Wim

Clang, thank you, really exciting to be communicating with you, way over in the Pacific. I will keep that in mind. Wim.

Hi Paige, Welcome to the site. You are amongst fire and metal lovers. We all are the odd duck in the bite where we live. It's part of being a blacksmith. I have learned a lot in the last month, just by asking questions, and then later checking reactions. Regards, Wim

I made a forge from an old barbeque too. No liner. The funnel shaped coal box is made from mildsteel is surrounded by an air box. I blow my air in that box, it come out the bottom preheated and it cools the funnel at the same time.

Thomas, on my first couple of sessions, I used anthracite. The caols break up into a lot of small coals, and then the air cannot get through the 5" of coal. The fan has a little bimetal overheat protection switch, keeps cutting out. I went to a combined demo on a exhibition of old cars with 8 other more experienced smiths last weekend. Learned a lot about forging, tools, coal, and had lot of fun. It was my first time interacting with other smiths.

Thanks Fredly, Thomas, I have my smithy in the back of a friend's workshop who fixes forklifts, very good idea. I like the idea of making a hardy tool with different edges that i can rotate.

I have a Peter Wright 450 lbs with badly worn edge on the back of the face. There is no edge left the first six inches from the horn, and toward the heel a large radius. I need a sharp edge on that side. What do you recommend? I understand the value of my anvil (hystorically) and don't want to ruin it.

I'm still using my wife's hairdryer to fan my forge, has lasted me two forging sessions so far, and after 5 hours the pressure seems to be too low to get the air through the densening coals. Wim

Hello, blacksmith men and women from all over the world, here I am. I am a brand new Blacksmith. Have started 1 month ago. I built a forge from an ols barbeque and added a few ideas picked up from the internet (Anvilfire). A GOOD friend GAVE me an anvil. I have had 2 forge sessions so far, am battling with the lack of skill.(keep dropping the hot iron on the floor), but managed to make a pair of tongs, a shape of a horseshoe, and stand for my cast iron pot lid. I am having so much fun, need to learn plenty, and need to make myself a lot of tools. But I have started what I have been wanting to do for about 20 years.(I am a guy, aged 43 now)