Gonsind

Good evening IFI! I'd like to start off by mentioning I'm already a member of this forum, but my activity has been spotty and I haven't actually been talking much with people around here. I've managed to drag myself back on here more often so I thought I'd make another one of these (also by recommendation). My name is Caleb, I live in Northern North Carolina, USA. Sometime last year I had said I wanted to get into forging and joined up here, but never got too serious into it. Recently I've been kicking myself in the butt to actually start working on things like meeting up with a group so I can learn some things hands-on. Sadly, I can't make the next meeting of my local group, so I won't have the opportunity to meet with a group for a while. However, I was advised that I should ask about any local singular people instead of any big group meetings if I can't make them - that being said, I'm looking to meetup with anybody near the Raleigh area for as much time as you're willing to give me! I'm still fairly ignorant to most things about this subject, so anything you could tell me would definitely help! To anybody else reading/responding to this, I'm also open to information from you. I'm eager to learn and, at some point, start working on my own projects. What kind of stuff should I look up on? Any tips/advice from a more veteran person? Anyways, that's all from me for now. Goodnight, and thank you in advance!

Just got around to watching this... Wow is all I can say. I didn't think it would be that simple to set up any sort of forge, really. Thanks for sending me this, Glenn!

John, thanks for the heads up; I'll have to talk about transportation and possibly getting to go! I feel like that would be a huge help being able to go to one of those meetings. Thomas, I'll take a look in to those as well. I don't normally learn by book, but I don't think it really matters this time around. Oh, and about the coal... wouldn't that be a good gift for a potential smith? Heheh.

Ah, okay; that makes a bit more sense.

That's a lot of stuff to go off of getting started; thanks! Is the stick of steel for the actual forging; like, is it the material I heat and hammer? Also, what's "stock"?

Oh, I didn't know I could change the location field... whoops. I'm thinking if there are going to be any of those groups you mentioned, they're going to be more around the Raleigh area. Louisburg isn't well known for its... activity. Do you mind explaining what you mean by "fuel"? Are we talking about fuel for a gas forge? Also, I'm guessing I can't use a regular hammer like you'd use for hammering nails, right? Sorry; I really don't know anything but a few stray things I've heard from a friend who used to do this.

Hello all! I'm Caleb and I have a few questions to ask about forging, so I thought I'd come here. A few months ago I thought that I'd like to start forging/blacksmithing (whatever the correct term is), but I don't really know where to start. I've heard some things about being able to make a basic starting forge with two of some specific brick, you obviously need tools like a hammer and some long channel-lock type thing, etc. The main thing I'm trying to figure out is how I'd start off; are there specific tools I should use as a beginner? Where can I get bricks for this? Do I even use bricks? I'd appreciate any answers you can give to some of these, and I'm hoping I can ask more whenever needed. Cheers!