Gundog48

Trying to drill it was a disaster, I'm thinking of making a drift out of 30mm square stock, what do you think?

As someone who has only recently got into blacksmithing, I have to disagree. If you are a hobbyist, you can get away with investing next to nothing, just a little time. A 55 forge is easy to build with an old barrel which you should be able to scrounge for free, some cast-off scaffold poles and some old angle for legs. I had to buy the legs which cost £7. An anvil can be improvised out of some railway track, or a lump of reasonably high carbon steel which I managed to find for free. Alternatively, you could buy a used anvil which cost me £80 for a 1cwt anvil in great condition. A blower can be made, or improvised from a car heater fan like I did, which you should be able to get for free. As for tools, most of us probably have a basic hammer which will allow you to forge the tools you need and eventually forge a better hammer. The materials themselves can normally be acquired by asking round garages and scrapyards. A lot of the time you could get it for free. In short, for a hobbyist, blacksmithing can cost as little or as much as you want. If you want to save some effort, you can buy bits and pieces, but if you are willing to put in some time and make do with simple gear, you could do it for next to nothing. Sure, you may want to upgrade some parts or buy a proper anvil, but £87 total investment isn't exactly an outrageous amount of money! For setting up a business however, that is a different story!

I set to work today, the steel I'm working on is surprisingly soft and was pretty easy to drill through. Only had a few hours after school but I drilled out quite an area. I'm getting way ahead of myself as I haven't got a working blower yet, so I haven't actually done any forging! In the mean time I've been hitting the books and getting everything ready for the projects I want to do. Should have the blower finished by the weekend and I'll be scrounging at a few garages for some scrap suspension coil springs so I can start making punches, chisels and the like.

I never thought of drilling it! I'll get some thinner stuff and get to work, although I don't have a drill bit big enough nor a drill to accommodate it. Perhaps I could get a big enough drill bit, heat up the steel and hot drill it? This method looks good, I'm looking forward to some care-free sledgehammer bashing! Special thanks to Phil, I think you've answered every question I have posted on here!

I've just bought myself a proper anvil so I would be able to use hardy tools as I work alone. I found a very good video demonstrating how to make a cut-off hardy whereby you start off with some square stock, thin the end end hammer it into the hardy hole. Then you upset the metal using a sledgehammer with the shaft part in the hardy hole. The only problem is, he was using a massive 500lb anvil, while mine is only 1cwt, I'm rather worried that it wouldn't be able to cope with that much stress. What do you think? If my anvil isn't up to the job, what would you recommend? I've got a solid block of steel which would be ideal, but I have no idea how I would make a hardy sized hole through 2 inches of steel!

Thanks for the advice, I'm hoping that others will be put off from the condition! How much would you be willing to spend on it? Judging by the size it would be worth a lot purely in scrap value!

I'm looking to buy a starter's anvil for pretty light work. I'm currently using an improvised stake anvil which I fitted into a log, and although it has a large, flat surface, it's not nearly as sturdy as I would like and absorbs most of the hammer blow. The main reason I want to upgrade is because I'm finding myself in need of a hardy hole for a lot of the work I'm doing. I've been scrounging everywhere possible but I haven't been able to find one, I'd be willing to spend up to £80 if I had to, but the goal is to get it as cheap as possible. I'm not looking for anything branded, just a flat steel surface with a hardy hole and a horn. I've scoured eBay but most are nice anvils that are way out of my price range or are too far away. Doesn't help that I have to convince my parents to come with me to pick it up! I've spotted what looks like an old wreck of an anvil, and probably is just that. It's as rusty as hell which may be putting people off. What I want to know is if there is any potential in restoring it to a decent condition? The face seems flat enough, would grinding suffice or would you say this was pitted beyond repair? At the price it is going for, I would hardly care if it was cast iron! Overall, what do you think? Worth buying it cheap to try and restore it, or is this as knackered as it looks? How much would you be willing to pay for it? Here's a picture: No idea on weight, but it is described as 34" long, 15" high and 6" wide. A little big for my needs, but I'm sure I'll manage!

Thanks, I am really pleased with the response I've been getting! I live in Maidstone, Kent. I did think about offering to help out at a blacksmiths over the summer, but to be honest I don't think I'm quite ready for that and I'd be very worried about being more of a hindrance than a help. My plan is to wait until next summer, develop some skills of my own and perhaps enrol on a course or two in the mean time, so that I'll have something to offer as an apprentice. I've got two more years of school after I've finished my GCSEs, so by the time I leave school I may be ready to earn some money out of it! I know there is a beautiful old forge in Yalding near me, a big, traditional coal one that I'd love to use, I normally go down there for a Christmas fayre they have in Yalding where they do demos and the like- I'll probably ask about it when I go there this Winter. I think the overall plan would be for me to hone my skills over the next few years while I do my A-Levels, then I'd be ready to sell small 'gifts' at fayres and the like. My main source of material would be my Dad who can get lots of quality steel as he works at bus depots around the South East as a servicing manager. I'd be tempted to sell at some of the posh fayres where people go for the eco-friendly, organic, retro stuff which people seem to love round here. I've seen people sell simple things such as wooden candle holders made from recycled wood, horseshoes and fire pokers which have been handmade from scrap metal for an absolute fortune. At the moment, my final goalpost is to make a sword, which would be a very time consuming process, but again, people love unique things like that- you can see how much people spend on the dodgey milled blades that weigh a ton. I think making small gifts and knives would be pretty popular, and would allow me to do what I enjoy while making a good amount of money. It's hard to say exactly what I would do considering I don't have enough experience at what I am good at, but I imagine things like gates and railings would make a good deal of money and be enjoyable, if I could get the work. But that is all in the future, as many of you have said, it's not all about the money. At the end of the day, we spend money on distractions to make ourselves happier in our free time, but if you love your work, then there is no need to surround yourself with objects to make yourself happier as you will be a happier person to start with! I'd much rather make a decent living out of doing something I enjoy than earning £60K a year while hating 10 hours of each day and spending the remaining ones being miserable! I'm the first of my family to go to a good school, or to carry on into further education, but I don't fit in as an academic person. Although I'd say I do quite well at school (if I do say so myself!), I don't feel much achievement from getting a good grade, but physically producing something does. I agree with what you said about people looking down on manual labourers, when a lot of what they do requires a lot of skill and earns them a similar amount of money to 'white collar' jobs. For example, my Uncle is a bricklayer, everyone seems to think that is a bad career choice, but he makes an absolute fortune because he is so good at what he does, and can therefore command higher prices. I think I'll manage when it comes to running a business, I used to run a small website employing two people where we would write reviews of computer components and get in touch with manufacturers to have them ship samples to us to review. In the end an owner of a major reviewing site with far better contacts emailed me and asked if we would like to merge, so now the three of us work for them and make a good bit of money from it! Anyway, I'm sure I am preaching to the choir here! I'll spend the next year learning the art and improving my work, then I'll be ready to get some proper experience as an apprentice blacksmith. After that, who knows? I guess it's a case of testing the water with stalls and demos at fayres or advertising myself for creating bespoke goods such as gates. I've got enough money already to set up a respectable shop when the time comes to upgrade, and you never know, after many years I may be able to run courses and introduce others like myself to blacksmithing!

I'm 16 years old and currently go to quite a posh school where almost everyone is expected to move on to university. Quite frankly, the path they are trying to lead me down scares me, my greatest fear is to be stuck in an office doing work that I hate and getting no recognition as an individual. I have always enjoyed making things, in my spare time I like to tinker with and build computers and I also renovate old Series Land Rovers- things like welding up holes, rebuilding the engine, wiring some work lights up and fixing whatever needs fixing. Essentially, I get a lot of satisfaction out of making and fixing things of all types and I enjoy hands-on work. During the Easter break I decided to build a 55 forge. Blacksmithing is something I have wanted to try out for a while but I never realised that building a forge could be so simple. I built it like a tank, the bottom has a 4mm heat shield which is covered by a thick layer of fire cement (only a mixture of ash and clay, but should to a decent job). I've only been working it for barely a week with a rudimentary anvil, but I have found it incredibly enjoyable after making some basic tools and the like. I plan to move on to knifemaking, and when I am ready, try swordsmithing. Essay over. I would be very interested in becoming a blacksmith full time in the future. Obviously I'll be trying it for a good few years before I decide whether I have enough skill to take it on as a career, but I'd like to ask a few questions that I hoped you may be able to answer: Would it be a good choice of career, is there much demand? Is it on the rise or decline? Obviously it depends on a lot of different factors, but how much could a blacksmith expect to earn? Where is the best place to start? Do I just start selling pieces I produce and advertise for bespoke products, or would I be better off joining an established blacksmith? Thanks for taking your time to read this. I realise that a lot of established blacksmiths out there put a different value on knowledge than us younger people do, so I realise you may find someone bursting in and essentially shouting "I wanna be a blacksmith! What do I do?" can be frustrating when that is information that a lot of people took a lot of time and effort to gather. But I would appreciate it if you would try to answer my questions the best you can, I'm mainly just testing the water, but I'd love to take this further if you reckon it is a good move! Thanks, Jake

Thanks for the advice! I have a car air blower I could use but I'd rather stick to manual blowers. I can't find many crank blowers, but I came across these bellows listed below. The only thing that puts me off is that he told me they move roughly the same amount of air as a car foot pump, do you think they are up to the job, or would it be too much work to get a decent amount of air moving? http://bit.ly/Hf7Qz6

I've been doing a lot of reading up about blacksmithing, and plan to make a 55 forge this summer, needless to say I am extremely excited. The only thing I am unsure about is the bellows. The way I see it, I have 2 choices, foot-operated bellows or a crank-operated blower. I have no idea what kind of capacity bellows I should be looking for, or what kind of blower would be up to the job! I have been trying to find places to buy them, but have drawn a blank, even eBay almost bare! I like in Kent, England if anyone has any suggestions as to where to buy supplies.

Thanks for the fast replies! I'm based in Kent, England. I've been doing a lot of reading and research and I think I am ready to get started! I'm not expecting to produce blades of any quality for a good year or so, but that's the eventual aim! I think I've got my design pretty much sorted, the main question is airflow though, basically wondering how much I need to give a forge of that size, and the options I have for blowing it. I'll give the forums a good look through to see what others have been doing! Thanks!

So, I'm brand new to all this and I'd like to build a forge. I've been doing a lot of research into the equipment and techniques involved, and I'd like to have a go at bladesmithing once I have the basics mastered. I'd start of with some knives, and if I get good at them I'll move onto my ultimate goal- making a sword. Anyway, I'll need a forge to do that! My current plan is to use an oil drum, like a 44 gallon one, cut it in half and put a grill in for the coal to sit on. Obviously I'd need to heat cement it, but the main concern for me is airflow. As I understand, without a lot of assistance, I'm not going to be turning steel yellow. Would you recommend piping the air underneath the coal grill, or in at the side? Would I need it coming in at either side considering the dimensions of an oil drum? Most importantly, what kind of driving force would I need to pump the air? Are we talking a good footpump or hairdryer, or proper blacksmith's bellows or even a compressor? What would you suggest?