WoodedForge

How about the Culpeper area? And you know the one link sends you to the Central Vermont Realtors Association right? Anyway, I was just wondering if Culpeper would even be considered part of Central VA, since it's up north a bit from you guys. I'm looking for a mentor or at least someone that could show me a few things from time to time.

Hey guys, would Culpeper be considered part of Central VA? I'm looking for a mentor but it seems like you guys are all hours south of me, making it a little hard for me to meet with anyone. Let me know if anyone's up near me that doesn't mind showing me some of the basics.

Thanks guys. This is the most help I've ever gotten from any place online. I realized that a lot of you were right when you said I may be better off finding a mentor, so I think that's what I'm gonna do. But I did finally get a decent weld, I just had to use some rod stock I had bought to practice scrolling. Unfortunately I didn't understand what I did differently to succeed that time, so I think it's time to look for someone that can show me. I'm gonna head over to the meeting forum, but just in case anyone here is in the Culpeper, VA area, I could definitely use a good mentor.

Sorry, the pieces are about 1/4" thick. Not sure of which grade metal they are, only that the stock they came from was a major pain to work, so I assume something high carbon. I got them at Lowes for practicing a few techniques, price wasn't bad but the exact info was lacking. I think ThomasPowers was right, after re-inspecting the pieces, I think they were oxidized. I never even thought to grind them clean, as they were pretty rusty, I just assumed the fire would burn that off. But hey, I just learned something, so I guess it's not a waste. I would like to know if there's a way I can determine what type of steel I'm using even if that info wasn't available at purchase... I feel like it'll help me avoid getting ripped off in the future.

Hey guys, I'm trying to figure out where I went wrong with fire welding the other day. I'm using a coal forge first off. So I decided I was just going fire weld two pieces of scrap to learn how, but I failed miserably. Can't even figure out how I failed. My process was as follows: Started forge (duh, lol) Got fire pot nice and deep and fully glowing (Aprox. 7-9 inch heart)(Metal is of larger size) Picked two pieces, one 8" x 3" the other about 7" x 3" Heated (first time) to glowing, my normal working heat. Failed Realized I would need much more heat, heated to nearly burnt (Where it sparks) Still failed. Added forge borax (Actually called Cherry Heat http://www.centaurforge.com/Cherry-Heat-Welding-Compound-5-lb-can/productinfo/5CHERRY/) I cleaned the metal off with a wire brush first, then applied the powder, but I admit I had now idea how to use it still failed. Decided I needed help. Can anyone help me figure out where I went wrong, or give me a run down of how you do it?

haha, I have to say that some of the responses I'm getting are quite humourous. I really appreciate the advice everybody. And to Gundog48, don't worry about my expectations. The only high expectations I'm holding are that I'll learn a bunch from this first failure. But I'm fully prepared for this to be a failure. I'm crazy, but not stupid, ;) Actually, so far I don't think I did too bad. I used a piece of rebar since it's so cheap I won't feel bad if it goes wrong. I'm going to include some pics if I can figure out how. I need some advice on how to draw out the tang, but I think I've got the rest planned out pretty well. I'm going to pound a groove in the blade to give it some width, and then bevel the edge to give a nice nordic style shape to the blade. Problem with the tang is that it's currently only one handed, but I was trying to make it a hand-and-a-half, plus room for a pommel. This will probably only be wall worthy, but it'll be a nice first sword to show off I think. http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/37130-woodedforge-first-sword6/ http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/37129-woodedforge-first-sword5/ http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/37128-woodedforge-first-sword4/ http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/37127-woodedforge-first-sword3/ http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/37127-woodedforge-first-sword3/ http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/37126-woodedforge-first-sword2/ http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/37125-woodedforge-first-sword1/

Hey everybody. I'm a relatively new smith in the Northern VA area. I've had some pretty good beginners luck so far, I made two pretty decent gates and also a spear I made out of rebar just for giggles. I'm still pretty new though, I just watch a lot of youtube videos and take careful notes, so any and all advice is welcome. If anyone in my area is up for playing mentor, I'd love to hear from ya, just leave me a message or something. I got into smithing because I've always like swords, and metal, and well fire. I've been interested in it for ages but I've only just now decided to jump into it. Well, I'm going to go look around the forums a bit. But it's been fun saying hi.

Hey everybody, I'm new to the forum. So if I break any rules (which I will use my best judgement to avoid) please let me know. So now that the introductions out of the way, I'm a relatively new smith who has had some pretty good beginners luck so far. In fact I decided I'd like to try my hand at making a rapier or a viking style long sword, just for giggles. I've made two iron gates so far and I learned so much from all the mistakes I made it's unbelievable, so I decided to just jump into making a sword with the expectation of failing miserably, just to learn from the mistakes I'll make. So don't worry about me getting my feelings hurt by the end product. That brings me to the question I'm here to ask. If you could go back and give yourself any advice for your first sword, what would it be? Anything that ruined the project that you had no way of knowing beforehand? Anything you learned that makes a better quality product? Thanks guys in advance, from what I've seen on the forums so far you guys are pretty cool. And yes, I know, it's a lot of work to go through just to learn something, but that's how I learn best. Edit: A little more info for you to think about. All I have on hand are rod stock, so I was thinking of flattening out a piece of 5/8 and go from there. I know it's not the usual sword quality metal, just regular gate quality steel, but it's cheaper than buying 1075 or 1060 stock just to likely ruin it. I do have a professional grade coal forge and anvil, purchased from centaurforge.com, and a few hammers I bought and one I made. Let me know if there's a specific type of hammer that you wouldn't start a sword without.