CrazyGoatLady

That's true, but this Kiko smells a lot nicer than the Boer bucks. I have a picture of him on Show Me Your Goats 

I can actually pet this guy some. He doesn't stay in constant rut!

Got a little practice in today. The most significant forging time I've spent in a very long time and I'm kinda not very good at it lol. But it's great to be at it again. Y'all can see my makeshift anvil stand 

Steve Sells, I'm working on my contribution.

I hope I can get better at it quickly

Well, my new buck is a really sweet guy so you never know 

13 hours ago, Goods said:

I am think we’ve all done that at some point… I just had a long Saturday of helping beginners and I had to keep saying “you’re in a blacksmith’s shop assuming everything is HOT!”

A great big yes to that. Man, I was filing a horseshoe something or another I was working on and what did I do but reach out and grab that thing full handed. Just cause it's black doesn't mean it ain't still hot lol

Yes sir. I'm going to try to get something done. I'm rusty, but I can do it. And I just pm you for the address?

Are donations still being taken for this? I didn't know about this at the time it was put forward. 

Hello and welcome! 

I cannot answer all your questions but I can give you some advice from my own experience. First off, don't over think it. There is tons of information here about improvised anvils and it would do you good to read up on that and tooling. JABODs (Just a box of dirt) for a forge. You can start out with very little but the best thing is to heat some metal and hit it and start gaining skills. If you can find classes or a blacksmith near you willing to impart his/ or her knowledge with you, that would be the best route. Which I didn't have. I had lots of help here and as far as online, Christ Centered Ironworks and BlackBear Forge is where I visually learned the most just starting. They both have excellent beginner videoes. Watch them and then take it to the anvil. Whatever that might be for you. Enjoy the experience and take advantage of the wealth of knowledge here at IFI. Listen to these guys. They know what they are talking about 

That's a great picture! 

And yes, don't grab the hot part. Even if it's black. Ask me how I know 

Poor Moose 

And thanks about the cow. She's about 9 months old. I can't believe how much she's grown. She was around 3 months old when we got her and her mother. She could walk underneath mom then, now she's nearly as big as mom. Mom was in very poor condition but she has fattened up quite well and hopefully, she's pregnant. If it's a heifer, it will be sold and if it's a bull calf, he'll go to freezer camp. It's a win either way

This is my bottle baby Ella. She's Kiko/Boer/Spanish. Another great thing about having a dairy cow is being able to have a plentiful supply of raw milk. This baby is with no question the healthiest bottle baby I've ever raised as a result. I used to use milk replacer with sometimes bad or poor outcomes. Then I went to a store bought whole milk, evaporated and buttermilk formula that is much better, but very expensive. I'm very impressed with her growth on raw cow milk

Oh I see it now 

Davor, neat little hammer heads. I think I'd haft those and use them for detail and texturing work. 

whitewill1412, how much does the hammer weigh? Maybe I'm blind and I can't see lol. Looks like a beast

George gave you excellent advice. I myself would never make it as a professional smith  I've never taken classes because of time and distance factors but between IFI (so many generous, kind people here) and you tube, I have learned a lot. It just takes much longer without someone right there to tell you "hit it here". JLP Services, Black Bear Forge and Christ Centered Ironworks have all been my most influential go to videos. Jennifer (JLP services) has been most generous in speaking with me one on one with her vast knowledge and experience and I'm grateful to her for it. As far as books, my favorite has been the Mark Aspery books. 

So as George said, heat some metal and hit it 

Hello and welcome to the group! You can ask questions here. (Moderators please correct me if I'm wrong) and there are dedicated forums for just about everything 

Thank you for posting pictures! I really like your smithy. It looks like a place I'd love to hang out. 

I also love making hooks. I lean towards artistic pieces. I have in the past ventured out to make tools and even knives, but the artsy pieces come easier to me. 

Again, you're space looks great!

Welcome to the group from North Texas. Good to have you here. You've come to the right place for answers to your questions. There is more information here than you can imagine and lots of generous, knowledgeable folks to help guide you along your journey.  

Oh that's cool Rojo Pedro

I was 43 I think when I took up blacksmithing. I had actually wanted to be a farrier, but I injured my knee at work and took a long time to heal. I was thinking maybe that wasn't a good choice for me so then I gravitated toward blacksmithing. I'm also a woman. So a strapping lad of 17 such as yourself should be great at it in no time 

Irondragon, we got a lot of rain Saturday night but nothing major. Unfortunately a little town about 25 miles south of us was hit pretty hard. Tornado leveled a gas station where lots of people were taking shelter, but no one was hurt in that. But a small community of houses was hit nearby and the last that I've heard was 7 dead. Such a tragedy. It's the first tornado that I can remember hitting on this area in over 30 years

Amen to that Billy

We have my in- laws over for dune barbecue. Other than that I have cleaned house and mowed. Tough mowing tight now because of all the rain we've had so I have to take opportunity where I can. I really really world like to get to the forge but I don't think that's in the cards today lol

JSR, hello and welcome! We are neighbors. I'm up north I believe from you close to Gainesville. Good to have you here. What do you like to forge? What's your set up look like? Photos please if you can or would want to 

My arch enemy , the copperhead. We moved her 3 1/2 years ago and I have seen more copperheads than I have ever in my life. The first summer we killed well over 30 of them. I've lost count of how many since then. Do you live in the woods? Prime place for them. I have learned by experience with them, that they aren't very aggressive. They mostly try to get away from you and most times a strike is because you got too close. Be extra cautious right now. Locusts are coming out and they eat them. For us here, the peak of summer is the worst time for them. From around July to August. They come out around dusk to hunt. They like damp conditions. We've noticed during drought, they don't come out much. We always do a check before we let dogs out. Hope that helps you deal with them and I hope your don't have as many as we have. I'm also glad you didn't get bit and you kept the cat from it too 

Das, the stein is very cool and so are the rest of your finds. Makes me wanna go hunt for cool things too 

I saw a listing on Craigslist that the seller has a lot of 40 blacksmithing tools for $200. Looking at the pictures, I'd be interested, but when I found out how far away it is, I changed my mind