Chris the Chicken Smith

I'll try my best, Fr9sty. That was a genuine accident, but I'll leave ot. It. *sigh*

I just realized the massive typos I made in one of my last posts... It makes me sick... shouty caps CHARCOAL!!

Those are forge fleas! Right! They hurt a lot, man! I did buy the blueprint for the Hookway retort, and I've showed it to some metalworking and blacksmith friends, and they've given me some suggestions to improve efficiency and build it for cheaper.

That's why that msswuite CHARCOAL I bought sucked! Thst makes sense. Maybe I'll just save some wood chips instead. I think I might try growing some lavender to try then, too. Thanks! Also, I know all about the sparks, but... what are forge fleas? They sound kinda cool.

Well that blew up! Thanks for the suggestions! I had most of the spices on my list, but I didn't have catnip or lavender. (I don't think I had sage, either.) I was looking for cooking spices, but medicinal herbs would be great to have around, too. I was planning to grow them in these little rock planters I'll be building outside, but I'm hoping yo make myself a small greenhouse. (I'm zone 4b, by the way.) Quick question: other than its beautiful smell, what is lavender good for? Just chrious. Now back to smithing: I'll ha e to go over the floor with a magnet, then. I'll throw my "ore" into a bucket for now. I do need charcoal first, though, and for that I need my retort... not that you guys can do much to help me... I just need to get a "45 gallon clip top barrel" and some sort of pipe for a vent so the barrel doesn't explode. Oh, back to cooking: what charcoal would be food for smoking some nice bacon with the herbs and spices mentioned? (As well as homemade paprica, and a substitute for black pepper I've thought up.) Mesquite? Hickory? Maple? (That would be especial great for this Canadian!) Chris

Great idea! Would I leave it in bloom form, or work it out a bit..? Or were you not even talking about that..? (I'm pretty dense...) On a completely unrelated note, does anyone have any preferred herbs or spices? I'm trying to think of some to grow next year.

Thanks, Thomas. You've given me a few ideas... How did I forget Ferric Chloride?! I remember I heard about it before I started chemistry class in school, and I thought it was the coolest sounding thing ever! I suppose I should wait to see if I get a bloom before I decide what to do with it... but I do think I'll save a piece anyway. I think I might just drill a hole in it and put it on a chain... or I can see if I can just make a circle with it and do some fancy chisel work. (But at this point I'm talking about things to do with it, even though I said I'd wait... I'll be quiet now.) Chris

Yes, they clay is going to be great for the bloomery. No, I don't think there are any...big words... around here. But I'll ask around. I think I'll just stick with scale for now, but more suggestions are very welcome! I forgot to mention: my teacher recommended making "an amulet or something less sharp than an axe" for my project. I might make a leaf key ring, but if I don't refine the bar quite a bit, won't it crack? Just wondering. (Ooh, and maybe I can see if I can get some Ferric acid (?) and etch it..? I don't really know much about etching and I kinda want to try that, too!)

Okay, so we've decided to use scale, then? It would be great to use iron sand, but I don't know if there are any streams around anywhere... I can check the one I have on my property, but it's clay ground. There is a stream here (at school) in the woods, so I'll see if my teacher will let me check some class. I JUST cleaned up my shop and got rid of all of my scale, of course, but I'll ask my one local friend if he can sweep some off of the floor for me. And if not I might have to burn some nails into scale to use. My first problem, however, is making charcoal... I purchased the Hookway Retort plans, and I have most of the stuff, but a few people I've shown have made modifications, and I need to discuss with them what I'm going to actually do. I still need to post pictures of my notebook... I'll dig that out in a minute. Chris

So if I have gravel that seems to have some magnetic rocks in it, can I sift that and use it as iron ore?

Thanks, Frosty. No, I actually haven't heard of a grading system. I know about quality in the sparks, but other than that I'm not sure. I do also know the materielal will be the same colour once it's a solid mass, rather than half being orange and half being red where a crack or uncondensed spot is. (Am I right..?) I'll search around for Thomas' video link, and copy and paste it here to avoid pladjurism. I'll also include my rough sketch of the socket axe; I'll upload it in the next couple of days. Here's a link to a video by Joey van der Steeg showing what I'm talking about. At the very end of the video he shows what it looks like so you don't have to sit through the hammering. Chris

Yes, Frosty, that's exactly what I mean! Save myself some effort. I had an argument with someone once because I called a(n older) friend of mine to tell me about research they did on a topic to save myself from doing a few hours of reading, and apparntly that's "lazy and a cheaty way of doing things." But anyway... I asked my teacher, and he said I could use a fan. I'm quite glad; I've heard bellows are no fun. I also need light to be able to see, since I work mostly after dark so I can see the steel colour, and I don't have an oil lamp. (Yet...) Chris

Thanks, Steve.

Thanks, everyone. I should start by saying I called myself lazy because saying "I'm the hardest worker there is" would be inaccurate and a lie. I am willing to put in the work, and (I think) I know how much it will take. (I probably don't, though.) I could still write a 6 page essay, yes. (I know it's not long; I've written many that were much longer on boring and tedious subjects.) If I were to write one just on the process, I could probably do it in two hours and it would feel like I just sat down to the start, since I would enjoy it. I could look through all of the articles here on IForgeIron, and I would undoubtably learn quite a bit, however I know I would miss a source or two, or I would copy something and someone would get all upset with me. It's happened far too many times. It would just be easier on myself and my teacher for me just to lump all of my information in here and copy and paste the link into my bibliography. In fact, he just gave us a 10 minute lecture on plagiarism, and that sounds kinda scary. I might have a friend of mine helping me, if he has the time. He's been a smith for 10 years, I think he said. If I have any general questions, I'm sure I could ask him. Steve (Sells,) you mentioned you've written a book? May I have a link to it? I'd like a copy. Thanks again, everyone. Chris

Hi, there, For history class, I'm allowed to do a physical project instead of a six-page write up, and since one of the things we are studying, however briefly, is the Iron Age, an thought I'd try to make and refine am iron bloom, and with that, make a socket axe from an Iron Age design. I've done some research into making steel blooms, but I've yet to attempt it. I would just search through the forum here to find anything I need, but I am pretty lazy, and it would be much easier to just put one link down for my source here in IForgeIron. I'd love any advice you could give me, and I'll post pictures of my progress. My intention is to make a short YouTube documentary, the bloom, and the axe. It won't. e the end of the world if it doesn't work; I'll still get a mark for my attempt. Thanks in advance, Chris

Hi, everyone, I’m back. I took a few months off to tend to my garden, but with winter approaching, I thought I’d come back. I built a firepot to what I thought Charles’ design was, but I completely flubbed it up. It barely could get steel to an orange temp. So I came back, looked at Charles’ design again, and cried quietly for a minute or so. I built it 6” deep. As far as I can tell, Charles’ is 3 1/2”. Mine is also very narrow on the top; Charles’ is much wider. I’ll send some pics later. Then I’ll see if there’s anything I can salvage from the old pot, and re-build it. Properly this time. Chris

Mmm... those marshmallows are the best. What were we talking about, again? That sounds tricky but doable. Thanks! Chris

Haha. Thanks, Charles. I was just wondering if YOUR forge in particular could forge weld, but I suppose the answer would be yes.

A quick question for Charles: can your forge weld with charcoal?

Okay, so a bantee rooster who weighs 10 lbs. I just chased one [bantee roo] around for my neighbour a little while ago because he was getting a bit too frisky with the hens. He’s staying outside for the night so the hens can have some peace. My neighbour had geese after the ducks, and his gander, Homer, would chase him around all the time. Kind of put me off getting a goose for a while, even though I wanted one as a guard. That’s also why I wanted a peacock. I had read that they make nice guards - not quite as good as a goose, but still adequate - but they also looked pretty.

I suppose they do. I don’t know if I’m just used to it, or enjoy it. Then again, (like the rest of Gen Z,) I’m a masochist. I probabaly enjoy it.

Are you telling me I won’t be alone forever?! Wow, that’s better than I thought! I haven’t eaten a peahen egg, no. But there are two towns, each about 45 minutes from here, and they are the definition of niche. And they have WAY too much money that they feel they need to get rid of. And buying random things is better than feeding starving children in Africa, isn’t it? >:( Anyway... Duck eggs are best used in baking, due to their high protein content. You *can* eat them, but my neighbour, when he had his ducks, (a raccoon came and ate them all,) would market them as eggs for baking. There are so many people who sell chicken eggs, even duck eggs, that there really isn’t a market. Peafowl eggs, however, are unique and “rare,” so people will be more likely to go “ooh, shiny!” and buy some. Then, they will take their prejudice of them being special, and they will psych themselves up for a great flavour, which they will mentally taste, and, ideally, decide they love. Marketing is mostly psychology, which is one of my talents. Peafowl are “dangerously aggressive? Have you ever seen a goose? (I know you have. Are they really worse than geese?) The idea with boiling the water is that I would already have a fire going. I’ll be cooking outside when it’s hot, and inside when the weather is bad. Over a wood fire, not an electric range top. I’m just like that. Another note: local law states that (basically) as long as you aren’t selling your [food] product to stores, you don’t have to have a licensed kitchen. You can sell to a farmers’ market all you want with no permits or restrictions, as long as it’s not moonshine or weed, (which is now legal to buy now,) or I suppose any other drugs. There might be other restrictions, like illegal guns and things, but as far as I can tell I can sell my pickles, sweets, salt, ironwork. And besides, my neighbour is working on saving up for a licensed kitchen, anyway. I’m going to pitch in, so I’ll be able to use it. (Sidetracked again,) yes, those evaporating pans sound like a good idea, too. Those “ideas” all have plans. I just get sore fingers from typing too much. If you would like me to go over every detailed plan, I could, however we both have better things to do. (Sorry, I’m a bit cranky.) Also, most of my ideas aren’t actually mine. They come from that same homesteading neighbour. We have discussed the logistics in length many times over, picking apart each other’s ideas until we got to something workable. Then we assessed the difficulty and reward, and decided what would be worthwhile. Blacksmithing was one we didn’t agree on. He doesn’t think there will be anyone who will spend $15 on a fire poker, or $10 on a lopsided key ring with a leaf on it. I digress. Yes, Frosty, nothing is easy. It had only clicked a month or so ago, though, when I tried to turn the soil in my neighbour’s garden that’s been fallowing for five years. “Oh, that should only take a couple of days,” I told myself. Two weeks later, I was FINALLY tilling up rows to plant in. We also already went over the peacocks’ “screaming,” George. But thanks for the warning. Chris

I guess Canadians take that for granted, Thomas... I’ve never really thought of that. I plan to be a butcher by trade until I get to be as self sufficient as possible. That way I can work with my hands and still have something useful and unique that I can use. I’ve cut up a few animals, and so far I haven’t gagged once, which is apparently rare. My plans for income are growing the usual best-selling crops around here, (peas, potatoes, beans, carrots, pumpkins, lettuce, and lots of strawberries. Southern NB is known for their blueberries and strawberries.) Since I live on saltwater, I can boil it down and, if marketed properly, sell the salt for $4-8 per shaker. There’s a small factory about 30 minutes away from my property that sells salt for $6 per shaker, marketed as “local Bay of Fundy salt.” I guess it comes from an underground cave or something. 5 gallons of water turns into 1 shaker of salt, and I could probably boil off 25 gallons in a day, since I would have a campfire or wood stove going, anyway. I also can take some sea lettuce from the salt water and dry it, crush it, and bag it, and sell it as a spice similar to how you would sell basil or oregano, for example. (Sea lettuce is the kind of stuff sushi is made out of, in case you didn’t know.) The goal is to make at least $40 000 per year to pay for bills and things you can’t make yourself. So that’s 40 different things that make you about $1000 each per year. Blacksmithing is going to be one of my big staples in that regard. Sorry for rambling, I do that a lot. Chris

People get pretty ticked off with me when I try to teach them things. I just read a lot, and I am very logically driven, so I can usually cobble something together from what I know, if I know enough about something. The problem is that I love teaching, but I usually don’t know all that much about what I’m trying to teach. I’ve heard that peahen eggs are bigger than chicken eggs, but smaller than goose eggs. I live near a very “touristy” area, so I could probably sell them to someone for $6 or more per dozen, for people to have the novelty of eating a “peacock” egg. I’m hoping to make enough money from these tourists to be self-sufficient on my farm. But if I do that, there will be no more chocolate... I suppose self sufficient, with a little bit of sweetness from the outside world. I have VERY kind neighbours, and sound doesn’t really travel to any of their houses, other than the fellow homesteader’s place. He has enough roosters to deafen you, so I doubt he would even notice the screams anyway. And he has a “pet” pig. (His wife wanted a more “exotic” pet... he still wants bacon.) You could hear that pig squeal from miles away, anyway. I’m also relying on the screams to hopefully ward off predators. Not that I expect it to work. Also, as blacksmiths, we’re ones to talk about noise. I found a picture of my horse friend, Tucker. It’s from about a week ago, and it’s no really a great picture, but you can sort of see how big he is. Three feet; I believe that is nine hands. Chris

All right, I’ll try that. I have clay ground, so I should be able to plaster together a makeshift firepot until I can tack one together. I’m sorry to hear about your horse. I have a friend who runs a farm with 22 horses, and I take care of a miniature horse there named Tucker. If I can find a picture I’ll put it up here. If my math is right, and he stops eating so many horse cookies, he should live until I’m in my fifties... he’s about to turn 20, I think. when u think about it most people my age that i know type like this and oh my gosh its so annoying (It hurts considerably to type like that.) I’m very impressed with your skill. I’m specifically impressed with how you read my age from my typing, since I’ve been told I don’t type like my generation... speaking of my generation, you say there are actually other people who aren’t completely sucked into computers? I need to meet some of them! All of my friends are curmudgeons, as it turns out, and it seems as though I fit into every category except for “the age.” I forgot what else I was going to type... oh, well... Thanks, Frosty. Chris