ChrisRecoveryForge

Thanks for the locality tip , makes sense. its a propane forge i/ we use, so there is a lot of heat kicking out of the front of the forge , i forged her some nice long light tongs today and she helped with parts of that, i didn't know that about leather gloves, i was actually looking at some leather gloves in her size .. i'll give that a miss now. ( thanks for that info) i do keep a bucket of water on hand to cool down parts of steel that need it with using propane, LoL I've hade the hot coal down my boot before i swapped to propane ( not fun, ) and looks silly to others when your dancing past the window doing the hop haha, love the tip with cutting down the apron to put over the top of the boot to stop hot bits ( scale ect falling down the boot, good one. i love blacksmithing my only regret is i didn't start younger , so i really don't want anything to hurt my girl , obviously because she's my little girl but also as i think that may scare her off smithing and take away her confidence.

the simple solution is ( assuming your using mild steel ) heat your tongs then cool in water while opening and closing rapidly that will sort any issue your having without all the file work. i seem to have the same issue quite often . hope that helps. p.s John ~ Black Bear forge certainly will Not hide parts of a process to make himself look great nor does he need to send things to a machine shop as someone has stupidly suggested, there are some video's of him showing you the mistakes he makes and he will happily say "somethings you just have to start again". and that's how we learn , its a real shame when false assumptions are made against someone that is sharing their knowledge for free.

Hi My 10 year old daughter has taken a big interest in starting blacksmithing, and not because she wants to make knifes or swords, ( Imagine That ) she seems more interested in ornamental and artistic iron work. but we are coming up short when it comes to the most important part of any smiths arsenal .. Safety wear..., although she has gloves, apron, eye protection, boots( not safety) they are all men's sizes apart from boots . the gloves are not men's but they are not what I regard as great for heat resistance, Does anyone know of anywhere in the UK or else where that is able to ship to the UK, that sells junior blacksmiths equipment , seems a real shame that we all want the younger generation t take an interest in trades and hobby's like smiting but its so hard to find the right equipment i.e., safety clothing, Thank You in advance if you can help or have any links.