JW513

I'm currently taking a 9 week 27 hour blacksmithing course.... A little backstory.....My father, brother and I (we own a construction company) are currently renovating a house built in the 1870s-1890s... A REAL nice house in its day... Anyways by chance, my great grandparents owned it in the 50s-70s.. It was going to be torn down, they had land, so they moved it across the street and turned it into a boarding house., my grandpa even did the foundation.. He was mason. Anyways, I saw video Joey Van Der Steeg put out where he forged nails into a steel bar. I'm collecting all the old cut nails I can find/pull... Must have a 100 right now. They may be wrought iron, but I'm not sure. I think they are machine made, but they are very old. Once I have more practice and if its feasible iI'd like made something out of them, especially because of the family history with the house. I may not do it for 2 years, or maybe it will be sooner.. or later. It depends on my skill level. I'm just curious if what I want to do, is worth the effort. Thanks

Thanks for the response. He only paid $50 for it 10 years ago.. Could anyone take a guess at how old it may be.... I'm starting my blacksmith course next week. I'm very excited.

My uncle is giving me his old anvil.. He restores hot rods, so he never uses it too much. I think its 29 inches long and a foot tall. I couldn't find any markings. But i'm sure if I took a wire brush to it I could find something.

Thanks for the input.. What you guys said I kind of figured. I should look into building one. I don't want to do anything except read and watch videos until I take the course... I don't want to pick up any bad habits.

Long story short, I've only taken one blacksmithing day class. I'm on a waiting list for the course. Ideally I want a coal forge and will some day (i've done a lot of reading on the pluses and minuses of both), and that is why I want to start with propane, because it seems to be more straight forward. That being said, until I know what I'm talking about and have experience with both, I DON"T know which one I want. I stumbled on this on amazon today, it gets good reviews. https://www.handyforge.com/ I do like the size in some ways, because, I just want to focus on small things at first and it doesn't take up space, but I also realize that after a few months I will outgrow this and want to do bigger things... I tried searching the forums for it, but "Handy" and "Forge" are two very popular words on here... Go figure... Thanks for any input.

Yes I did, How is the bottle opener class? I'm sure its similar.

Whats funny, is other people loved my twist in the class. I thought everyone elses looked better. But the more I look at mine, the more I like it and the more proud I am.

It doesn't have to be. The instructor also said, if you mess up its ok, just make it look like the mistake wasn't a mistake. I'm happy with mine.

One thing I really liked about the instructor is that he said stuff in ways that stuck in my mind.. Like, "if your talking with someone while your steel is in the fire, the second you realize you are talking to someone with your steel in the fire, pull it out to check it"..

The class was great. I learned a lot.. I made a few mistakes, like the curl on the other end.. That was the 2nd one, which was harder because I was using tongs. I will be going back to take the actual course.. I could do a 2nd one right now and I know it would be twice as good. Its not the most symmetrical, but my next one will be. The instructor was great... It was the most fun I have had in a long time. For some people sitting by a poolside is fun.... For me, working is fun.

Hello from Boston. Blacksmithing has always interested me since I was little kid. About 2 years ago I said why not try it out...Long story short my mother got very sick and it changed everything. She's doing better now and I just booked a day class to learn how to make an S hook. I'm in construction, so I have a lot of experience with tools, I just have never worked with very hot material. I'm really looking forward to this class and being a member here. I'm going to be a sponge and absorb everything I can!