JeremyP

My apologizes to the language police. Gentle reminder, these are just words on a page which represent noises that come out of our mouths. We have had strong language since the beginning of time and yet humanity continues on.

One reason, I think it have something to do with the fact that someone else is demonstrating instead of them. Perhaps they feel threatened by that. Blacksmithing is very unique skill set these days because it's so rare to see. I think a lot of smiths get a charge out of being the only one who can forge a leaf. I myself have come across that when I went to a county fair, there was an old guy demonstrating and he was making some fire pokers and selling them for $10 each! I am not going to lie, I was kind of jealous of the attention he was getting, especially since he was phoning it in with his fire pokers. 10% of me wanted to steal his spotlight and let him know he wasn't the only smith in town. Fortunately the mature side of me won out and I simply congratulated him on his work. He flashed me proud smile and I walked away. Post edited by moderator

I had a full apron for a couple years that I never actually used because it felt so heavy on the neck. My pants do take a major beating from the UV and IR radiation plus the slag and sparks and all that, so finally I tried wearing the apron just at the waist, with the top part folded over. Eventually I cut off the top part of the apron, sewed some pockets on the bottom part and made it a half apron, much like OP. Much more user friendly for me.

being completely self taught is definatly taking the long road, but it's still possible to learn a lot just experimenting. I've taken a few weekend coarses to learn various techniques and you learn so much in those few days, not only the hands on instruction but also watching others do the same techniques. Discussing with others the various problems that arise. The last coarse I took, was on techniques that I've already been working on for a while, even so I learned a ton just by being able to watch the master do the work, by being able to ask him questions as well as collaborating with the other students. I highly recommend finding someone close by to learn from, it will fire up your passion for the art even more!

I didn't realize this until I visited a friends shop and he turned on his self contained. I have my air compressor in the middle of my shop so when i start using the hammer, the clanging plus the compressor running is pretty loud, but that self contained was every bit as loud and doesn't shut up unless you constantly turn it on and off. But like my buddy told me. none of this forging business is quiet anyway

Very good advice. I have a dozen notepads full of drawings from all my years fabricating. One of the people I was working with suggested it to me 10 years ago. I need to start taking pictures though, because a lot times what you draw doesn't end up exactly as you originally designed, or sometimes your dimensions need to change to make it work. Also what I've noticed with blacksmithing is, recording dimensions halfway through forging such as the length of taper you went with before scrolling it.

I have welded these same type of quick connect ears on several loader buckets, no doubt those ears will see a lot of dynamic stress. Be sure your welds are sound. if you have doubts don't be afraid to grind it out and go again. warping shouldnt be an issue unless you find yourself having to reweld it a couple times. if you can roll that bucket flat that would definatly make it easier for you. Grinding out the slag between each pass will help on your next pass application as well. I've only used 7018 DC for that, but I've used 7018 on a friends AC machine with good results Good luck

yea you raise some good points glenn and dsw. I was also thinking about the problem of having the return air being so close to the exit air. I wouldnt mind running the system in my shop if it wasn't too loud. I will try running the motor and see how loud it is. I've looked into getting those welding fume extractors as well, because I do a lot of welding in my shop, but they are loud and expensive. This fan however was free

I have a 35 x 50 shop that I want to build a filter system for. I was able to get a large industrial 240volt squirrel cage fan and motor that will hopefully replace the shop air fairly quickly. I havent heard it run though and I imagine it will be quite loud, so Im hoping to mount it outside of the shop and have it suck air out but I also want it to return the air back into the shop especially during the winter to preserve my heat. Has anyone built anything like this? what do you think of just using the normal house furnace filters, perhaps stacked 2 or 3 deep? Mostly need it to take away dust when i'm belt sanding and grinding but also welding smoke when I'm stick welding lots.

in general, more time to forge, continued good health and for the jobs to keep coming in. Tools wise, I need to make more tongs, more hardy tools for the anvil and some spring swages for my power hammer, I also want to build a tumbler and find a good belt sander

just watched a 150lbs anvil go for $100 dollars on Kijiji a couple months ago, but previous to that I had to talk down a lady from $500 for a 4" post vice. she thought I was a collector but when I explained to her that I would be using the tool as a blacksmith she agreed to go down to $200 which I still had a hard time with but I caved and grabbed it lol

your story reminds me of a gentleman I know who puts a lot of ego in his abilities as a craftsman, despite being a very good carpenter and welder/fabricator, once he caught wind that I was starting to forge he decided he needed to get into it as well, and he said to me; "Yea that blacksmithing your doing is pretty neat. I'm on the hunt for an anvil now as well, a really good one, cast iron. Then I'll show you whats really possible!" He didn't think much of my welding or fabricating abilities either, not sure if he ever did get his anvil, I should check in one day and see :rolleyes:

That was my excuse last year :lol: but wont your forge warm it up? This year my excuse is I dont want to burn out my forge lining and empty my propane tank if all im doing is making something small. "Ill make that pair of tongs when I start on that larger project" I say.. 2 weeks later I have a dozen small things on the list and I run outa time to do any of it :lol:

Kickstarter is such a great site for those needing to start up a brand new idea or innovation. But as always it gets gross when people see it as an avenue for free money. I actually seen a fella posting on facebook for a kickstarter to launch his smithy shop. Seemed pretty green at the trade promising a bunch of trinkets for those who donate. I would rather suffer with my homemade building with my homemade tools than beg for money.

how loud is it? I was looking at one the other day as well

Beautiful! Well built and elegant design. Bravo!

I just supply them with those fasteners and its up to them to use it, and I just hope that they do. On one larger project the customer wanted me to make some large lag bolts but he didn't know how he would be able to thread them in. So I offered to forge him the socket that would fit the bolt head. I think he liked that part more than the actualy project lol

Well said frosty!

I hestitate to share his video series because my intention is not to bash him in particular, one of my first smithing projects was to build a crude short sword as well. I guess I find there's something gross about producing a video suggesting building a real katana is so simple and basic. I'm not much of a sword enthusiast at all either, I guess Im mostly bothered by the notion of skipping a bunch of skill work and going straight to the final product, especially when I'm so familiar with the authentic process involved with building a 'real' katana from scratch. Good choice to keep this an open discussion. Not mentioning the name keeps this from becoming a bashing session.

Lately I've been stumbling around youtube looking for forging videos and I came across a series of videos where a guy is documenting his progress in the trade from building the forge onward. By video 9 he is already building a "katana" basically by taking a chunk of flat bar and just forming the point and the taper. Something about those videos bothers me though, unless this guy has been smithing for many years before making these videos, one does not simply build a sword with basic skills. Perhaps I'm jelous of this persons innate mastery or perhaps I'm just annoyed that with some clever camera work you can make yourself look like a master by saying all the right things and showing just enough to make it look like you building something incredible. This is stark contrast to a true master smith that I know who has been working for years to build hundreds of tantos and other blades in order to develop his skill towards building his first katana. I guess my question is this, what's your take on those guys who skip the first 1000 steps to learning the trade and go straight to building masterpieces?

double post sorry

I own a small hobby 3d printer, I got it because when I first heard of them, I thought my livelyhood as a welder was in jeapordy. While they definatly have the potential to revolutionize making things, especially if they continue to make them cheaper and cheaper. I have no fear of them completely killing blacksmithing, or even replacing the arc welder. They will just be another very effective tool that will require many craftsmen to also learn CAD along with the trades they choose to pursue. The big hope among many in the 3d printer community is that they will one day be able to print every single thing they want with a few clicks and thus be able to shortcut the learning process of how to work any given material. That may hold true for the most basic items, however craftsmen who still pursue mastery in the materials they choose will continue to have a huge advantage in both product design and execution.

I highly recommend doing the NAIT coarses in Edmonton. The teacher's name is Shawn Cunningham. He teaches the basic forging techniques, making and heat treating your beginner tools, pattern welding and locksmithing as well I think. His latest coarse, he brought in David Goldberg to demonstrate Japanese blade forging. http://www.nait.ca/course_IRON401.htm?AsOfDate=2014-08-01

thats a good point, If a guy has an inventory already, the wedding planner or bride can potentially pick what they like right on the spot Thanks guys, your inspiring me!

Since spring is in the air, I've been hearing the wedding advertisements on the radio starting up already and it got me thinking. Forged wedding decorations Have any of you tried this? Arches, pillars, candleabras etc for either sale or rent? I'm sure the demand is high and weddings are obviously big business. I wonder, would anyone appreciate some authentic forged decorations? Perhaps custom made decorations? instead of the cheap chinese cold formed pipe frame stuff?