tnm

Hi Frosty, thanks for the reply and the welcome. There's really nothing more therapeutic than pounding hot steel. Although I'm actually interested on both blacksmithing and metal casting, I'll keep my topics related to blacksmithing here. I've been reading this forum for a few months now, and have learned quite a bit already. As for my current tools, I have a 24 oz ball peen, a 2.5 lb sledge shaped hammer, and an ASO from HF. Sad, but true. My main interest here is making tools, but I'm still in the early stage of learning about fire and metal. I have pounded some steel, and I've collected all the steel scraps that we're not supposed to work with, rebar, railroad spikes, etc. Since I had the pool removed this year, the back yard is one huge sand pit. That's ideal for metalworking in general, and smithing in particular

I don't have much to say. Totally new to metalworking of any sort. Non-professional, backyard stuff. I wouldn't call what I built a forge. It was (key term) just an old grill with a hair dryer. I'm working on something that will hopefully last awhile, burn hot enough to melt aluminum, but also have enough air flow to heat steel enough to shape. I love this site