Jump to content
I Forge Iron

Jeff Bly

Members
  • Posts

    173
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Jeff Bly

  1. Where do you get your leather for building a bellows or to repair a bellows you already have?
  2. Happy Birthday. Hope you make it back on here.

  3. Where and how do you find these auctions? IS Dave Ramsey a Nationally Syndicated radio show?
  4. I have used the yellow pages 3 times now in the last 2 months for different things. I tend to agree that it is sooooooo easy to scan the yellow pages than to search page by page by page of a computer that if you don't type in the right parameters you may not find something that they do carry. Technology can be a double edged sword in some ways. But I do agree about getting yourself out there in as many ways as is possible, Like Google Maps, Facebook, YouTube, Your own Web Site, etc.
  5. This gives me much to think about. I am NOT business saavy, and with all I am reading I don't know if I'm more confused now than when I started reading. I know I want to be a one mane show with my own fab shop doing architectual work (Gates, Railings, Window and Door Grates/Covers, etc. I am a welder. A huge shop? Probably not too big. I am assuming anything that is a consumable is overhead? Or would welding rods be construction materials that are tax exempt? Are there people you can hire to find this information out? I don't want the government shutting me down because I don't understand business before I even get started.
  6. So how do you (the business owner), choose the correct "professional" that will look out for your (the business owners) best interest? Because the reality is a lot of good people get screwed for no good reason. I agree it is better to know the "reality" end, so you are not sitting there with your mouth open catching flies.
  7. So how do you avoid the audits and what is the expected "pattern"? A loss is a loss. You can't have a viable business if you don't have the tools to ply your trade.
  8. Overhead. What exactly is overhead? How does it work and what should I expect it to be. I understand all shops are different, but there should be an expected similarity in similar types of business. Thanks for your help and insight.
  9. Hi Grant. Could you perhaps elaborate a bit on this? I have heard it said many many times now, that you should NEVER turn down jobs, as it helps you stay afloat during down times and that people will go elsewhere. However I'm primarily interested as to the price for work correlation.
  10. I too am wanting to go pro. I am 44 years old. wish I had it all to do over and know then what I know now. My skills: 2 years college in Aviation Maintenance and earned an AAS degree. 9 months of tech school to get certified in stick, mig, and tig welding. these two schools are the only things that I look back on in life that were smart choices in my life. Hind sight "IS" 20/20 don't let anyone kid ya. It would behoove you to go to school now while you are both young and free to do so. School may sound like a drag or out of reach or not the right path??? Don't dilude yourself. I wish I had done it all way back when. Now I have a mortgage, 2 car payments, rent, a wife and no realistic time to pick up, leave, go to school and "live the dream". You seriously don't want to kick yourself in the butt later in life and remember that they "told you so". So now I find blacksmithing at age 42. Not the easiest of crafts, but my technical background helps considerably. I understand a lot of concepts easier because of it. So I have been regularly attending local smith meetings and trying to learn who is who in this craft, watch as many pro's demonstrate as possible and try my hand at them myself afterwards, and make as many connections as is possible. Don't waste your talent, enthusiasm, or your age. Learn now, work later. The money will come better if you do it in that order. I think the biggest problem with most humans is that we want it now, not later. Sorry for the ramble. Jeff Bly
  11. Hi all. I want to formally introduce myself. My name is Jeffrey Bly. I'm originally from Albany, NY and have relocated to the Richmond, VA area. I have be tinkering in smithing for 2 or 3 years now and want to go pro. I have been to a couple of the BGVA meetings now and plan to attend monthly. So if you see me there, please introduce yourselves to me as I'm looking to jump in with both feet and get to know all of you in the area that I can. I have plans to start my own business and need all the guidance and encouragement I can get. I'm sure I'm in the right place. Thanks.
  12. Just wanted to let all the longer running members know that I am back and have moved to Richmond Virginia. Howdy!!!
  13. Very nicely done Brian. It gives me a few ideas.
  14. Too rich for anyone sensible enough to know better.
  15. Bring your car to my place. I'll help you get it out of there. LOL.
  16. Yes, the process is definitely called upsetting. I have done this just by taking the piece of metal I wanted larger by heating and then forcing the metal upon itself in the direction you want the bulge to occur. This can be easily seen happening if you take a 1/4" to 1/2" round or square stock 2 or 3 feet long (so that it is easier to practice with), heat it up in the middle, then take it to your anvil, place one end on the anvil and tap the other end with your hammer. You should be able to notice an immediate and distinct difference in the diameter of the middle of your stock, although it may be a small difference. The more you heat and hit, the bigger it gets. You will have to heat the stock further and further along the length of your stock as you go to make the metal that was in the one spot move to the other that you are trying to upset (or enlarge).
  17. Well known Blacksmith Bob Patrick gave a demonstration on this recently, as far as forge welding. You heat the metal just until you get hints of sparks beginning to show. At this point the metal is almost a white hot, definitely a bright yellow. The sparks let you know that you are up to welding temperature. If you keep the metal in any longer you begin to burn away your metal, hence the sparks. If you are not sure what the sparks should look like, they will resemble a sparkler you light on the 4th of July. If you are not sure play with a piece of metal until you are confident that you are removing the metal in time.
  18. Maybe you mis-spoke. It is with a wrong heart that you would try to talk her out of anything. I understand your excitement, and I am happy for you, but only accept the items if they are freely given. Only help her out if your intentions are just. These were her fathers items, and they may hold a special place and memory for her.
  19. I was just thinking about the failures and thoughts on making a fork to match this kind of cool spoon I made. If the smallish tines on the fork did not get burned off by not paying attention, they were broken off by working them too much or too cold. So my last attempt, a three tong fork, is now an almost what I want two tong fork. I still think it looks kind of cool, but it looks amateurish. Although I am an amateur, I think I lack a lot of artistic qualities. Can one obtain artisticness? I know what I think looks good, but creating it is an altogether different thing. Even Picasso's work looks brilliant, mine looks, yawn!, whatever! My work seems to be rough, crude, boring, plain, etc. Where does one get uniqueness of creation that makes people stop and say "hey, that's a Rembrandt!" Or "Clearly that music is Mozart." Is it so late in history and late in the game that people will never say, " Hey, that's a Jeff Bly piece of work. It must be priceless!" Have all the cool ideas already been taken. I'm curious. Does practice make perfect, or does it just create replicas?
  20. I have found that in general that things are bought and paid for at the price you think they may be worth to you. Each person varies. Some may think that's too much, others may think it's just right or that they are getting a great deal. So what's it worth to you? Do you want to hold out a bit longer, or splurge a chunk of change on something you may think you are getting duped on? There is no specific "going price". There are many schools of thought on how an anvil should be priced. Some say a dollar a pound. Others say historical value. Mull it over a little more. Sleep on it. You are asking what we think, so that indicates to me that you may be a little unsure about buying it. If that anvil has been there a while, chances are it's not going anywhere fast. If it's still there next week and you want to pay the asking price, then it's yours. Think about it. And good luck on finding the one that is right for you.
  21. There is a shop of a somewhat well known smith down around your area somewhere. I'll see if I can dig up info for you.
  22. Odd's are, if you're restructuring, it looks like that bench would be a good height for an anvil. Enough heat will warp/bend steel plate of smaller thicknesses, but I do know of a lot of great tables that have lasted longer than I've been alive that are 1/2" steel plate. If you are going to build it, do it right the first time and don't spend your money twice. Besides a nice table that is already built will sell for a decent price also, if you are ever looking to get rid of it ever.
  23. Jeff Bly

    Post vises

    I have been fortunate enough to purchase four post vises, all of which were less than $30 each. Someone saw a post of mine on craigslist, so I got a 5" Indian Chief post vise for $25. Not a bad deal, huh?! So does anyone know what these are worth, approximately? Two of them are 4" and two are 5". All were purchased from different sources.
  24. Thanks for all the encouragement everyone. It means a lot. I thought for sure I would pick up that hammer and be like, "Cool! Look what I made." Instead it was more like, "What the heck did I make!" LOL I don't mind, I was just a bit surprised is all. It definitely makes me want to get right back into it. I know I can do better than that. Well my next event is at the Ashokan Center. It's the spring meet put on by the Northeast Blacksmith Association May 1-3. Bob Patrick is the demonstrator. I'm pretty excited about going. I signed up to do hands on work so that I can learn some more. Again, thanks to all for your kind words of wisdom.
  25. Well I finally went to my fist blacksmith meeting. I had a great time and learned a lot of valuable information in a relatively short amount of time. However, my limitations are completely recognized, and I have a lot of work to do before I even become relatively o.k. at this. My first attempt ever was yesterday, and that was to create a hook. Now maybe I had too many people making suggestions, or maybe I really do suck at this, but it has definitely encouraged me to do more and try to get much better. My hook was an utter disaster! I don't even want to put a picture of it on here in fear of being banned for embarrasing the trade. Let's just say that I need more time and I am excited to get better at this.
×
×
  • Create New...