Nope take that back, I'm a wannabe smith. I've been welding since I was 12 (started out mig, moved on to stick and then tig if you must know) and was a shop welder for a few years before I went back to my current job as a plumber. Crazy I know but it's actually not that different. I'm just now at a point in my life where I can finally set up a shop and have some fun. Oh I'm 24 now if you were wondering. I've always been fascinated by metallurgy and the like. Anyways the point of this thread is just to introduce myself and to ask for help. I'm starting to build a small forge was thinking of going with coal and a simple a/c fan that I have salvaged and re-purposed and a sink lined with fire bricks. I need an anvil but until I find or can afford one I plan on locating some scrap I-beam from a local shop. As a welder I am familiar with hot metal, and have had to improvise plate into hooks and various other things. What floors me is tempering and hardening iron and steel. Quenching was always a no-no from my experience I always thought it weakened the metal or could contaminate my welds. Anyways I'm gonna browse this forum more it seems like there are plenty of experienced metal workers here. Sorry about the length. Any tips, advice, comments, questions or just random factoid are more than appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Oh, and my eventual goal would be to smith hunting knives, since I can never find one I'm truly happy with, and I would love to be able to give the man who taught me everything a blade just as tough, durable and sharp as he is. I kinda figure that's a while off though, gotta crawl before you run kinda thing.