CrazyGoatLady

Welcome to IFI. I'm very new to this also. You have more of an advantage than you realize from what your grandfather has taught you. I have read and studied for a long while, but due to some unfortunate turns in life, I'm just recently actually doing something. Listen to all the great people on this site combining hundreds of years of knowledge. Dig in and read. There is so much to learn here that it will make your head spin. Don't worry about what tools you don't have. I'm learning that as well. Make do with what you do have and get there and learn by doing. As Frosty says " Welcome to the addiction!" He's right

JHCC, that is a great looking design you have. Here is my work for the day. Straightened out a couple of wonky horseshoe hearts. Made some leaf key rings. These are the third and fourth ones I've made. Obviously I need to work on veining them better. I'm just happy I can do it at all. Made this giant J hook. Shouldn't do heavier pieces when you're already tired. I worked long enough that my anvil is very uncomfortably hot and my quench bucket water is super hot. A good day in the shop. Have a great day everyone:)

Sorry for such a late response, but he's on the list

Marc1 Great taste in bikes

Irondragon Thanks for the tips. No telling how long it's sat. The guy said it had been his father in laws and had the anvil also. But of course, it was gone as soon as he put it up for sale..the screw is a little worn, but it seems to operate smoothly. A good cleaning is in order.

Thank you Spanky. It weighs a ton. I may have to stand on a stool. It's on the tall side and I am not;) But I'm pretty tickled with it. Thank you Das. Just saw your post

Nice finds Spanky. Wish I could help with the saw blades. Found this vise in an antique store today. Probably paid a little high for it but I liked that it's mounted like it is. Plus these things are like seeing an extinct species of bird around here. This is only the second one I've laid eyes in over a year of looking. And we hit garage, yard and estate sales etc. frequently. The other one wasn't for sale. You don't even find them on Craigslist here. Blacksmithing wasteland. Have a good day everyone

As always, beautiful work from all who have contributed here:) Here is my work for the day. Not as elegant or complex as the posts made here, but I am learning as I go. Practice on tapers was the theme today. And in case anyone doesn't know how wonderful Glenn is ( which I'm sure you all do), let me tell you he is. He has the heart of a teacher and I'm thankful he's here.

Zeroclick Thank you for the compliment and the advice. I sure appreciate it! Ranchmanben That looks great:)

This is the second horseshoe heart. I took what I learned yesterday that I think I did wrong and I'm much happier with this one. It doesn't sit flat because I haven't figured out how to keep it straight. One of these days I hope to be able to produce some of the excellent work all you guys post on here. Such amazing work to all of you. Have a good day

Such nice work from everybody! Lou L, I especially like your candle-a-bra. Fit for Xena the Warrior Princess:) Here is my project today. I've watched Brian Brazeal do it several times on you tube and thought I would give it a try. I learned some things to do different next time. I have a few more shoes, so I'll try it again. I'm in the process of filing some of the sharp edges and such I left on it. Hope everybody has a good day

Frosty Thank you! And I was fully dressed working on those hammers. That might would have caught more attention than the noise of the angle grinder. A hangmans gallows? Not a bad idea. That was my laugh for the day

Thank you Slag. I have had a blast the last few days. I dressed and hafted a couple of hammers also.

Made this plant hanger. I know it's rudimentary,but I had fun making it. I haven't made anything in over a year because of all the things that have happened. I was very much a novice and still very much a novice. But I love it. This was also made using the new gas forge my awesome husband and in laws got for me.

Frosty, I ended up playing fetch with the dog while Tommie was talking shop with the guy at the estate sale. I always pet the critters wherever we go. Thomas I haven't put the grinder to it, but it rings when tapped with a hammer nearly every where except under the horn where it meets the waste. It sounds dead. It looks as though the steel is worn off in that section. It's been rode hard and put up wet for sure.

Thanks guys. I was really happy we got all this stuff but the anvil kind of found us. We have our RR track anvil but even with the heel broken off there seems to be an incredible amount of space comparatively. Maybe the TPAAAT magic will happen and they will keep coming

It rings all across the top. There are no markings that we can find except the side you can see in the picture looks like there was a badge of some kind at one time. I don't know if I need to move this post somewhere else, but here is a better picture of the anvil.

Cleaned out the shop and yard and took a load of scrap to the dump. We were having unexpected company coming, so we weren't going to be able to look around. We were just watching them unload the trailer and Tommie looked over a few feet from us at a truck bed. He pointed and there was this little anvil just sitting there. Never came across one. We collected the money for the scrap, which was a lot more than we thought. Went back and got the anvil. The guy in the yard told them to charge us 30 dollars( US), but they gave it to us for scrap price. It weighed 67 lbs. 11 dollars( US). It's in bad shape and may not even be usable, but we couldn't believe one was just sitting there. This is an anvil and blacksmith tooling wasteland unless you have a pocket full of cash. And it didn't break the bank. We stopped at an estate sale on the way home and got the saw and three unused cutting disks and the pot. It's is going to be used as a brew kettle. $140 (US). The money from the scrap nearly covered everything.

You and your family are on the list. So much good advice here. No need to have to explain yourself. That gets to be hard to do because you don't understand it all yourself. But do talk your wife and talk to God as much as you can. Talking can help greatly. As far as medication, research and ask a lot of questions. I used to be on meds for depression and I decided that wasn't for me. The thought of being dependent for the rest of my life was not appealing. To say the least, quitting them was one of the hardest things to do. I'm not suggesting not to. That is for you to do what you think is best for you. We are all pulling for you

Thank you all so much. It's been a long, hard road but the Lord is seeing us through it day by day. I apologize that I haven't been on this wonderful site in a very long time. This is the first time I've read all the kind support and prayers you guys poured out on us and I am humbled and grateful. I lost my heart for just about everything. I feel like getting back to the land of the living again by the grace of God. I'm ready to pick up a hammer again. Thank you again for making us feel like family

Beautiful!

Very nice! I'd be proud to have those in my kitchen.

Man, that is gorgeous! I can't stop looking at it!

JHCC Thank you for directing me to your posts on the gate valve. It's got my brain turning. Brilliant use of on hand materials. That is right up our alley. Mr. Stevens I am the same way for quietness. The hairdryer is dreadfully noisy. But I think since we have this one already, we can modify it for less air flow with a gate valve and build a side blast with the manuel pump as time allows. Tommie is the builder and he is gone for work a lot. He goes full steam trying to get things done while he is home. IFI sure helps him with the blacksmithing part of things we do. It is a great thing you show people you don't have to have a lot of money to be able to smith. I had that idea coming into this myself. I bought a book called The Home Blacksmith by Ryan Ridgeway, DVM before Tommie found IFI. He conveys the same idea for the most part. Except he doesn't like RR track anvils. But you and many others here put a lot of time in TEACHING us all how to do it and on the cheap, for free. Just have to put the studying and doing time in. You should write a book Mr. Stevens!

Yeah the hairdryer seems intense. We have it connected with an LB conduit and even with the gate opened all the way, it seems like a lot. Mr. Powers pointed out maybe too much air and not enough fuel or maybe both. He is right but haven't figured out how to balance it. Maybe a monster pile of charcoal? But I really like your suggestion of the air mattress pumps. 9.99 at Wal Mart. I used to work there. Don't miss it, but I miss my discount card. It was awesome at Christmas time! The dog kennel and swing thing sounds like a plan. These little rug rats like working with you. They love hammers and nails and tools of all sorts. They wouldn't be content with playing, they want to help you work and build things! They helped Tommie build our last set of rabbit cages. That's too funny! I didn't know you had just posted Tommie