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Bringing this beauty home today. Saw it in the antique mall. I know it had been there for a while so I was able to haggle to a happy medium.

Picked up this bench top crimper. Gonna make some dies and use it as a guillotine. 

Like Bill Engval puts it. Just 15° off cool.

Beautiful.

McLeod,

You'll get used to the funny looks. My significant other doesn't understand my "silly hobby". I got flak for buying my anvil for 6 months before she let up. 

Found an old rusty masons sledge today for dirt cheap. Decided to change it to a French style crosspein with a rounding face. Would love feedback. Is the rounded face geometry ok?

Mr. Moose. I have the same. Been forging on it for a bit over a month now and love mine to death.

That's awsome. Would have been my choice but the price tag pushed me the other way. I'm sure you'll enjoy it emensly

Cheap garage sale finds.

CGL:

Thank you. The fork is going to the home forge for some more refinement. 

To say I'm having a blast at lessons is a massive understatement. Every time I light a forge and pick up a hammer it brings me Joy. Actual true joy. 

My life has been a bit difficult from an early age and this craft is the first thing that has ever made me truely joyful.

Had my second lesson today. Made a fork from some 1/2" square stock. And a punch and splitter from a bent crowbar I got on the cheap.

Pinto,

If you havent already figured your anvil out, I have a 110# Kanca. I love it to death. As a green smith I've already had a few misses and hit the anvil instead of my work with not a mark. I also find myself using the square horn quite frequently. Hope whatever anvil you decide it serves you well. 

Wow. That price tag though. I spent a quarter of that on my two burner devilforge. For that kind of money you could buy a habanero by chili.

Yes. Trying to decide if I want to weld it or drill and tap so I can make the handle removable.

My new Pexto wrench for doing twist work. They dont make them like they used to. 

Woo. Love pictures. Didn't even think of bike style chain. Glad I havent made mine yet. 

Mr.Moose. Is that a Kanca?

Once I realized how much I like hanging my hammer I decided to do some night forging to hang my tongs as well.

Got to fire up the forge at home today for.its inaugural run. Immediately got about fixing my bad habit of always dropping my hammer.

Perhaps a chain hold instead. Attach a chain to the far side of your stand and attach a foot loop to the other end. Measure so that when draped over the anvil the loop is about an inch above the ground. The piece you are working goes under the chain and you apply pressure with your foot in the loop.

Chain is relatively inexpensive. And the foot hold is an easy forge.

The Mark's on the side are from Smith's checking the heat treat on their punches and chisels as they made them. The unhardened part of the anvil was a easy place to test.

That's definatly not gonna walk the shop much. Very nice.

From experience. You are much better off putting the sledge head in vertically. Using the striking face as your anvil face. There are a few threads about sledge anvils already on the site that are worth going through. But this is the one I used till I bought an anvil shaped anvil.

Followed me to work technically. A bday gift from my sister with another pair on their way from another sister. 

They are Caliburn small vbit bolt tongs. 

Ty. The middle was the second one I made and was done with minimal instruction. Was my I walked you through the first. Now do it again. I'm tickled pink with how they turned out.

Today I had my first of what I hope will be many one on one lessons with a local smith. These are my finished product. To any other novices, if you can find someone or a group i highly recommend. Corrected a lot of form issues early on. And i had a blast.