ncfh

Thank you everyone for the warm welcomes and advice! I was eyeing the two burner metalsmith, and from what I'm reading it seems to be a good starting point with ample room to grow. As to my handle... It's rather un-PC, and traditionally explained over a pint, as that's how it came about. Pretty harmless really. An old joke/acronym from my days auto racing in Europe, driving German coupes and annoying the Continentals with Meatloaf. (the musician)

I see the next meetup is not until October, what is your opinion of the CDBA or NYSDB groups? They seem to have monthly meetings.

Hello all, I'm new to blacksmithing, but not new to metal work. I've been a welder for fifteen years, done some globe trotting. I'll be sitting for my CWI in a few months, and I am two years into an engineering degree, though I'm not quite settled on which flavor. lol. Civil is fun and gets to play outside, but electrical/computer is another passion. I'm torn. Anyway... Setting up a little shop here south of Albany. Fortunately I'm smack in the blacksmithing nexus of New York, New England, and Eastern Canada, with plenty of groups and folks to learn from. I've done some research on forges and decided it's just better to buy something sorted, and get right to work. I have settled on a Diamondback forge, but was curious if any of you had last minute opinions on the blacksmith models versus the metalsmith models. I'm leaning toward the metalsmith for the ultimate versatility, but was curious how it holds up structurally over time, and if it looses heat significantly faster than the tighter blacksmith. Other than that, I'm on the lookout for an economical anvil in the 200lbs range. Not to picky about pattern, just a single horn of some kind. I'm beginning to notice that everyone with an old anvil thinks it's antique gold, and all the new stuff is obviously low volume thus big money.