Blacksmith Jim

This is a great place to read a lot and try to soak up collected knowledge. Check out the archives and blueprints, etc.. Welcome :)

Welcome Don! I'm always glad to see more folks from Oregon on the forum. It seems like so many smiths are out on the east coast!

Hey folks, Recently I've been thinking about all the fun different types of tools I need (get) to make. The last month or so I've also been learning to arc weld. So what I'm wondering, is how much abuse a good arc weld can take. Can I weld up hardy tools? Bending forks and such.. What about welding the stem onto a tool, say something like a hot cut (something I need to make very soon).. What is good stock to start making a hot cut from? Basically I'm wondering if I can get away with welding tools onto a basic square stock that fits my hardy. Or.. Welding up the sides of a hardy tool that are too thing to sit in my hardy without moving around too much.. Any advice, anecdotes, etc.. is much appreciated.

Well I picked up about 20' of 2"x2"x1/8" angle iron today. I got it as scrap from the local steel supply yard. I think I'll use it for the main legs of the forge, but I'm thinking that 1" square tubing might be better for the table top. Progress though, progress...

Congrats! I think you have more then the 40 hrs to worry about though.. Like say, insane working hours leading up to April 15th? My CPA friends revel in the fact that they get to take a month off after taxes are due however.. So I guess its some give and take. Congrats again!

Would warm coke activate the acid better like warm vinigear does?

On anvil fire's email list they spoke about didymum (or however its spelt) glasses. Apparently they are mainly for glass blowers, and block a light given off by sodium, or some such thing. Basically the concensus was that they didn't give too much (if any real) benefit at the forge. But I'm not an experienced guru, so if anyone wants to correct me please feel free.

I think I'll buy a face shield when I buy a bench grinder. It just seems to make sense..

Thats the best offer I've had so far I asked the misses if she wanted to go to the UK. She likes to travel :)

I'm guessing the reason is for marketing. Every 9 months gillete needs a new gimmick.

Welcome Joe! I'm an IT guy too, although I work in academia instead of the corporate world. One of the smiths I've been learning from said a while back, "Blacksmithing is just like programming computers, you just gotta know your problem, formulate a plan or method to accomplish it, then follow those steps." I love computers and technology, but the longer I sit behind a desk, the less excited I am buy it. These days I constantly find myself thinking about how I'd rather be in the shop, or pounding on some hot iron... Good thing tonight is shop night! Anyway, welcome aboard! We're glad to have ya.

I like the blower coming through the fire brick. I think I will do something similar when I start to get mine set up. I think you should fire it up, and see how it works!

Sounds great man! Post some pics!

Welcome welcome! There seems to be a lot of stuff that goes on over on the east coast, and maybe not quite as much here on the west coast (maybe thats just a 'grass is always greener' mentality). But I do know there is a NWBA conference coming up during October in Oregon or Washington, somewhere close to the border I think..

Welcome Ed! There is a lot of great resources to be had here. Glad to see more people enjoying it!

Thanks for the tips and advice. I'll plan on using heavier metal for the base of the firepot. I like the tip about extending the pipe with brick. Personnally I just want to get some coal/coke burning, so I can heat some metal up and bang on it. I don't care too much about burning off a few pipes (tuyeres). In fact, I was thinking of having the last foot and a half or so of the pipe be bolted on and easy to replace. That way when it goes, I can just pull the end off and slap a new one on. If it works OK then I figure I'll eventually (say in a year or so) order a water cooled tuyere from europe somewhere. I don't want to spend the $150 or so for one now, but eventually I could be into it. Also, do you guys know of a good place to order them? I've had a difficult time sourcing them. Things are getting closer to having a small shop set up at home, it's exciting I picked up some basic hammers recently (3lb sledge, 2lb cross pien, and an old 1.5lb ball pien my Dad made years and years ago) and my anvil is pretty much ready to forge on. I'm planning on stump mounting it sometime in the next month or so, and putting the forge together I found a good forest product supply yard about a mile from my house, so getting a good stump should be no problem.

I am encouraged about my neighborhood. I just met a smith that lives down the block from me. He has a nice shop in his garage and has been working in it for years. Doesn't look like he has had any problem with the neighbors. My set up will be a little bit different for a while though, seeing as how I am going to set up outside under a carport deal. It will be a bit louder I'm sure. We'll see how it works :)

So I thought I'd post a basic description of my forge fabrication plans so far. Please feel free to offer suggestions. I want to build the frame using angle iron, and sheet (16 gauge?) for the table / firepot / walls. I'm planning on 2' wide by 3' deep by 3' tall. I plan on putting wheels on two leg posts on one side. Hopefully this will make it semi portable since I don't have permanent shop space yet. The forge itself will be a side blast, but not water cooled to start with. Here is some rough ascii of a cross section of the forge table. ____ ____________________________ | | | | | _______| ======= | | |_____________| In the front I want to leave a foot or a little more table space. Both steps down will be about 2 inches. The first step down will be about 8 inchest wide, and the bottom step will be about 10 inches. I figure I'll leave the side blast coming about 2-3 inchest into the pot. I want to build guides so I can drop in different walls around the firepot. I'm thinking that I want to have some walls with gates that swing open so long stock could all go in the firepot. I think thats about the most of what I'm currently thinking about. Any critiques, ideas or suggestions?

Soon you'll have a whole fruit basket! It looks great Jeremy!

Disclaimer: I haven't made tongs yet. (Through I plan to soon) I've come to realize that a lot of people actually just weld the 'reins' on. They just make the front tong/clamp part, then cut it off the stock and weld on an appropriate handle. I probably won't do that, and will draw mine out like you are (at least the first few pairs) but it is something to keep in mind.

I gave it to him without a finish, and warned him that it might want one. Honestly I just haven't done any kind of finish yet. This weekend I was reading about different types of finishes in one of the metal books I picked up. I think I'll end up getting used to using some sort of wax based finish. What do you suggest?

Looks great! :)

Here's the project before last. This was the first thing that I thought came out looking pretty decent.

Heh, I've still got a lot to learn. But it sure is fun! I already learned that :)

Hey all, I just finished a fire poker for my Dad's b-day. It's probably the 3rd or 4th project I've done. It's not super nice or anything, but I thought I'd post it so you guys could see where I'm at with stuff. Plus in a year or so I'm sure I'll get a kick out of looking back at the pics. They're just taken from a cell phone too, so they ain't that sharp. I'll need to start using a real camera soon I guess :)