Curly

Cant help on the blacksmithing side of things. However, if you are looking to take blacksmithing up as a full time career I would recommend learning a bit about running a business and that side of things. There are lots of evening classes in marketing, website building, keeping accounts, setting up your own business and so on. Of course if you are looking to work for someone then this doesnt apply as much. A lot of these activities you can work on and set up now before you end your Army career so you can get up and running as quickly as possible.

Thanks John, that would be great! PM Sent

Thanks for info Glenn, one of the forges I have been looking at seems to be cast so does not have the option to slide more pipe out or replace whats there. It looks in good condition but after reading into it a bit it seems that this type were used more with coal rather than coke which apparently burns at a higher temperature. At the right price it might still be worth getting and then converting into a water cooled one.

Hi all, Just a quick question, Ive been looking into getting my first forge. I have seen a couple of side blast forges which do not have a water tank on the back to cool the tuyere. When using this type of forge what stops the tuyere from getting too hot? Can they be used for a sustained period of time, ie forging all day? Any help to get me into the world of blacksmithing would be much appreciated! Thanks, Tim

Hi John, Just wanted to say thanks again for a brilliant time on the taster day last Saturday. It certainly gave me the blacksmithing bug! Thinking the tool making course in April would be a good next step. Now I just need to get sorted with a forge and anvil! Cheers, Tim