Acorazar

Ok, maybe some additional info I should have included earlier. I have a small forge setup, two burner propane as well as a coal burner. I have a dishing stump and am building some fixtures. Originally I did want to make full steel armor and weapons. Still do, technically. But the occasional flare up of tendinitis in my elbow and carpal tunnel in the wrist, both in my hammering arm of course, has slowed my learning curve way down. So, I’m thinking that brass or copper, with annealing as needed, would move easier under the hammer than steel. Also, I could probably shift to lighter weight hammers at the same time. Theoretically, less stress on the joints. I’m absolutely not looking to make anything combat ready. I’m hoping to keep making and learning techniques that can be adapted between metals as necessary.

I’m hoping for some experienced pointers and points of view. Thanks in advance. Steel is the standard choice for armor. I fully get that. But what if I wanted to hammer up some decorative/fantasy/costume armor? Aluminum, copper, brass or other? With alumiweld and soldering instead of welding, any of these could be shaped and machined a bit more easily than steel, yes? Or am I off base? What do I not even know that I don’t know yet?

I'm still working on calibrating my eyes to really guage sparks, but I do have some basic mild steel and some 1095 to compare too. At first probably just railroad spikes and mild steel. So these should get me going. Thanks for the info!

Found a couple of railroad knuckle pins that should be AISI 1060. Looking to work on a hammer sized drift and possibly an axe one as well. Good idea or bad idea? And I do understand that with a chunk of metal found next to a defunct railroad is the very definition of mystery metal, so taking any response with the baseline assumption of 1060 steel.

So, I'm waiting for the epoxy to cure on my first ever knife. The two-day class started us off with 1084 flat bar and showed us how to forge a basic kitchen knife. Overall, the class is fantastic, and I've already signed up for the six-session class for Intro to Blacksmithing, later this fall. Class size is usually six people or less (only four in mine) so the instructor has plenty of time to wander around, check progress, give advice etc. Quick notes on things I've learned: untill you really get close to it, no amount of youtube or forged in fire can prepare you for how xxxxx hot the forge really is. Your first projects will not be perfect. Its a ton of fun, but not a perfect finished product. I've seen the advice of "Dont try to make a sword first" and now I completely understand and agree. A 7 inch kitchen knife is a xxxxxx lot of work for an absolute beginner, a three foot blade, no...just, no. Foul language removed

Ok, sounds like, with a few basic precautions and a learning curve, I should be ok to turn a corner of my garage into a small workspace. Thanks for the tips everyone!

Can do with the detector, but no heat other than a plug-in space heater and whatever comes off the forge.

I finally have enough tools and such to start putting together a small shop area. If I clear out the corner of my garage (detached two-car), leave the door up for ventilation, etc I should have enough room to start small. I’m intending on getting/building a propane forge and getting a small oxy-acetylene rig to do some light blacksmithing and possibly armorsmithing as well. My question is this, how will Michigan winter treat the tools and equipment? Dead of winter, nearing zero degrees, I’m guessing that I would need to very slowly heat the area and equipment to prevent thermal shock? Is it ok to leave propane etc outside overwinter? Any advice or comments would be appreciated.

So, I am now a card-carrying member of MABA! Thanks to basically everyone there, what a welcoming and fun group. I even got the opportunity to make my very first forged thing. Basic and simple, but my very first hammer, forge and anvil project.

Thanks All. I'll definitely be taking advantage of the resources that are showing up in this forum and around my area. The more I look, the more local blacksmiths and metalwork related events are popping up. How have I not tripped over an anvil in the last few years? I live next door to Detroit, if you want somebody that works on/rebuilds/customizes cars, just throw a rock and you will probably hit one. But blacksmiths? I never expected to find that sort of community around here. I'll be heading to the MABA meeting at CJ Forge tomorrow, with admission dues in hand to join up, and I messaged Divermike about the classes he mentioned.

Hello All, I've been taking some basic metalworking lectures at the Techshop in Allen Park and that got me looking at Blacksmithing. I've wanted to try it for years, since I was about 8 or 10 years old. I lived next to a forge for years and to a kid, that place was magic. Finally got off my butt and started looking around and found all kinds of resources in my area. There's Tillers International, I'll be looking to take a class or two later this year. Also, the M.A.B.A. who host monthly events. I think there is one this coming weekend about 40 minutes North on I75. After that, scrounging together a makeshift anvil and probably a small gas forge should be a decent starting point. I wonder how long before the neighbors start complaining about the noise? Christopher