fireater

Not a bad idea njan, I have also thought about making a T in the pipe off the wood stove in the shop and connecting a hood to it.

Thanks for the advice guys, I actually found a blacksmith who lives in my town!

Here is my forge, naturally a tape measure was the only tool not lying around the shop so no measurements currently but the picture gives a pretty good idea of the size.

Haha fair enough, no its not quite that big, I will be back with pictures and measurements soon

It's a coal burning forge of pretty good size with a hand crank blower, as for types of blacksmithing, I've been making knives for a couple of years now and wanted to move away from the stock removal methods that I've been using, I'm also interested in armour and tool making. Thanks for all the advice guys!! Its great to find a place where I can ask questions and get so many different viewpoints. I'm sure I'll have millions more questions as I progress my skills, I promise to do my research and some trial and error first

I'm completely new to the trade and have acquired most of my tools through inheritance. Among these are a #100 anvil, my forge, more hammers than I know what to do with and some tools for making castings. I also ended up with an old detached garage which be utilized as my shop. I have few questions though. 1. Can I use vice grips until I am able to acquire tongs? 2. What should I look for in books about blacksmithing? 3. If I leave the garage door on my shop open will I have plenty of ventilation? 4. What is the number 1 piece of advice you would give a newbie like myself?