JK Scotland

JLP - that's an excellent video (the middle one "chain making 3links, adding to...") I've not tried forge welding yet -- this might be a good beginner exercise. Or are you making it look way easier than it is?!

Nice shot! Was someone holding down the shutter button for quick fire pictures? Or did you time it to perfection?

Made a small hook to fix a bird feeder... welded it on (to be painted still)

Thank you gents - all of these suggestions could be the cause!! Definitely took a lot of heats for this, compared to tutorials I've seen on line. Oxidizing flame -- possibly. Yes, it's a propane forge, and I normally just open up the air inlets on the burner pretty wide - maybe too wide. Colour-wise, yes, I'm red/green deficient but think I can recognise the changes in colour as it cools -- I just don't know what the colours mean! "yellow is mellow, red is dead" is what I had in my head from somewhere on this site. Thanks

Hi folks, I've just made my first leaf, as I've seen various folk suggesting this as a good beginner exercise. I got on ok, but I'm not happy with the surface smoothness. It's inconsistent and rough. I used a wire brush after the last couple of heats and applied beeswax, but not sure what's causing the weirdness. Overheating, or too many heats maybe? Thanks in advance.

Thanks - will do! Thought it might be - thanks for moving :-)

Dan - that looks brilliant. What an immense anvil! I've also recently started - I picked up a Peter Wright anvil from a seller near me (west of Scotland) - and thought 276 lbs was over the top. 400 lbs??? Looks great - I think I'll treat mine to wire wheel and linseed oil based on that. Here's mine here.

Reader warning: uneven, not symmetrical, messy as something you've just stood in. So after 3 years of having an anvil, I finally built a forge last Sunday (along the lines of the Essential Craftsman youtube video). And I appear to have made a working pair of tongs! It certainly took some trial and error, and more error. Here are a couple of pics. The second one is before it was riveted. (I should maybe put 'riveted' in quotes, but it seems to be holding). I used an 8mm drill to make the hold - I don't have any punches yet. Though drilling does seem a bit more sensible anyway. My dad says they look like something made in the 1700s. I'm flipping that as a compliment.

Hi folks, just reading this old post -- it looks almost bang-on 3 years to the day that i finally got a forge built and started swinging a hammer! Had it going for one week now, and managed to make a working set of tongs! I'll post a couple of pictures.

Edit: Skill level: pre-beginner. Thanks for the replies folks. My family tartan is a bit garish so I opted for a more utilitarian looking tartan when I bought my kilt! And despite the idea of fresh air 'circulating', it's a very warm garment to wear normally. Great advice on reading and spending time with an expert - hopefully I will get to that, but probably later in the year or next year realistically. I bought an anvil from a local seller when I had the chance, but no forge yet. And some other big projects to complete this year. For any locals, I did see that the Academy of historical arts ( http://www.academyofhistoricalarts.co.uk/glasgow/blacksmithing-in-glasgow.php ) offer beginners courses, but I'm thinking a real life working black smith might be better. Would you agree? Here's a picture of the anvil I got - Peter Wright 276 lb (125kg). I don't know a whole lot about it yet, but it seemed to be in reasonable condition when I collected it. It rings without any obvious dull/dead spots.

Here is my first anvil... just collected it on Saturday there... I'm no expert, but I'm told that the "2 1 24" means: 2 hundredweight, plus 1 quarter hundredweight, plus 24 lb. Which equals 276 lb / 125 kg in my calculations!

Hi everyone. Been wanting to try blacksmithing for a while. Found an anvil recently which will need to sit pretty till i get a couple of big projects out of the way. I'm in the West of Scotland near Glasgow. I'll post some pics of my new (old) anvil shortly for any comments from you all.