Young and Dumb

So the guy who picks up our scrap metal at work needed some lights put on his trailer. I helped him out and noticed he had some steel drums. I asked him where I might be able to get one and he gave me one for free! Karma was good to me today

@Frosty that sounds like a fine trail rig you have there lol. Is that how you normally forge?

I try to practice the principals of KISS but end up overthinking most the time. It's a curse with everything I do.

Might be able to snag a bent steel wheel from work. Other than that all I can think of off hand would be a plastic bucket.

Didn't have any issues with any of that. Just more of a visual learner myself. I don't mind long winded folk. It gives me a chance to listen and learn

Ahh yes the ninja posts 

Im becoming more familiar with the bugs around the forum as well.

Awesome. Thanks for all the replies!

@Charles R. Stevens took me awhile to really understand all that lol. Thanks for clearing all that up though! I'll talk to the guys who drop off the oil at work and see if I can get my hands on a 55 gal drum. If I can get one fairly soon i'll most definitely give that side blast a try. Thanks again for all your help.

@GottMitUns Good looking forge you have there. Duct tape is man's true best friend. My personal truck is held together by gum, duct tape, and pure xxxxxxx magic lol.

Hey there everyone. New guy to the forum and smithing. Im up here in the north part of town, pretty close to aliante. If you guys plan on meeting again I would love to meet up and pick your brains a bit. Unfortunately I work on the weekends. Just let me know when and i'll see if I have a chance.

@gw7777 do you happen to have the forge or anvil for sale still?

Hey biggun for some reason I can't do anything on that other post :/ thanks for the information though.

@BIGGUNDOCTOR so it's more of an issue with bottom blasts?

Didn't cross my mind that sideblasts wouldn't have an issue with clinkers. Makes sense.

Im trying to read through the vegas post now. Don't want to just jump in not knowing the conversation lol.

Hi everyone, new to the forum here. I was wondering if anyone has used a blower motor out of a car for their source of air? If so how well did it work? What size tubing did you use for the tuyere?

A friend of mine has a new blower motor for his truck that he's willing to give me. Me and another friend are in the thought process of making a forge and that's when I thought of using a blower motor. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

Thomas Powers: lol thats true. Well im not too shabby with a welder. A buddy of mine has a small one from harbor freight. We can weld up some small stuff but wouldnt be able to do thicker stuff.

Do y'all mind explaining why drum brake forges are impractical? I have been debating on making a drum brake forge or a 55 forge. Drum brakes are more easily accessible for me, but I have no clue where I can get an empty 55 gal drum. Ive seen a lot of comments saying that drum brake forges are a waste of time but found no reasons why that is. And let me know if I should just make a new post under the forge section.

Charles Stevens: ya it's been giving me issues as well :/ spent a while trying to type this out at work and then it didnt send it. Had to start over -.-

@Charles R. Stevens that would be nice. Darn tool guys take all my money lol.

I thank you for serving our country. As well as everyone else on the forum who has.

Also you mentioned using 2" plumbing fittings with a brake drum forge. Is that the common method used to connect the tuyere to the drum?

I live in the north side of town. Pretty much next to aliante. Unfortunately I work on the weekends. Ive seen the post and planned on jumping on it, just thought I would introduce myself first. Thanks for letting me know though.

Been thinking about doing that design. Unsure if we want a side blast or bottom though. Depends on if we can get our hands on coal or charcoal easier.

I mean actual smelting. The thought of taking ore and producing metal fascinates me. Been doing a lot of reading from lee sauder. Don't know if you fellas know about him but he seems to have a lot of good information.

lol I'll try not to buy too many tools. Have that issue as a mechanic haha.

I'll make sure to take a look at it. Would it be under the blueprint section?

Thank you all for your replies.

Hi guys and gals. Been viewing the forum for quite some time now and thought I should make an account. Before I talk too much about myself I would like to thank everyone here for all the information/support they give, especially with the safety section. IFI seems like an awesome community.

A little background about myself. Im a young guy in the mechanic industry. Been doing it for about 6 years now. I live in the beautiful las vegas nevada.

Me and a friend of mine have been talking about starting blacksmithing since the beginning of the year and are now finally moving towards getting started. Unfortunately we don't have very good financial situations so we're doing what we can with little money. Going to start building a forge here pretty soon. He is interested in blade work and personally I am more interested in smelting. Im not in a hurry to pursue that because I know there are more dangers and also it wouldn't be the smartest of ideas to do with little property and neighbors close by. Figured some basic blacksmithing would quench this urge to make things with my own 2 hands. I am interested in blacksmithing but smelting just seems to tickle my fancy a bit more.

If there's anyone in town willing to give some kids a bit of knowledge/help, I would love to get together sometime. Well, thanks for reading and having me in this great community.