CHUCK M

I have tried a few different things to no avail, but if I just quickly dress the sharp cornea on the metal prior to forging seems to do the trick. Been out to the workshop (I think I can call it a shop now?) twice more....1st was to heat up and finish up the quick v-bit tongs, definitely needed them for the next projects. I have a coil spring that I cut into sections, forged a little neck knife that came out ok, a 3/16 and 3/8 round punch, also a slot punch that's not fully finished yet. When the slot punch is done I will get my first experience hardening and tempering everything. Let me know what you think?

i have a coil spring that i am planning on making some chisels, punches, and fullers from...in due time. i was having some problem with the original tapering i believe its call fish lipping? also, are you talking about hammering bolt onto the edges of the leaf or vice versa?

Finally got out to the shop tonight, after over a week of not forging. Was going to give the 2 sided taper/leaf project another try, but this time take all the advice given, really worked on stance, rhythm, and not bring the hammer down like Thor....and wow couldn't believe how much of an easier time I had, at no point did I feel like I was fighting it. Didn't set any speed records and took many many heats but I could not be happier with the results of my leaf shaped object...started with 3/8 sq.

It's all good....enjoying the conversation.

Dressed the face, pein is on to do list.... There is a New Jersey blacksmith association, but only checked the website out briefly...will be hard to find the time but plan on looking into further

Frosty, Charles R. Stevens, Lou L Thanks everyone for the tips, these are not short replies so i appreciate the time invested to write these. I will try to put all of these to use, some observations i have made about my short sessions after reading this. 1. i definitely try to put to much power into my hammer swings (baseball bat reference is the truth) 2. i think certainly i am not getting my steel hot enough, i dont think i have ever let it get to yellow (i feel this is because in my head, i have such limited forging time that i try to hurry...obviously this is not working, will have to start exercising patience during heats). 3. need to take a step back and think about whats going on and "visualize" what i am doing (think i am suffering from newbie excitement). will try to get out to the shop tonight to make a 2nd attempt at the leaf (just going for a leaf shaped object), but unfortunately i don't think the weather is going to cooperate. Might just have to play with the kids playdoh instead....

You mentioned square in your post, i have a few feet of it, good to go. i was only doing the 90* turns, but i think i was holding it at a higher angle....will definitely try to keep it lower next time. I try like hell to only work the steel at forging temp but in my noobness, loose heat really quickly, have to work on surface area contact. Thank you for the advice.

thanks, going to try the 3/8 next time and see how it goes...will certainly post the pics. Seen one of your recent posts, stuff looked amazing. I would love to take a class, been searching around online, havent found much and what i did find are all booked till the end of the year. Still going to keep looking though.

Had 2 more 1-2 hour forging sessions this week, definitely more downs than ups. Wanted to try a different hammer so I ordered a diamond rounding hammer spent about an hour dressing it, to decent shape. Decided to put together the flat jaw quick tongs I got off ebay, so pounded out the reins, twisted the jaws....tried to thin and shape the jaws, was a complete failure, so just hot riveted and I guess no shame in finishing with the angle grinder. So, then tried to forge a leaf key chain using the Brian Brazeal 2 sided taper with 1/2" square, had a hard time moving the metal to form the far shoulder and realized too late that I didn't leave enough material for the leaf. Continued on and the near side shoulder wasn't forming right then when trying to thin out in between, metal wasn't going anywhere, gave up when it started to twist. Was starting to feel a little down, needed a win so decided to forge another hook, and came out beautiful, my taper was much better this time.

I will check those tongs out no welder yet...I drew them out square then went octogon then to round. and thanks everybody for the confidence boost. Probably going to be making some punches and drifts next...was thinking of making a single thread to post my stuff all in one place...I have seen others doing this, would this be received well or considered bad etiquette?

Thanks for the kind words. Yea, just the hammer and anvil.

Total beginner, just finished my first forging session. Pretty happy with the results, but what a humbling experience it was. Forged the hook first, then the s hook out of 3/8 square....probably took me a little more than 2 hours to forge. I don't think I was heating the metal up enough or was having to much surface contact with the anvil, was loosing my heat very quickly. Also, had a xxxx of time trying to hold onto the piece doing the 2nd side with pliers, which marred up the metal, definitely have to work on coordination. Any advice or critiques would be greatly appreciated.

No steeling that I can see, got in in southern jersey the flea market seller was an antique dealer that only sold knives and axes, had lots of nice things. he bought it from an estate sale.

Here is a pic of the eye, possible maker mark let me know if it makes any sense.

I have one, but run the forge outside.

Didn't notice anything thing unusual about the eye pretty standard, but I will take another look!

Took a trip to the local flea market today. Picked up a bunch of hammers, files, and wrenches for dirt cheap $25 for everything in that picture. But , the reason for the thread is i wanted to show off these 2 gems I found, the cleaver has a makers mark that I wanted to research, and the axe has what looks to be a big makers mark made out of little circles, will have to get a rubbing. BBQ lighter for size reference. Will post pics of makers mark if anyone is interested, let me know what you think.

Yea I thought about this after the fact, I made a spacer out of scrap wood and angle iron to solve this problem temporarily. Exploring all options at this point but going to be a while before I do anything about it right now, thought about cutting the hole making the stand off the ground and also putting in a concrete pad, we'll see.

Will do, going to wait a little so I don't screw them up. On another note I feel like in am going to run into the same issue you had with the raised wooden floor, no pad underneath and have suspicion that there is several inches of nothing between the ground and floor.

So tonight's the night, going to be swinging the hammer for the first time!!! Here is some pics of the 95% competed work area, maybe went a little over board but starting out good. I added a harbor freight special 1 x 30 grinder that I got for $40 that works better than I expected, tested it on the angle iron I used for securing the anvil. Have a good variety of steel to start with and some railroad spikes, also bought a set of "rapid tongs" off eBay that just require some modifications and shaping, seemed like good practice at a fair price. Lit the forge up once to soap the fittings and checked for leaks, after taping threads and assembling....flame seemed rough, I haven't done much research on tuning yet. Going to start out with the standard j hook and s hooks. Will post a thread in the project section if anyone is interested in following, again thank you everybody for the advice, and will add to this thread as the shop changes.

I have watched all of your build videos on YouTube, i plan on doing something similar in the future depending on how serious i get into it. Trying not to get to crazy without even having swung a hammer yet.

This is the plan going to use plywood around the windows and going to silicone the rest of the area.

Rodents seem to be gone and thoroughly cleaned. Led light installed. Using about 3/4 of the the shed space for now, have some pretty big gaps between the floor and walls that need to be filled in , as well as around the windows. Next up build work bench and spray fire proofing.

I was going to go with borax, but switch it up still going to do more research

i have read lots about the kaowool, is on the list....i have purchase a few bottles of pepermint oil and put it to use the smell inside is offensive. i dont plan on using poison i quite enjoy the neighborhood cats, they are very cool and always visit when we are out on the deck/. i have also purchase an electronic repellent with sound . yea scrambler not sure what happened reposted. I also came across a product while researching called Inspecta shield a spray on fire retardant, seems to be a good product and would be perfect for my application, has anyone had any experience or ever heard of it. Was considering making a new thread about it, just to get more opinions...link for product below. https://www.industrialsafety.com/Brooks-FRG-Fire-Retardant-1-gal-p/cc-frg.htm?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-snY2p2Y1QIVlgMqCh2GIgWMEAQYASABEgItBPD_BwE you tube link for product as well: