sholbert

I have picked up the Backyard Blacksmith and the Complete Modern Blacksmith. I will look into Country Blacksmithing as well. Thanks for the recommendations! Sadly, I live far enough out that I don't have a local library that I can be apart of without paying a yearly membership fee. Oh well. Amazon it is. Regarding coal, the guy I bought the forge from recommended a coal supplier in Monroe, OR. He also recommended that I use an old hair dryer or electric motor as well. My only hesitation is that I would like to learn how to work the coal by hand before I move on to an automated system so that I can better understand how the coal burns. I admit, that may be a bit ridiculous but we will see I guess. As far as tongs go, I was told the best project to start on was tongs, so I have held off on purchasing any. Other than garage sale finds. I will look into the tong blanks. That seems to be a better option for my first crack at it.

Greetings to All, My name is Seth Holbert. I have been lurking in the background for a while now, reading posts and researching as much as possible. I figured it was time to introduce myself. I have wanted to start blacksmithing since I was in high school. But, without anyone around me who knew anything about the craft it has been reading and wishing that has kept the dream alive. At this point I haven’t fired any metal yet and hopefully by winter I will have a spot to do so. To give you a little more about myself. I currently work as an RF test engineer. I have worked as an engineer for the past 8 years. Previously, I owned my own cabinet shop, worked as an electrical apprentice as well as multiple different manual labor and service industry jobs. Being “engineer minded” I tend to overthink the room and plan my way into inaction. But now I finally have the space and my list of “needed” tools and equipment has grown to a point that I think I can make fire and hopefully I will be pounding iron soon. My wife and I bought a plot of land out in NW Oregon where we raise Icelandic sheep as well as other animals. I am in the process of setting up my shop and after reading through many of the forum post regarding shop setups I have some serious reconsidering to do. Most of my work on the property requires me to have a woodshop and through reading am now realizing that combining my wood shop with my metal shop isn’t the smartest idea. I think my next move is to convince “The Boss” that I need another outbuilding to create all of the “beautiful” metal work that she already has on order. In regards to setting up a new shop, is a low ceiling a big issue if you are forging with coal? Currently my list of equipment is not large. I will try and post some pictures better pictures in the future but as of now my camera/cell phone took a beating from my boys and the selfie camera is the only one that works. That said, my equipment is as follows: - “privately fabricated” break drum coal forge (will need to figure out venting for sure) - Hay Budden anvil (not sure what the exact weight is) - Champion blower (Don’t have a stand. Will need to fab something) - 6” Bench Vice - 5” post vice - A lot of ideas and no idea how to make them As far as what I want to make, I am hoping to be able to create my own tools for myself as well as for my wife. She if a hide tanner and a lot of the tools she uses could easily be made by a skilled blacksmith. As always, I think it would be fun to make an axe or a knife in the future. But for now, I am hoping to be able to make hinges, door hardware, brackets, etc. I look forward to interacting with everyone here and hopefully someday I will be able to contribute as well.