ArmySoldier72

Thank you all, This farm has lots of junk laying around, including an old screen door. And with all the cleaning up, fixing up and what not, there is quite a bit of wire mesh around too. I will get some sifted out in the next week or so. Thanks again ARMY

Frosty, Makes Sense. Jaws parallel to the wall, Shelf plate not to big. I will get out there today after I finish a Program update for my day job. Thanks for the advise. Mothman, nice looking creations. Daswulf that forge LOOKS xxxxxxx cool. WanderingRogue that is a pretty darn good looking set up. Nice size shed, is it dedicated to your forging? When are you firing it up? ARMY

Both look great

Thanks Mikey, that is a good idea. I was thinking of replacing the burner with one of those you can buy for the big forges. But maybe I will try try that first. And once I get the Mr Volcano finished and running this little guy may collect dust. we shall see. Thanks again ARMY

ahh that makes sense.. thank you george. So I will check the ashes to make sure there are not chunks left behind and set up a couple of buckets. Thank you kindly ARMY

I think I saw this in a video by John at BBF, where he was making tooling and annealed in vermiculite or wood ashes. I searched here as well and found the great comment by Glenn explaining Annealing, tempering etc in this IFI post: What did you do in the shop today? - Page 809 - Blacksmithing, General Discussion - I Forge Iron My Question is what ashes are good to use for Annealing? We burn all paper, wood cardboard etc. That is just part of farm life. All Plastics and rubber goes to the dump. And all metal gets saved for repairs or a scrap yard run. So would the ashes I create burning wood scrap, cardboard and paper products work? Thanks ARMY SE Oregon

Today started with fixing an irrigation pump. Turned out it had some junk in the intake. And then I spent an hour or so practicing welding. the immediate need of welding is so i can mount my leg vice. I need to weld a piece of pipe to a base plate for the leg to rest in, weld that plat to the pipe and then weld a flat top to bolt the vise to. The pipe is deep in concrete, not sure how deep, but it was originally there to help keep big fat cows from pushing through. The idea is have the vice on an angle so it can handle long stock if needed. ARMY SE Oregon

Before we moved, I built this little guy and heated up that piece of metal in the picture. And then we decided to buy the new place and packed up all our stuff. I pulled my little buddy here our of the box and set him back on top of the wood burning stove that will be used as my forge table. It is using a Bernzomatic TS8000 with an adapter hose connected to propane. at the time I thought an angled flame coming from the side was a good idea... now i am not so sure. I am thinking of buying a burner and rearranging this so the burner is on the top. I am in the process of building the Mr Volcano 1 Burner Forge. I will have some pictures tomorrow. Thanks for any comments or advice ARMY SE Oregon

George that is a great idea, we deal with farriers all the time for our horse and if cattle or goats (when we had them) needed hoof trimming. The forge is getting it 2nd coat of satonite today, and should be ready by sunday. But I found the hose for my fire brick forge, so maybe i will get some fire going today. Mod30 sorry about that. If I decide to take a class, $100 for a half day is a decent price right? Army SE Oregon

Thanks George, that is the path i think i will be on to begin with. I thought of taking video of me once i start up... nail making.. or something.. and putting it up for critique. Thanks Anachronist, i will clarify my post a little better, I found that same smith, but it is 1.5 hours away. I was thinking I would like to start out with an organization, attend some events, and get a feel for folks I found 3 classes offered near by (within 2 hours) but I am not sure what the going rate is. Thoughts anyone? And A guy on craigslist, which i am weary of.....$30 or $40 an hour You can mention the name (s) but putting in the link and other information is considered advertising. If anyone is interested they can Google the names. Remove advertising links per tos ARMY SE Oregon

I have been looking through the sites listed for a couple of days. And Google was not helpful. Does anyone know of an organization near Boise Idaho, USA? This is the SW corner of Idaho. I saw a smith in northern Idaho but that is 6 or 8 hours away. Thanks in advance Army SE Oregon

After retiring from the Army (Jan2014) my wife let me try the contractor jobs in Colorado Springs for a year before she finally said she wanted to go back home to Idaho where her friends and family were. I was given the option of staying in COS or going to Middleton Idaho (Near Boise). I have been working for the State ever since as an IT Integration Manager (all things to do with databases, websites and making program work and talk to each other). My Step son wants to be a rancher, so we upgraded to a 5 Acre Farm and started raising cattle. From the beginning I realized 5acres was too small. We were leasing pasture to graze the cattle, leasing fields to grow hay for feed, and not making a profit. This past July2021 we closed on 125 acre farm just across the boarder in Ontario Oregon (5 miles from Wieser Idaho). We grow corn and alfalfa hay for feeding cattle and have a 900 head feed lot on the property. So not that I don't have enough to do with a full time job, growing and harvesting crops and maintaining this large acreage, i want to learn a new hobby. My plan is to: 1. learn enough welding to fix things around here. 2. learn smithing skills to make / fix things around here 3. melt metal in a furnace to make things. I grew up with a hammer in my hand working on my fathers jobsites, he was a general contractor. But after reading the common mistakes thread, I am going to pound some nails into stumps to build up tolerance and practice technique. I built a firebrick forge but in the move, i miss placed the hose (new one ordered). I did not get much play time with it before we moved. I ordered and have started putting together a Volcano Hero Forge after watching Roy's review at Christ Centered Iron works. For about 2 months I have been reading and watching youtube videos. (Roy, John at BBF, Alec Steel, Mark Aspery and more) But until not there has been no time or setup for starting this craft. (and now it is spring, we are planting crops and watering fields, ugg) As per my anvil thread, I finally got an Anvil I will be happy with while i learn the craft. I am building a workshop in the old milking barn (not a normal barn) I hope to post some pictures and show you all progress. SO, I look forward to learning from everyone here. I look forward to feedback and I welcome the challenge. Thank you for reading Army SE Oregon

Hello to all, US Army SFC (Ret), 1994-2014 25U formerly 31U Communication Chief Short Version, about 1/4 - 1/3 of my career deployed (Bosnia, Albania/Kosovo, Iraq, Qatar) The only thing good to come out of my last assignment (Fort Polk LA) was they have retirement and medical retirement down to a science and take really good care of soldiers. My Plan Short version - to learn a hobby to keep me occupied. Army. PS My father was US Navy and my Mother was Canadian Navy, they met in Key West, Florida. Neither ever talked to us kids about going in the military, but I ended up there anyways. PPS My Step Grandfather (I only knew him as Pop Pop) was in the Army and once I enlisted always referred to my First duty Station as CAMP STEWART, from back in his day.

Ok will do on both accounts. Army

that was pretty fun to watch over a cup of morning "joe" So much skill, thought and planning. Amazing ARMY SE Oregon

Twistedwillow thank you kindly for the info. I might just have to invest in that Army

Thank you so much for the feedback. The first rebound test was indeed sitting on top of the cast iron anvil. I redid it on the new stand. 16" Tube, first bounce was 13" I tested from the Hardy Hole to the and of the face (horn end), same results entire length. As you suspected tail and horn was only a couple of inches of rebound. that is pretty neat to know. is there an online listing or just folks looking it up in a paper copy? Thank you so much for checking this for me. I am excited. After I learn some basic techniques I have a long to do list. Nails and maybe a hinge for the shop door and Drawer pulls for our home remodel are near the top George N M Thank you Sir for your service and paving the way for my generation. This beauty has made it to a good home and I hope to treat her right. So this area I am trying to turn into my little workshop (I don't have a garage/workshop yet, its coming during remodel) it used to be a old milking barn. The area I am using is the upper level where the cows would stand. I put a shot looking in and a shot looking out. On the right is an old wood stove I am using to hold my home made forge. And right near the door I hit a Steel pipe and plan to mount the Leg vice to it. This would give me almost 270 degrees of work around the vice. At the foot, I was thinking of welding a plate with a little bit of pipe to hold the foot and spread the impact load on the floor. We are new to this property, moved in last november. But it is a work farm growing crops and cows. Lots of our stuff is still boxed up Thank you all Again, I appreciate the support I look forward to any and all feedback. Army SE Oregon

Good Morning, I would have posted sooner but I have been building a "Stand" for the Anvil I just recently purchased. I think I paid a little to much for it but i have been hard pressed to find a decent anvil in this area (SE Oregon, SW Idaho), I got this baby for $525. The Name Marking says ACME and I make out Trenton behind it. The Base Marking Says 100 (I think) so I am assuming 100lbs SN: looks like A70282 (last digit is a little beat up) is there a website of SN's to look up this particular anvil? The face does not look to bad, the Rebound is awesome. 5/8" bearing ball in a clear 1' tube almost 70% Only think I did so far was wirebrush the name and markings. Applied a little WD40 And I hope to be banging on steel in the next week. Thank you in advance for any advice or thoughts on my purchase. ARMY SE Oregon PS the anvil under this one was a bad mistake ... Cast Iron.. I bought it when i decided I wanted a new hobby before I read anything by anyone about anything. 8-)