Du7ch

I certainly could, but I do still use it when I have the rare opportunity to put hammer to steel. Certain projects require certain tools. I believe you taught me that Thomas. Along with the fact that if you don't have the tool, make it; Even black steel is hot; THIS is the pointy end; if there's a Thomas, there's a way... Too many to list!

I personally have a medley of large scrap that I use in place of an anvil, often, more than the Peterwright I currently possess (Borrowed). I started with a square 8x8x3" block, and have added a cylinder 6" tall and 4" diameter. These are my go to equipment. I leave these out, while I have to lock the anvil away for fear of thieves and keeping in accordance with the borrow agreement. My advise, keep an eye out for the large scrap. It's extremely affordable and extremely customizable.

Frosty, long side tracks are where you get the best of the story! Every post you have gets my mind spinning!

Many anvil stumps have been passed up as I drove past them on the highway in the wife's car and when I returned in my truck, are gone. "Perfect" blocks of wood waiting for me to grab, and most likely became firewood for someone else. I've made it a habit to constantly scour the side of the road when driving for scraps, whether it be rebar or spring. However in my mind, Safety always is the priority. If the acquisition could cause troubles or personal injury, I pass it by.

​I've used my Wiley X gloves as oven mitts on multiple occasions. lol.

Being military, I'm forced to wear gloves at nearly all times. Forging is a situation where I prefer not to, as that is how I was taught. I do like a tighter fit when it comes to gloves, as with all of my uses, I need flexibility, protection and dexterity. Loading rounds into a magazine in subzero temps with barehands is foolish, doing it with the wrong gloves loses time. I like cutting and stitching the figertips from typically the thumb, and index, occasionally the middle fingers. "Mechanix" brand is fairly decent if you find the right type, but Oakley, Wiley X, and Under Armour have wonderful gloves. With the flame protection, look into the nomex/fire retardant gloves. Keep in mind that these gloves are not cheap, but do the trick. As far as low cost, HWooldridge and Michael have the right idea... Leather work gloves, close fitting and preferably with a wrist draw string or half sleeve to keep any hot items from falling into the glove (Trust me, you DO NOT want that to happen!)

Mad Max, Keep in mind what several others above stated, it's material you were able to secure with little time or effort. You can mess with it to learn the hard way on how to work stainless steel, and not be out anything in material that you didn't have before, gaining instead, a working knowledge of the difficulties of this alloy. Another option, should you have the resources nearby, is to take it to the local scrap yard, (hopefully one you have a working relation with) and either scrap and get something from their pile that you know how to work, or do a trade, depending on the scrap rates in your area. Sometimes a easily fashioned bottle opener or a six pack for the workers will open doors you never knew were there. However, should you decide to forge with the stainless, please let us know how it goes! We LOVE to see pictures and read stories of how each other did what we did. Good luck, and I look forward to seeing what you decide and how you do!

Very beautiful! Great display of fullering and nice clean lines. I truly hope you tested the opener to ensure the quality was up to par!

Frosty, I'd love to move up that way myself but I'm being forced to settle down in Idaho where my wife and I grew up. Lol

My wife already denied my desire to move down under and join the army there. Lots of word up here that us American troops are welcomed into your forces.

I've been trying to get both of them to move west for awhile now!

Thanks buddy... my wife was looking over my shoulder and saw that... the unfinished bracelet I have due to working long late hours dims compared to that! Now she's going around the house trying to find things I can make or fix. Good news is she'll allow me to go get more charcoal and forge tomorrow.

That looks mighty fine! As my signature states... find a way or make one!

Absolutely stunning!

Frosty, I believe you also have family in southern Idaho (a sister?) And I'm originally from that area and visit a couple times a year. I'm army, so I know how to feeda large group! Unrestricted use of the anvil currently residing at your house.

Better than going after the lost Padres mine! I've found the general area of 2 separate mines by that name... one in Texas and one just west of Las cruces! One is supposedly filed with silver bars and the other with gold bars... our Sierra Ladrones conversation had me digging into local legend!

Absolutely beautiful! Definitely on my to do list!

Hmmm... wonder what I could trade for him. Lol. Of course if I did take him, you'd have sole access to the anvil Marcy!

For admin rights, she might just trade him! Frosty, I won't complain too much, you and Steve have been great mentors on the site and I hope to someday actually meet y'all. Anything inconvenience we might experience will surely be worth it for the ability to conduct business privately.

Very beautiful Shane!

Definitely noticed how addicted I've become to IFI and the chat and forums when it was down for a few hours today... Felt very similar to the refreshing of the powerball site last night to see if I was lucky. Anyone else have these issues?

While not unconventional in heating sources, I've heard tell of wood pellets being used as a fuel source for forges. Upside: Cheap and easily attainable. Downside: Can't water (Turns into a clump of sawdust), burns entirely too quickly, and you need a LARGE amount.

I'm originally from Middleton and frequent the area. Feel free to PM me on here if you'd like to schedulae any meets.

I'm in the same boat! Thus, trying to work on my propane forge... can store everything in my garage, and forge in the driveway instead of outback where my charcoal forge is in the ground.

The first few I made had a double X I imprinted with a mining bit, then found using a chisel gave me better control. Chisel and bull pin were my tools for all marking. Might have to toss one of these in for iron in the hat next weekend.