Lonewolf79

On 7/13/2017 at 7:12 AM, Will W. said:

 

We have cookies

As a noob so fresh I've I'm still fighting fire management mostly I'm taking right now. But coming from a music background part of learning for me is teaching.  so hopefully I can give back in some way soon. As far as the layout it's only wonky to the gimme gimme bracket who's computer savvy consists of YouTube  and FB. Except the search :-) but frosty among others warned me about that during my first post so. Thank you admin for the dedication that keeps ifi  available to a Joe like me trying to learn . And as far as ye olde curmudgeon go, try working some of the jobs I've been "blessed " to pay bills with, and sorry to say man up. Rant over. 

be careful when baiting bears

  Lonewolf 

On 2/28/2017 at 10:47 PM, JHCC said:

Alec Steele has a really exceptional video on forging tapers HERE in which he does a great job explaining and demonstrating the concepts behind Brian Brazeal's hammer technique. 

Is it wrong to be jealous of an 18 year old brit 

On 11/28/2016 at 6:58 PM, ThomasPowers said:

Well if you look under my name

Oops

I used to live in artesia not far so to speak from you

Dcav thank you .

And Thomas. I like that twisted path.  Which of Texas's backyards are you looking across.

As far as ideas. That's one of the reasons i joined ifi. 

6 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Now, Now; a *Texan* pounding their head on the anvil may result in dinging the face of the anvil......(Like they say about marines: "a marine  should be able to break an anvil with a rubber mallet")

Can I ask a bit more about "true blacksmithing"?  

One of the smiths I know after being twitted about "true path" blacksmithing came up with his own designation: he was a "twisted path blacksmith"  and I have proudly applied that term to my own work.

By traditional blacksmithing i mean im in it for the craft i. I will make knives because they sale but id be happy making a froe traces horseshoes nails decorative hooks cookware etc. Coming from being a musician previously its about the quality more than quantity. Except in my situation maybe itll keep me off gubment subsidy for disability hopefully. 

Thanks in advance for the knowledge yall pass on.  I realize that going to school would save some headaches in learning but as a self employed (read broke) 37 year old disabled widower, (pothole didnt treat harley tires my back or my late wife nicely, ) im doing it in the way that i can afford. My interests lie in "true blacksmithing." I want to learn the art not just pound out substandard blades for a quick buck. So far im working with horseshoes farrier rasps and the obligatory rr spike while beating my head against the anvil trying to keep the anthracite coal that is the only thing ive been able to source nearby, hot enough to heat consistently. Sorry to ramble 

On 6/21/2016 at 4:38 PM, Frosty said:

Wow, this is a LOT of hullabaloo about a "Beautifuliron" article. The site features some really nice iron work for sale and almost every "article" I've read on the site, usually because I was referred to it by someone wanting my opinion. has been marketing puffery. Of course a method THEY don't use is inferior who can question that? Do you think he could've picked a worse example of a brake drum forge to illustrate his points? Hmmmmm? Deep narrow drum, No table, narrow spindly legs, too low, screw on pipe cap for an ash dump, I didn't look at the air grate but I bet it's as poor a functioning one as he could imagine. Betcha it wouldn't take me 20 minutes to figure it out, get it cooking and start doing good work in it. This is a perfect example of why I disregard Beautifuliron references almost out of hand.

Bottom blast, side blast, hill forge, chimney draw blast (don't know what to call that one) don't really matter. Wait! I forgot induction and all the rest. It's NOT the forge that does the work anymore than the hammer. With a little time and the right kind (safe in a hot fire) rocks I can make a stone fireplace you can cook dinner on while the V shaped back draws the smoke up and out of your eyes and do serious heating near the middle. No fire pot, no table, no blower, no blow pipe, no special fuels, heck not even a hole.

If you blow air THROUGH a fire it WILL get HOT regardless of the fuel or container. Some are easy, some better suited to conditions but if you know what you're doing it doesn't really matter. Sure a tool suited to a specific job in the hands of someone with high skills will yield better results but someone well skilled can use a rock, a hammer stone and camel dung with a mud tuyere and critter stomach or shopping bag bellows and produce high quality.

Frankly that's where I'd like to drop Mr. opinionated from Beautifuliron, a 3rd. world mudhole or scorched desert plain where he got to eat depending on who was willing to swap food for his work. I'd just love to see him take a double handful of scrap metal a piece of a fender some who knows what bar, maybe a couple broken bolts, etc. and make a working bush knife that will survive hacking brush, choppinng wood, butcher an antelope, slice bread and maybe defend against brigands or a lion.

Actions talk, BS walks.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

Well frosty thank you.  This right here convinced me that ive joined the correct site. I am too far away from anyone willing or able to teach without going to dallas or crossing into Arkansas... Not going to happen. I built a semi drum forge with " help" from a welder who put the tuyere against the sidewall. Lesson learned. Im temporarily making a mud tuyere to bring my fireball to the center and cutting down the sidewalls to work larger stock.