ClevelandGuy

Clark had one of these at Quadstate last month and I liked the form factor. Lot of power for such a small footprint. Anyone have any comments on his presses and products in general. Very little presence out there in the internet of things.

Thanks, Thomas Powers. That helps a lot. The pricing structure makes sense, but it doesn't help if I show up on Sunday and there's nothing but mostly empty tables with junk nobody wanted sitting there at bargain prices. I'm going to plan to be there by mid-day Thursday.

Thanks for the reply. Do a lot of people show up on Wednesday?

For the past several years, whenever we've gone to Quadstate and actually shown up Friday, the majority of the stuff for sale has already been picked over and sold. In fact, it's not unusual to see vendors packing up and getting ready to go home Friday night. Can anyone offer any insight into what day would be the best day to show up, for maximum purchasing opportunities? I'm willing to take time off work and go down early, even on Wednesday, if that's what it takes.

Obviously living out in the middle of nowhere has its advantages. A coworker is always telling me how much better it is living out in 'the township'. But my wife and I enjoy many of the aspects of suburban/city living as well and wouldn't want to lose them. Unfortunately, having an amazing blacksmith shop and also living the urban life are somewhat mutually exclusive goals, which means a compromise will always be required. And as everyone knows, a good compromise just xxxxxx BOTH parties off.

Makes sense. I'm heading down there today...I'm off and they're open, and it's too cold to forge (although maybe later this afternoon). Would you like me to grab you a couple bags? Text me at phone number removed if you want me to pick some up for you.

Copy that. I actually just called them a minute before reading this. No answer, but left a message. I've been there a couple of times over the past couple of years.

Gulp! Cumberland's prices: 2 ea. square 3/8" x 10-ft $23.50/ea 1 ea. square 1/2" x 10-ft $34.85/ea 2 ea. round 3/8" x 10-ft ***Offering 1018 CR*** $18.65/ea 1 ea. round 1/4" x 10-ft ***Offering 1018 CR*** $14.35/ea Guess I'll be giving my business to North Coast Metal Mart!

I ended up going to North Coast Metal Mart. Small place, just a guy and his son for the past 16 years, working out of a small warehouse down on Hinckley Industrial Pkwy. Very easy to deal with, none of that "we don't like dealing with hobbyists" attitude. Not the largest selection, but more than adequate for my needs, with all the usual versions of round and square/rectagular in 10-ft lengths. He even cut everything in half for no charge. I was planning on doing that myself in his parking lot, but he offered. For $50 I got: 2 ea. square 3/8" x 10-ft 1 ea. square 1/2" x 10-ft 2 ea. round 3/8" x 10-ft 1 ea. round 1/4" x 10-ft I asked Cumberland Steel for a quote for the same list, for comparison. They certainly look like a larger business with more inventory, so it'll be interesting to see how their prices compare. They're both convenient to me.

I've used the Metals Supermarket for my last couple of projects. Nice people, but expensive, and I ordered over the phone and then picked up. I didn't notice if they had an actual browsing area where I could pick and pay for pieces, which would be my preference. Much easier than putting an order together in advance.

Once upon a time there was a place called The Metal Store, but they don't appear to have survived the big C. I'm just a hobbyist, so not looking to buy major quantities, but I'm willing to cut larger pieces into manageable sizes for transport myself.

The subject says it all. I know the local club has historically made 50# bags available to members for a reasonable price, but they're offline until March, and I don't know if they're even meeting in the world of COVID anyway.

I appreciate the time you took to explain further. I understand all the ramifications...I just have to figure out how much I care about them. I'm an HVAC guy from one of my previous careers, and after I installed a forced induction hanging unit heater in my big garage, the city guy told me I couldn't do it the way I did. I explained that I most certainly could and flexed my knowledge a bit and he backed down without much fuss. But you're right, a forge would raise eyebrows a LOT higher, although I expect Forged in Fire has probably spawned more attempted garage installs in the past five years than in the previous 50 combined. I've waited most of my life to have the time, space and money to really get into this hobby seriously and it would be very frustrating to be thwarted at this stage. And talking my wife into moving probably wouldn't go over especially well. My only other option would be to make the forge portable and move it out of the garage when I want to use it, but then there's the headache of moving a freaking anvil, not to mention dealing with working in direct sunlight, and the smoke likely heading right for my neighbor's house 30-ft away...

Thanks for your reply, Frazer. You're right, we're thinking along similar lines. The garage IS attached. I hadn't done any research on applicable codes/laws. While I prefer to be legal, in my life I've often found that nice guys often finish last, so I have mixed feelings on this subject. I do know that I can't build a usable outbuilding for my needs...the city forbids anything larger than 80SF.

Hi, Thomas. I'm in northeast Ohio. The garage is a stick-built framed design, all wood. It mimics the original 2-car attached garage on the other side of the house. Google Maps is behind the times and doesn't show it, so imagine a 10-ft wide single-car garage in front of my white SUV in this pic. The chimney would penetrate on the back side of the garage roof: