JoeMogul

Kevin, there are two ways to pronounce 'Worcester'... The first way is 'Wiss-tah', like 'Sistah' (Bostonian accent amplified) the second way is 'Woo-sta', which is how most people here pronounce it. Hope that helps!

Hello! I'm Joe, and I'm pretty new to art, having only been involved for the last couple of months. I recently left a full time job to go back to school, during which time a friend who has a backyard forge invited me over to do some blacksmithing. I loved it to the point that I wound up purchasing an old anvil, built a small coal forge, and have been setting up a little smithy in my garage. I'm a full time University student, and working part time on campus, but I'm still finding time to learn as much as I can about blacksmithing and bladesmithing. Having worked in construction in my teens and early twenties, I got used to learning through OJT and learning from my lumps when I screwed-up. I've done a bit of martial arts and HEMA, which prompted my interest is in bladesmithing, and I've already made several knives and one axe head (which I botched... failure is there to learn from I guess). I've already started going through all the old threads, and want to learn as much as I can about the craft. Thanks for reading my intro!

Thank you very much! I really appreciate the tips (I certainly don't want my tongs breaking!) and I'll take a look at those videos.

Hello! I'm relatively new to blacksmithing and bladesmithing (I'm also a college student strapped for both time and cash, lol!), but I recently got about 20' of 3/4" mild steel square stock and wanted to start making my own tongs so I can get rid of the Harbor Freight mechanic's needlenose pliers I've been using (they're good, but I want better <shrug>). My question is, do I have good enough material to make decent tongs, or should I look for better material? Also, any suggestions or tips on methods for making the aforementioned tongs would also be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!