have the fan pull air INTO the shop. Given the air changes neeeded, of course. Is there any benefit for the fan pulling air IN vs pulling the CO out?

Greetings- I recently bought a townhouse and in the small back lot it came with a block shed, around 12x10x14 (gabled roof). There is a front man-door and two 3x1 windows. I know that I will need more ventilation than this; I will be using a Sandia Labs Recuperative Gas Forge. The block goes up to about 10ft", above that is wood on the inside, siding on the outside. My plan is to cut two ventilation holes on either side of the building, with the rear side (opposite the door) having a bathroom vent fan bringing air into the shed. My hope is to avoid death by CO. From a first glance, does this sound rather dangerous, or might I be alright with this plan?

That crack looks too severe to weld, in my opinion. It is likely wrought iron there, so unless you know how to weld wrought I would not use it. If you want to preserve it for the historical value, then by all means! It certainly is beautiful. Also, Welcome to IFI!

Welcome to IFI, Bridget! And, welcome from north central MD! Glad to see more smiths here in MD. If you need any help, don't hesitate to reach out! Cheers, Patrick AKA Ridgewayforge

Forgive me if I am reading this wrong, but doesn't this indicate that A36 steel is NOT mystery mixed metal like some people claim? I am reading this that it has some slight variations in carbon content, but otherwise it is not the same as rebar in terms of its variability of content in the same bar. Is there anything I am missing?

Those edges are not seriously damaged. I would use it as is for about 1000 hours until you know what you want to do with it. Also. Do Not Grind on or Weld the Face!!! Also, Welcome to IFI! If you put your location in your profile you will be amazed at how many members are within spittin' distance.

Yes; I saw the ones offered, but my main problem lies in finding all the medals in the same size and shape, which is a very definite specification for the couple. I work with several manufacturers of gold and silver medallions and jewelry, but they are larger distributors and didn't want to work with a one-off medal.

The hardest one to find is a medal commemorating the massacre of the infants, called the "Holy Innocents", I believe. The others I've found good enough examples of, Elizabeth Seton, Joseph, and some new ones, Louis and Zelie Martin. For costs sake, I wanted to give them to my friends in silver, but I am open to other materials.

Two friends, who I love dearly, are getting married at the end of December. They have asked me to find for their bouquet several medals of certain saints, and I am not having luck locating them wherever I look. I also can't seem to find any silversmiths, only jewelry shops. I would like to, at this point, have them made just for them. Can anyone direct me to a silversmith who may be willing to make four small oval medals (3/4" or smaller) and with whom I can speak to about this? Thank you all in advance for the help! Ridgewayforge

Here's a follow-up question, rather than creating a new thread: How do most blacksmiths size their rings? I am new to the world of jewelry, but it seems like there are standard sizes (6,7,8,9,10 etc). Are there mandrels with the sizes on them? I'd like to start making rings, but I do not know where to begin on the size issue.

Dillion, I think if you read around these forums, a lot of your questions will be answered. Don't be afraid to buy something or try something without our approval or recomendation... If you are afraid of failure, I don't recommend blacksmithing. You are asking about style of tongs and hammers: How about you get a tong that holds your material, and a hammer you can hit the material with comfortably for your experience level and strength! Don't get me wrong, we will happily answer your questions, but you may end up going farther in this craft if you take the plunge before getting advice on each step... Cheers, Ridgewayforge

Anytime I build a forge, the urge to try it out overruled my previous objections. The anvil isn't secured, I haven't put up fireproofing, I need to work on the workbench first....

I'm officially on my 5th forge design. This one is similar to my last forge, in that it is a wooden frame (old pallet wood and some rogue 2x's that I found) with a metal cross bracing to hold the firepot (Champion Whirlwind Firepot). I cobbled this together with some salvaged nails and screws, and all total took me an hour or less of work. The top is various pieces of an old BBQ grill that I cut apart and arranged around the firepot. It takes four pieces to make it work, and there are a few small gaps, but nothing dramatic. These top plates are nailed down in the four corners, and the back piece has a nail in it as well. Any critiques would be more than welcome, I am going to fire it up this week. I know the front piece looks shiny, but I do not think it is galvy- It came from the inside lid of the BBQ grill, and I can't imagine it being made of galvy. Am I wrong? _RidgewayForge_

Well, after laying it out, I decided to go with 8x8 for the building size. I think it will work well, the triangle is in the front by the opening. Rain may come in slightly, but I think that will be mitigated by careful planning of the overhanging roof. As far as the back of the shop, it will be a workbench, 5" Post vise and some under the bench storage. I'll keep a small can of water next to the forge for cooling mild steel, but no big quench tub for me. Possible a #10 can of water hidden somewhere, but that's about it.

Smoggy - you don't happen to have a photo that I can draw inspiration from, do you? I know its not terribly common to have such a small shoppe, but I want to work with what I have! Ok, I got it mocked up, and it looks like the shop will be built in the next couple of weeks; my dad volunteered to lend me the money to build the shop, so I'm going to. Now that I have it laid out, I'm leaning more towards 8' x 8'. The forge is 26" x 24", built today. As far as shop design, I'm thinking lean-to, 8' in the back, 9' in the front, open front, three sides each with windows. I'm hoping to leave the eaves open for ventilation. Now, in my last shop, which had all four sides open, I did not have a chimney, burning coal. Would I be able to get by if my forge is one foot inside the open front without a stack? I'm thinking the coal would follow the roof out, but I'm worried about getting smoked out. The prevailing wind is from the back, and there is a treeline just behind the shop. With an open back window, would the air pull the smoke out of the shop? Thank you all for your knowledge and willingness to share!

In my drawing, I have the anvil about 2' away from the forge. I figure I occupy 1' square, so perhaps I'll move it 6" closer so that I have some pivot room. Or, maybe I'll just add a swivel chair and sit down! -Glenn, I think you're right with the coal. I only really need a small coffee can of it for an hour or two of forging. Anything more, and I can just have an outdoor bin. Hey, maybe one outside the window like a flowerpot, just open the window and grab coal! Steel stock I'll store upright if its short enough, or outside. I have plenty of outside space, so I might go that route.

Ok. I redrew the layout, hopefully this might maximize the space. My anvil is only 75lbs, so it is on the small size and doesn't need that much room. I have a small machinist vise as well as a larger post vise, I plan on using both. The forge I need to figure out still. I had a Champion 400 and whirlwind Firepot, but I want to downsize that so I'm selling it. But that does leave me without a blower, but that's for another day.

Very True, all of the comments; I will be using a coal forge, I may put another window in the back opposite the doors. This would give me up to three ventilation spots. The coal forge I am going to keep very small, as I know I don't need any larger than a brake rotor-esque forge. It is not going to be a luxery, but I want something that I can call mine. Would the space be better utilized with a large workbench in back like I have, or with other open space for the anvil/vise/forge? And how does my placement look now? I'm going to try and get this mocked up on Friday, even though walls may not come until the spring.

I'm in the first (wishful) phase of designing a smithy. So far, I won't be able to build until next spring due to pesky student loan payoffs, but I hope to put together a micro-shop of sorts, a walled shed 6'x6', 8' tall lean to up to 9' in the front. I recognize that 6x6 is a small area, but I want to limit myself intentionally, as I know that this craft lends itself to growing exponentially! I have a rough floorplan, and I'd like some input. Especially regarding the work triangle, what is the minimum that is recommended? I will be making small items only, no gates, railings or the like. small hardware, tools, and decorative hooks, 1/2" starting stock and lower, mostly.

It also looks like the anvil is floating. Uneven stump, or is the anvil being held up by the straps?

How much does that weigh? What stock size did you start with?

Do you definately want to braze, or is welding an option? Could be a good opportunity to learn to weld cast iron.