Tomas W

Thanks  for that tip. I will be sure to remember that. I can always have my wife or one of my kids come out and pump my blower. That way I can save my strength to hammer. It will be a fun day for all 

Well. I just made my first fire. I learned many things this first go around. 

1. I am not 30 years old anymore nor am I even 40. Haha. 

2. Do not go out and make a fire when it is in the 90’s

3. Need to have an electric air supply. See lesson 1 for reason. 

Now the good

1. I was able to get the forge up to temp in less than 10 minutes. Not bad for first go. 

2. Charcoal seems to be a very viable option for me. I will be trying other methods in the future. 

3. Once I got the right air flow. I was able to bring the end of my material up to a decent temp in 3-4 minutes. The fire seems to start making a nice sound and inside the embers are a yellowish orange. 

4. I have done my fair share of swinging hammers. But pounding hot steel is a humbling experience. 

5. Really looking forward to this new chapter in life. 

Tom

Edit: here is my 3 heats on my punch more when it is cooler. 

Correct lump hardwood. Thanks for looking out for that. 

I have finally accumulated everything  to start my forging journey. I have rebuilt a rivet forge. I will be using charcoal to start with.  I realize it is not people’s first choice for a charcoal forge. I cut some Diablo fire bricks to make a  fire pot. As I will be trying charcoal for my first go. I added some bricks to get a 5” deep pot. 

Any and all input welcome on my setup of the forge. 

next up is my Anvil. A BIC Omaha #124. I just wire wheeled the face and horn to remove rust. The edges are all chipped but the previous caretaker did smooth them out. I picked up this anvil last year. After many months of haggling with the store owner.  As you may know anvil prices in So Cal are insane. An average of $6-10 per pound. 

I kept going back once a month to try and get it lower. They were asking $550. There was no way I could afford that. Finally after long conversations with the owner and getting to know him a bit. I was able to get it for $300. Not great but at a bit over $2 per pound. I think we both did ok. 

I made the base from plans on the internet. It is pretty stable. 

Anyhow I picked up some hand held drills and a few chisels last weekend. I am going to take the one pictured and draw it. Out longer to make a 1/4” drift. As I will need one to start making tongs. 

i will post an update later tonight. As it is about 95 out right now. I think I will start this afternoon. 

Tom

I live 4 blocks from Santoro’s I am right off of Burbank Blvd. 

There is not that many Olive trees left  Sylmar still has the Olive festival every year at El Carrizo park. I used to play Disc Golf there in the 80’s

I hope to make a few connections when I take my Tong class in a few weeks. I will see if they have meet ups some place. 

Small world, I live in Burbank. Very familiar with Sylmar, my Grandmother lived there for many years. 

My garage is detached. So I can mess it up even more. 

My one neighbor always has parties to all hours. He will not be a problem. My other side that house is going on the market. So unsure about the future neighbors there. 

I will Need to get some skills and make them stuff. 

Haha Salsa music! I will hear that on the weekends. Also with a propane I could make room in the garage for my smithy. First things first. I need to get some anvil time on what I have. I can get hardwood charcoal from Home Depot 18 lb bags for $15. I will pick a few bags up this weekend. 

My neighbors will hate me making charcoal. But I need to see what I prefer to forge with. Charcoal or coal, depending on availability. If all else fails I will go with a propane forge. 

Yes I can grab them from work. They just put them out and the pallet fairies come at night to take them away. 

Off to read up on making charcoal. 

Thanks for the tip on the Mesquite. I will not do that then. I guess I will go chop down some of my neighbors trees at night and make my own. 

Thanks for the welcome. Yes the HB has about 1/16” of sway and well used edges. The face is solid and has about 80% rebound. 

I will take a light wire wheel to it. Do not fear. I will not grind on the face!  That I read about in the “read me first” section. 

All I need now is to source some coal. Being in LA that most likely will require buying on line. When I take my class in a few weeks, I will hit them up for coal leads. 

 I will experiment with charcoal too. I can get 25 lb bags of mesquite for $10. 

Hello all

 as the title says. My name is Tom and I reside in the greater Los Angeles area. I am a machinist by trade. I am just now getting into Blacksmithing. 

I have been lurking for the better part of a year slowly gathering information and stuff needed for the craft. 

I have 2 anvils, 1 is a 50 lb Vulcan from the 50’s in very nice shape. The other is a BIC Omaha (Hay Budden) 124# from 1893 or 1894 full wrought. It has had a full life of work. 

I just finished refinishing a Blue Sierra Rivet forge with a hand pump mechanism. 

2 weeks ago I scored a 5-1/2 post vice ir really nice condition. I am on a very limited budget so it has taken a bit over a year to get these. 

I did some forging in High School 40 years ago. Then nothing until 8 months ago when I took an introductory Blacksmithing class. I just signed up for a tong making class for the end of this month. As I plan on making all of my own tools, I figured this is a good place to start.

here are a few pictures of my stuff  I will be setting it all up outside  

Tom