Kooky

I can’t quite name a tool I’ve seen in recent memory that I’ve enjoyed watching as much as a power hammer. I’m not really a giant industrial power object manufacturing lover but wow, watching those smiths pound a chisel and tang is so satisfying. The perfect timing, sound, motion, it’s all so satisfying.
 

Absolutely on my bucket list to use or get one. I really hope I get to see one in person. 
 

Thanks everyone. Great community, no hard times, I’ll try to learn something new and people online tear you down for some reason. It really serves no purpose... I know that would change in person unless they’re a true class-A jerk. 

I think I might get a decent shaped anvil off the bat... What were those called? London Pattern.. and also acquire as many giant hunks of scrap steel as I can.

That seems like the best route. I will have to pursue whichever comes first though, might have to put my anvil purchase on hold while I save up.

I'm on AbeBooks filling a cart with pretty cheap used blacksmith books, so far, only added The Complete Modern Blacksmith.

I absolutely hate driving, I drive about once a month to pick up bulk organic foods at a co-op 35 minutes away and that’s as far as I go. Weekly I go to the grocery store once. Everything else I do is planned around those two trips, lol. 
 

There’s a somewhat local metalworks place nearby, I already called them today to ask about a giant hunk of steel and they told me they have them but that’s what they use besides one anvil… so I’m on to something. Scrap yard time…

Again, I appreciate all the help but … let me put it this way, I am in a position to change how I earn money. I have time right now, a lot of time, and a way to support myself minimally in the mean time. Thus I am trying to progress quickly. I like the idea of my actual life being fed by the quality of work I do with my hands. The possibility of error is there but there’s no room for it. Artisans have reputation that can be tarnished and hard to recover. This, is more exciting than being some drone. 
 

No, as a noob I don’t expect to get rich, but I can’t squander the possibility that I can in fact support myself with this at some point, the ideals of the artisan fit so well with who I am. I am taking this opportunity seriously. 

Thanks for all the info...

The anvil is an absolute pain when I see the prices, I am not well off. As I said, I try to buy once, cry once though, that's hard to do for the relatively poor but I will not compromise... So, I have a couple options here.

I could buy this decent anvil and be content for a while... or I could forego that option and buy an absolute junker from China to learn on for a bit to save cash and put it towards one of those Nimba Titan (sp?) I have read about, or generally any lifetime tool-oriented anvil. Perhaps I'd be willing to save a just a bit and get Atlas' knife maker anvil, although it's not much different from the literal rectangular hunk of steel the Japanese use.

Of course this anvil acquisition technique sounds decent but it could take a while, I am not sociable.

Sorry I guess I should’ve started an introduction with a bit more personal info. Just itching to get going…

I became especially enamored with Japanese blacksmiths once I purchased my garbage tools and found Covington and his huge documentation of blacksmithing info from Japan. It’s something mystical… the West had it too but… for what little we’ve gained from outsourcing most of our jobs and killing the artisan in lieu of the Chinese and mass produced, we’ve lost quite a bit. 
 

South Florida, trying with every fiber I’ve got to get out of here and permaculture most of my food / live off the land in a place I can chop a tree once in a while….

Sorry I just didn’t check. I bought a couple luthier books recently only available at around $30 and $90… I’ll be buying a bunch of used books then. 

No, I will have to purchase some books it seems, so far I've been learning online only. I have many books for most things I learn, I've just been putting off blacksmithing books until I get some tools to save cash...

Hello, I am new here.

I was an aspiring woodworker until wood prices went through the roof but more importantly, I reside in the people hating, soul crushing, isolated cesspool that is the American suburbs. Thus I have essentially no access to green wood, no trees to put my axes to and no sawyers for hours. Why do I even have axes? You can say I am hopeful. When society collapses I will be the ruler of all the land I could not afford... mwuahah.... I have an absolute addiction for tradition and natural resources, I am a big fan of Crossed Heart Forge's no-plastic, no chemical bottle aesthetic, I can't help it, millennial raised alongside social media and pour over coffee pictures.

So, with the price of metal reasonable and the ability to repurpose/reclaim it more easily than wood due to less deterioration, I decided maybe I should make the tools for woodworking instead of making woodworks... Oh the irony.

I am compiling a small setup and I want it to keep me going for a while, as I am a proponent of buy once cry once. I really want a coal forge but for now propane seems a bit more suitable. So after this purchase I will be saving for a coal forge.

The main reason I am reaching out is because I was burned in the past on "what looked good". Normally, I am not an idiot, but sometimes I am. When I purchased my first Japanese woodworking tools online they were peddled as quality but they were xxxx, I have since purchased almost everything from Stanley Covington in Japan, North Bay Forge, as well as Barr, Gransfors Bruk, and Veritas, I'd like to do the same with most of this gear. I will have to buy cheap hammers and tongs for now...

I've settled on 

- Atlas Single Burner Knifemakers Forge

- Atlas Graham 117lb anvil

- Misc tools: two tongs, two hammers, gloves, fire bricks, wire brush, etc...

This setup, I hope, allow me to make many small knives as practice which will eventually lead to making chisels, drawknives, hammer heads, carving knives, etc.