Hey all, I apprenticed under a blacksmith named Dan Cochran for a year back in high school and have been blacksmithing off and on for the past seven years or so.
I'm in law school so I live in town, but my family has a ranch which is a veritable treasure trove of scrap steel.
Every since I worked with Dan I have alwayse wanted to have my own blacksmithing set up. So lately I've been looking at all sorts of things that I would like to try to make, and am tired of seeing junk lying around. I figure I might take some of that junk, turn it into something useful, enjoy myself and learn in the process, and maybee generate a little income off the hobby.
So here's where I ask for some advice from the veterans.
What I'm looking to get into a compact, mobile set up with just the basics that will allow me to expand from there by building my own tools. So please point me in the right direction. I'm looking for tools that are used, inexpensive, moovable.
To start out I'd like to find a gas forge (or blueprints to weld up my own) a hammer, some tongs, and an anvil between 75 and 159 lbs. Everything else I can either wait for, build my self, or supplement with tools I already have.
Any advice you guys have as to where I can find this stuff cheap, or direction to help me build it my self, would be greatly appreciated.
Hope we can be friends and have fun together.
Sincerely,
