Blacksmith Jim

Oh man... The local steel scrap yard, Schnitzer's Steel, has sales hours at the same time as my office hours... 8-5, mon-fri...

I went today at lunch, and if I bust my xxx to get down there, I have about 15-20 minutes to shop, cut, and buy. Of course, there is no time left over for actually eating lunch, but what a small price to pay! I picked up enough stock to last me through my next 3 or 4 projects (a fire poker, some plant hangers, some dinner triangles), and still have a bunch left over. The best part is that all it cost me was about $12.

It's kind of hard to tear myself away from the scrap yard though, I just want to browse and browse and browse.

Since I'm still trying to find an anvil I asked if they ever get any that come through. They said they really didn't, but if they did it would get placed in the 'useable items' pile, and that in the past when it has happened, they get snatched up in under a day...

I need to find a local place that sells on weekends... Anyone have any advice? Where do you find most of your supply?

I stumbled across this site today:

http://lametalsmiths.org/news/head_school_by_darryl_nelson.htm

It has a ram, a dragon, a bear and a few other heads..

Welcome keykeeper

One question though... Why try and acquire a forge? Why not just build one? Seems like a basic brake drum forge, or something similar, will be relatively easy to construct.

Bear's shop is what introduced me to blacksmithing. I'm usually there most Thursday nights and you are correct, a number of very talented smiths show up to BS on Thursdays. It's a lot of fun.

Also, it sounds like you have had good luck! You just had to travel a bit to manifest it. ;)

Jens,

Yeah, some rail road track and a propane torch seemed like the quickest way to start banging on metal at home. Then I can slowly build up a shop as I find stuff.. That has been my current plan.

I'm from Eugene, Oregon. I 'spose I should try and update my profile or something

I've looked through some of the blue print archives, I'll have to check out the live deal.

Hey folks,

I was wondering where people suggest finding a good anvil to start with. I'm guessing I'm going to want a 150-200# London style anvil. A few people have suggested attending some of the hammer-ins, or ABANA or NWBA events. I guess there is a lot of equipment that gets sold there?

Anyway, I'm located out in Eugene, Oregon. I've been contemplating posting Anvil Wanted signs out in some of our more rural communities near by. I'm guessing that simply asking around and maybe going to an event are my best bets, but I thought I would solicite advice from you folks.

So.. Where is a good place to score my first anvil? Where did you find yours?

Thanks!

Jim

Howdy Folks,

My name's Jim. I just starting hammering on hot metal about 3 or 4 months ago. So far it seems like a lot of fun. I'm already starting to figure out what I need to do to set up a shop at home!

It took a while to find any blacksmithing resources online. I'm glad I found this site!

Cheers,

Jim