Meadowgrove

I tried and tried but couldn't come up with the right search terms, so I decided to face the wrath of curmudgeons* and make a new thread. Let's conjure up an image of a man who does not have a lot of free time. He wants to get into blacksmithing and is planning to cobble up a charcoal-fueled JABOD trench forge at some point. The first projects would be 3-METER SWORDS AND DAMASCUS KNIVES... just pulling your leg! Nails, J and S hooks, maybe bottle openers. The question: At minimum, how much time should this newb reserve to get any of the aforementioned projects done? 15 minutes? 30? An hour or two? *Wrath of Curmudgeons... that would make a great movie title... Imagine the IFI power crew hunting vile Youtubers!

We have a sort of renovation and improvement kinda thing going on at the factory I work in. Keeping a keen eye on scrap, I found these tossed in the metal bin. No idea what the plates were for or what kind of steel they are. The bearings are in excellent condition, they were probably put away only because their calculated operation time was up. I've been asking around if there would be some axle pieces or whatnot I could take with me. We have some heavy duty rollers weighing over 2000kg, I guess an axle part from one would make a great anvil. Is it bad to wish the maintenance guys fumble with the mounting? That said, mostly these improvements end up as Schlimmbesserung, an improvement that makes things worse(thanks, @JHCC! My work buddies had a laughing fit over this). The plates are 200mm(7.9")*200mm*10mm(0.4"). Any suggestions what to do with them? I was thinking of making a face for a portable hardy hole, but I'm not sure if the material is thick enough. Don't know what to do with the bearings either... they're 80mm(3.1") outer dia.*40mm(1.6") inner dia. *30mm(1.2").

I just showed this design to my friend and half way through the pics he was already looking for his shovel I have some difficulty picturing the trench setup in my mind, any pics about it? How do you position the tuyere?

When you're still green, visit YouTube for inspiration and IFI for information. Once you get around to using the forums, you can ditch YouTube entirely. Following YouTube makes you prone to accidents. You probably know this already, but using Google search and including "site: iforgeiron.com"(without the quotes) in your search parameters is extremely effective.

@Lou L "We all have something...an "ism" that makes us feel less than. And we've all been tricked into believing that others have achieved some type of "normal" that we have not attained." That's some serious wall hanger material! @Glenn I'm reading through the site as we speak. Seems a little abandoned. Only happening marked in the calendar is from 2015. But there's some basic info and terms in Finnish that I've been sorely missing.

Heh, my intro thread seems to have turned ned into a support group session. Not complaining at all! Talking of this stuff in public mostly leads to ridicule, so this is a nice change. Charles Stevens That's exactly what I need, some breathing space so I can concentrate on developing my concentration skills. The future is looking rather exciting...

There's two scrap yards in my town, I'm not sure why I haven't visited them yet. Probably because I have a habit of going into a shopping spree whenever there's rusty junk around... But I'll see what I can find! And for Mrs. Meadowgrove's sake I'll try not to empty the whole yard.

Argh, some smith beat me to it. Looks like I have to learn how to TPAAAT...

Frosty never thought of it that way. I have to exert myself to get the simplest things done. In the past, any attempt to multitask has lead to the hamsters escaping from the cage and running away. I'm going to keep my little anvil. It's my first after all!

@Charles R. Stevens relieving to hear I'm not alone with the headbuzz. That hamster reference is spot on! @JHCC worry not, I have my sights set on a promising target, I actually made a thread about it in the anvil section yesterday. What should I do the cast iron one? Make a frying pan out of it?

Some digging around the 'net reveals the construction should be cast steel. Lokomo anvils have kind of a legendary status here. Gonna guess it's partly because they were made in Finland. Not a whole lot of anvil makers here. And from what I've heard from Finnish smiths, the anvils are pretty darn good.

Wow, didn't expect such a warm welcome. Maybe it's the spit roast... My inability to get things started seems to be the root cause for the hiatus. Pair it with low self-esteem and you get a rather inactive fella. But hey, turns out it's mostly about neurology; I'm freshly diagnosed with attention deficit disorder(ADD for short), and getting medication for it some time this year. Thumbs up it's gonna help de-clog my brain a bit

Here diesel costs around €1.30 a liter so mailing wouldn't be out of the question What kind of problems should I expect with the chipping edges? Too bad there's no more than this one pic of the anvil...

Hello sage curmudgeons, professionals and fellow newbs. Seeking some advice on this cute little piece of metal. The seller is willing to part with it for 220€. Looks to be in pretty good shape to my inexperienced eye. But! It's a 200km drive, so I was wondering if I should bother visiting the seller for some testing. Thanks in advance!

Hello, ferrous friends. I'm a 32-year-old paper process operator hailing from southeastern Finland. I've always had a careful interest towards all things handmade. I've been dreaming of picking up blacksmithing as a hobby for nearly a decade, but never really got around to it. Some years ago I finally bought a low-grade 5gk cast iron anvil and put together a cruddy forge-like out of an old tire rim. I made a simple L-shaped coal poker that's actually still in use in my parents' sauna. Well, shortly after that fun afternoon... something(honestly don't know what)... happened and everything blacksmithing-related was put to the back burner. My own fault, naturally. Shouldn't start a hobby, no matter how interesting, without a friend or a mentor. Always have someone to cheer you up or kick your butt if/when you have a hard time keeping your stuff together. Anyhoo, I'm here to learn. The amount of information available may be bordering on terrifying, but I will persevere! And ask silly questions(After Googling first, of course)! I Hope the curmudgeons won't eat me alive...