Rob Browne

G'day Christine from another Aussie. this is an amazing site for info on smithing, enjoy :)

Tom, look forward to some pictures and advice from you in the future. Welcome to IFI :)

Welcome to IFI. My advice is to start with the basic exercises, even though they may appear boring before trying the bladesmithing thing, now that is hard!!

David, Plenty of help here for your new adventure, keep us updated on your progress :)

Welcome to IFI, lots of info here on getting set up and starting off on the smithing adventure.

Welcome to IFI Frank. Look forward to lots of input from you with youre experience.

With that set up there is not much you can't have a go at :)

I'm impressed. Am thinking about making one myself as coal is so hard to get but don't really know where to start.

I wouldn't be complaining about that effort!

Welcome to IFI Charlie. Start reading and we will give you a call some time next week so you can have a rest :)

Welcome to IFI Matt :)

As a kid I used to listen to my grandfather and his two borthers talking about how it was at home when they were kids. Of course I didn't take too much notice then but I regret it now. Never let this chance go by!!

Is the problem with your current forge that you can't heat the centre of a long piece because the fire is too low compared the the walls? If so just cut out a couple of bits to allow long pieces to be pushed through.

As an iron clad rule I never wwear any rings when doing any type of manual work. Too easy to get caught and damage the ring or your finger. Better to enjoy your work and enjoy wearing the rings seperately.

Welcome to IFI. Plenty of ideas and info here to get you going again :)

Welcome to IFI Matt. Farrier experience is great for starting in blacksmithing, same basics, different outcome.

Brandon, They have tried the usual sword blade straight up but finally I have got through to them that they have to get the basics before trying the high school stuff :)

We are going to take over eventually Welcome to IFI Keith

Simple and clever design.

On the last weekend the kids had a go by themselves and turned up a couple of useful tools. The nine year old made the poker, drew the point, drew the 3/8" stock out for the handle and made the handle with a bit of advice from dad which was not too welcome at times. Overall he is very proud of his efforts. The eleven year old made the fire hook. He rounded the hook end and made the right angle bend, with a bit more generally unwelcome advice from dad he made the scroll on the end of the handle and turned up the handle from a diagram I drew. Not a bad effort for them both, I am very happy.

Welcome to IFI. Look forward to your input :)

Boy, looking forward to photos of some of your work and let the tips run freely, we can all use them. Welcome to IFI :)

Frosty has the right method. People just love their kids entertained with something other than the playstation and it helps build a community feel to the area.

I've never had real success with BBQ brickettes. I find you use a LOT and they are realy variable in their performance with some containing more filler than combustable material. I prefer to stick to coal (hard to get) or straight charcoal.

Read all the Getting Started articles off the front page, check out the Blueprints and find a local group if there is one close. Other than that, welcome to IFI :)