CrazyGoatLady

Ironpp It's good you're getting out there and doing something. I have no hands on teaching. Mostly what I've learned is from here on IFI and from select videos and some book learning. But it doesn't really kick in until ýou do it with your own hands. And you might figure out some things that you didn't read or see first. Enjoy it and nice tongs.

Gave me a good chuckle! Thanks Frosty

Everybody wins!

I bet they love that. That is very kind of you to do. There's something about horseshoes that people really love

Me too. That comes from when I wanted to be a farrier until my knee went south. I'd like to make my own instead of having to track down used ones or especially buy new ones

My first thought was use as some kind of striking anvil

That's what neighbors are for

No problem Chris. Offer still stands. I'm married to a strappin' young buck(haha) and he said he'd be glad to help

I used to smell like an old goat...

Thank you Jennifer. I've been watching your videos but I haven't seen that one yet. You really weild a hammer like a boss! Thanks for your great contributions to folks like me

Thanks Frosty I'll keep that in mind about twisting first. I have some friends that want some pulls for their cabinetry. Simple things but I enjoy making them

That's very true. I have limited tooling and my anvil lacks a pritchel and hardy hole. So I have to be creative to figure out how to do some things. My leg vice is vital to me. But I don't let that stop me. I just find a way around it. Same with a lot of things around the farm. I have a little .22 single shot Davey Cricket that's pink that belonged to my granddaughter.

Chris, we actually don't live a great big distance from you. If you really need help and we can figure out a time (always so much to do) maybe we can help. Irondragon: Y'all are my kinda people! I get knives as well. And some of the guys where my husband works send me their knives to sharpen. We also get tools and equipment for both of us to use. He and my son have been building a new chicken tractor and they've been using my chop saw and my leg vice to bend the conduit they are using. My son was wearing my welding gloves. I told him I bet you never thought about using your mom's stuff to work with Also, that's a great photo! It just now loaded after I posted

Thank you. I like making door pulls and latches. I made most of the hardware for the chicken tractors except the hinges. That's next on my " things to learn" list

Nothing in the shop for a few days. I hurt my back I think from dressing a hammer head with a file and bent over too long. I have a pair of champion tongs that the reins were too long for me, so I cut off 5 1/4" from them. Decided to give the pieces another life. 3/8 " round I believe. Squared and twisted. The foot pads aren't even, so I'll finish filing those to match. I think I didn't use half on/ half off blows correctly to set down the feet. Then peened them down too flat trying to draw out the material. I think I'll give them a vinegar bath and see how they turn out

I just didn't want to seem to offend anyone. Irondragon has given me a lot of helpful advice and I appreciate him as well a many others here. And you are getting there. I know you can't hardly wait. We started with a JABOD that my husband built and it worked to the best of the ability to what he knew to do with guidance from a lot of people here. Charles R. Stevens is an awesome guy too by the way. Then everyone got together and bought me a gas forge. That has become a staple for birthday and Christmas presents is blacksmithing equipment. I'm not a girlie girl I guess. I get guns and tools as presents. Im excited for you to get your forge going also

I know nothing about making horseshoes from scratch, I just forge them into other things. I like the camera angle because you can clearly see what your doing. A lot of videos it seems ýou can't really tell what the tong hand is doing and I think that is equally important as the what the hammer hand is doing I did notice the hammer being loose. I had one that started doing that and it's out of commission until I fix it.

That gave me a good laugh! Thank you for that too. I have enjoyed reading from all commentators. Keep them coming and hope everyone has a great day

Thank you Steve

I'd love to hear from your Mrs. on this subject. I don't mean to talk so much about animals on a blacksmithing site, but I know more about them than I do smithing and they are a great passion for me. I mostly study here and keep the comments down until I have more to contribute to the vast library of knowledge. We also try to avoid kids being born in winter. I shoot for spring to early summer. I used to keep an intact buck on site, but now just does and a wether who was my first goat. My father- in- law runs a much bigger herd and we get stud services from him when it's time to breed. Plus the herd is a lot calmer without a buck in the mix. Sounds crazy, but I kinda miss the pungent "cologne" of a big ole ' buck

Reading Mr. Rotblatts ' comments above makes me think I may have committed a faux pas. He quoted Irondragon warning about not staring into the fire in this conversation. I had mentioned Frosty instead. That's only because I read that comment from Frosty a few months back and that is what sticks in my head when I'm in the shop. I apologize if it appears I wasn't giving credit where credit is due

I can attest to all the above. I raised a bottle baby in the house til he was about 3 months old. He was born in the dead middle of January and his dam didn't want him. He belonged to my father in law and he didn't have the time for a bottle baby, so he went home with me. Too cold for him outside without a mother. He became close with my smallest dog and she would clean him and play with him. But as he got older, the puddles and poop got bigger, so it was time to go outside into warmer weather. He had to learn to become a goat because he thought he was a dog. I wouldn't advise doing this if you can help it though. It's a LOT of work for one thing. And bucks tend to like attention a lot and when you have a bottle fed one, they don't have any fear of you at all. When they get mature, they can become a problem or even downright scary. I ended up having to sell him because he got out of control. He's the second bottle buck I've had that turned out like that.

Yep my goats know a red or black bucket means time to go back in the pen. Or if I hollar "Goats!" real loud, it's time to eat and they come running in all their awkward looking glory

The waiting game is a long one when it comes to livestock. Unless you have a huge established herd. Which I don't either. Not enough land to sustain the amount I'd like to have. My plan is for cheese and soap making also. I hope your doe recovers quickly from the mastitis. Thankfully, I've never had to deal with that

SLAG: when I first started, I was very impatient and had a hard time letting the piece get up to heat and I took it out all the time. So I started thinking, just let it soak and leave it alone. So until you pointed out what I could do, it never occurred to me to just take it out and look for a second. Thank you and my eyes thank you too. Happy birthday Mr. Curious. Hope you have many more. I'm 46 myself and out of commission at the moment because I hurt something in my back a couple of days ago. So understand the back thing