Alan DuBoff

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Touche'! There's a couple in my area, I spoke to a gent that has 2 or 3 of them.

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I've heard $400-$500 is pretty typical when I asked a few folks. They're pretty hard to come by. Like all tools, if you had something you needed to use it for, it's propably indispensible. I don't have anything. :rolleyes:

The one listed in tailgating sold for $500 recently out west. No, I didn't buy it, but spoke to the person selling it.

Jr., Congrats to you fine folks. The people I've met online have somehow turned out to be special folks that are willing to help others out, and this sound like a case of that. Not only to drive and meet with folks, but to offer help or items those folks maybe be in need of. May all of you have a hot forge and be ready to strike when the iron's hot! EDIT: I think I see a sig line coming on... "Carry a hot forge and be ready to strike when the iron's hot!"

Jr., Stop teasing us...you have to come clean...what were you guys and gal up to? 3 smiths in a smithy, you can't tell me that steel didn't get heated and forged into something, can you? (hoping you don't anyway...).

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To me Pearl Harbor has a special meaning, partially due to my wife being Japanese. I reminds me that people make mistakes and mistreat people, especially in war. Mostly when I think of this, I am reminded of how the Settlers in America did as bad or worse when they took the land from the Indians. The settlers were no better nor worse than the Japanese in this regard. It also reminds me how the settlers took land away and ran off the Mexicans from California. Mostly it reminds me that people are human, and humans have a chance to error where a decision needs to be made. The very fact that none of us are perfect and that any single one of us can made a bad decision is something none of us should forget.

Find a smith in your area, get some help. Take Apprentice up on his offer if you're in his area. There is no better way to get yourself headed in the right direction than finding a chapter of ABANA and getting some help from folks that know what they're doing. I can't say other ways don't work, but this has been working for me, and I continue to learn from the smith I found from the local California Blacksmithing Association webpage. There were 3 or 4 in my area. Good luck, hope things get better for you.

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Scott, Good to see you posting. The design of your forge is really something that may benifit folks, being able to fabricate a similar forge with a little knowledge. How much would you charge someone to build a basic frame? I think folks would be interested in building forges like them. The other forge back behind the smithy was a bottom blower it seemed, with a shield on the backside of the forge. Was that to simulate a different type of celtic forge? Or were you just playing with design? They certainly are functional and can be built easily. As easy as many forges.

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I was over at Ardenwood Forge today and told Scott you posted a link to his video. Interesting to understand the forge. It actually similates how an old celtic forge would have been, in the sense that they would dig a tapered trench in the ground, and use rocks as the sheilds. The oval sides similate the rocks, or how they would have forged. There is some speculation on side blower vs. bottom blower. If you look at the pics on my website, you'll see the one of the bottom. There's wire mesh that is wraped around the welded frame, and the mortar is spread over it. The forge is not heavy due to this, and can be picked up by one person. Scott has another one also, I don't have any pics of it. Just turns out that the video had the one I did snap pics of.

Great video, didn't know it was there. This is actually quite an easy forge to build, but it has a welded frame which the mortar cement is packed around. That's Scott Thomas, the smith I study under at Ardenwood Forge. There's a couple pics on my website of that exact forge, Scott was talking about making the frames and selling them and showing people how to make one. If you're interested, contact Scott, there's a link on his website. (linky pic for a few different views)

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For me, I like to think of it as a means to the end. I happen to enjoy the journey as much as the destination, so find myself partaking in smithing. I hope to develop my skills so that one day I can leverage it with my woodworking skills to allow me to come up with handcrafted solutions, rather than having to rely on buying products from the BORG or similar. Ultimately my long term goal is to build a home, and blacksmithing will be a means to that end for me, for tools, components, or actual pieces in chasing that dream...

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