Good morning,
I am looking to get started in black smithing. Probably focused on making tools for around the house and useful items. Naturally, I would not mind making a knife or 50. Would like to give some axes a try too. I am out of west Tennessee, near Jackson.
I just got my forge in, hoping to have it up and running this weekend. With this and my anvil I should be good to go. I have a decent start on my hammers, including a raising and plannishing hammers. I also have a few raising and creasing stakes, and a pair of dishing forms. I don’t know how much use they will see. I am sure I have some other toys I have forgotten about.
I do have some experience working steel, I was once active in the SCA and made my own armor. Including a few helms and some articulated pieces. Ninety-five percent of that was cold work, the little hot work I did was to anneal work hardened pieces. I attempted to play with spring steel, but the metal was too thin and kept warping on quench. Also, just about everything was done in 12 to 18 gauge sheets. I grew out of the SCA and have put my hammers down. I have made a few knifes from grinding old saw blades. That kind of sums up my experience.