BeaumontWorks

Just started myself mainly because its awesome. I really like working with my hands and blacksmithing is one of the few hobbies where you can actually make the a lot of tools you need using the the hobby itself, I just love that. It will also be nice making some stone mason tools for my actual job as well.

Awesome great stuff Charles, thanks for the tips and pics. I'll probably dive into this stuff tomorrow since its going rain/snow tonight and it will to be too cold to work for me tomorrow. I also got a piece of railroad rail for an anvil, will have to build a stand for that as well. I did notice you can get 40 lb bags of coal at Tractor Supply for about $6, and I am considering trying that soon too. But I don't think I know enough to bother spending money on fuels yet. I'll have to read up on them more and decide later on that. Also I still would like to learn how to make charcoal properly just because it would be nice to know how, I just need to track down a 55 gallon steel barrel.

Guess I didn't research well enough, but this is why I'm here, thanks for all the suggestions. I'm going to make the bowl much smaller, I realized it was too big as soon as I looked at the other couple of posts again. The hair dryer isn't attached at all so that's an easy fix, I'll just pull it back some and see how that works. For some reason I thought having the tuyere angle up very slightly would be best. But I got room to mess with it, so Ill probably try to bring it in at a slightly downward angle like Charles suggested, would rather not have ash and hot coals coming out the pipe. Once I get all this fixed up and I figure out what I'm doing a bit, I should have some updates soon. Thanks again for all the help!

Hey everyone just wanted to show off my first attempt at building a JABOD forge. So I just sort of read up a bit on how to make these and they seemed fairly straight forward so I just kinda made it up as I went according to what I read. I'll gladly take suggestion on how to improve things, as long as it doesn't cost any money. This build is complete from scrap material, except the hair dry that I bought at kmart for $12. So I had this old wooden chair in the basement and the cushions have been lost forever and I kinda just wanted to get rid of it so I figure it would make a solid base for my table. First I striped it down and braced it back up a bit. Then I realize I got carried away and had to put a small piece of plywood to fill this hole I cut out. Adding side walls to hold the dirt. Mounting tuyere pipe and using a tin can for hair dryer connection. Moved outside, probably temporary location for now. That table was already out there so it just sort of worked out for now. First load of dirt. I did plan to go all clay but our dirt has a lot of clay in it and since I'm just learning I figured I try just straight dirt for now and see how it goes. So I thought I might not of made it deep enough so I decided to add some paver to make it a bit taller, I may of gotten carried away a bit. And heres the finished forge. I fired it up a bit but I dont have much wood or any charcoal right now so I didnt do much with it yet. I also forgot to take pictures while I was using it, I was just having too much fun. I did start on my first project a bit, which will just be a pair of rebar tongs. Ill post some updates once I figure out how to work this thing a bit more.

Oh yea sorry I'm new wrong terms its just a rail anvil, I decided to buy it was because I want to try blacksmithing and I thought it looked cool so if this hobby wasn't for me I could just put it somewhere on display or something. But I'd much rather not spend money if I can avoid it. I love the idea of being able to just make the tools you need as you go, that's why I want to start of with some tongs because I'm gonna need some. Im gonna try your fire method as soon as I get things set up, I don't know why I didn't consider that but I still want to learn how to make lots of charcoal just because I don't know how. @CMS3900 How does their open forge night work? I assume its bring your own tools and metal and they just have a forge going for you with some anvils to use.

Hey all thanks for all the welcomes, I looked briefly into some groups around here but I haven't try to make that jump yet. Im in the Baltimore County area of MD though if you have any suggestions. I'm kinda a learn by doing guy anyways so I like to just try things and see how it goes. Right now I'm trying to make some charcoal just so I can actually try hitting some hot steel. But since I don't have a barrel to make a charcoal retort I'm going to try a charcoal pit idea first and Ill take it from there. I'm trying to make it kinda small because I don't want to wait days like the big pits take, and I don't think I need that much charcoal yet, just enough to get started. Any suggestions for making charcoal without a barrel is much appreciated, I know its the barrel is probably best and easiest I just don't want to spend $30-50 for one right now.

Hey everyone, new here, found the forms yesterday morning and spent the whole day just reading post and getting tips to get myself started. I started working on a my first little forge which will be a JOBOD forge, and I will be making a post in the forge section when its done. For right now I'm trying to start this as cheap as possible because my job slows down a lot in the winter, so I'm scavenging as much as I can. I just need to get some grind wheels to cut down the tuyere pipe, and dig some clay of from the our stream which Im not looking forward too in 30ºF. I'm also waiting on a railroad anvil that's should be coming today I hope, as well as I need to find a good way to make charcoal without a steel barrel, I don't really have the money or the means to even get one here right now. I don't want to spend money on fuel so buying some is not an option right now. Once I get all that sorted I can finally start my first project which will be a pair of rebar tongs. Lucky for me I'm a stone mason so I can get scraps from our jobs all the time. So far I've put about $45 in this new hobby, 33 for the anvil, and 12 for a hairdryer, Ill probably have to buy some other tools soon but this should get me started for now and I cant wait!