HoosierBlacksmith

Looks like they beat me to it - thanks for the tip though. Don't want to mess things up!

Anachronist58 - not sure I've heard of an Ohio Hoosier before! But us Hoosiers have to stick together! Thanks for the welcome! ChiefLittleBlair - yeah, about a half hour - 40 mins away, I'd guess. I live on the south side of Warsaw. Thx for the welcome! Daswulf - thx for the welcome - I appreciate the encouragement. I'll post final pics

New to the forums. I'm a very beginner in blacksmithing. Last night I started a backplate for some hooks I intend to mount. First time chiseling a slit in steel and then attempt at a ram's horn scroll. (I think my scrolls should have "scrolled" more - ha). However, I am pleased with the piece so far. Now to make a few hooks and my plan is to rivet them to the plate. I'm open to any criticism or thoughts. Thanks! You can see my "anvil" is a piece of rail. I use a plate for cutting my steel on - that way I don't damage the anvil any more than it is. I have a simple one burner homemade forge. Been working on technique and smaller projects.

Beautiful country in the Ozarks! Thank you for the welcome

Good afternoon from Northeast Indiana! My name is Mark and am relatively new to blacksmithing. I, currently, can only dedicate the occasional evening and weekends to the craft...and am unable to forge over winter. My skills are limited but (I think) growing. I am intrigued and fascinated with all things forging, especially the history of the craft. I appreciate knife-making but am more focused, personally, on the opportunities of forging tools, artistic pieces, and functional pieces. My setup is very crude: I have an anvil shaped railroad rail set horizontally and a rail set vertically to work on; a post vise, and a homemade gas forge - single burner. It is a small set up but one I am growing accustomed to. I purchased the tong set from Ken's Custom Iron to get my tong set started, but have "forged" a simple set of tongs from rebar. I have joined a couple "challenge" groups on FB to provide ideas and projects to work on - even if I cannot get those submitted in a timely fashion. I joined this forum to learn and listen. I am 54yrs old and understand that "children should be seen and not heard", so to speak. I am not afraid to contribute if I feel I have something, but look forward in growing in my skills, abilities and knowledge. Cheers!