Casey27

Hey everyone, I'm a new blacksmith from Louisiana. I've been doing a lot of research online and on YouTube for the past couple years on blacksmithing (still have so so much to learn) and have finally begun my blacksmithing journey. For now, I am learning the basics and working on getting/making more quality tools. I have the basics, a mr volcano single burner forge, a 66 pound Doyle (harbor freight, cast steel) anvil, a bench vice, a recently acquired (but not mounted) post vice, some hammers, and a couple sets of tongs. My overall plan and goal is to have this be my full-time job, my more short term goal is to gain the skills and practice necessary to make quality and similar sets of hooks, steak turners, bottle openers, and other small items to begin selling online most likely through Etsy. If there are any other smiths around Louisiana, or west Mississippi feel free to reach out and potentially we can meet up and forge some steel! Thanks for checking out my post, and below will be some pictures of my rough shop setup. The image of my forge set up was from when I first started about 6 months ago, I have since updated and replaced the straps from my anvil stand, I was excited to get to work and that's what I had on hand at the time.

Billy, you're correct. First one I've bought, I honestly didn't even realize until I got home with it unfortunately. But it seems to work well so far. Also what if any purpose does the acorn on the bottom serve?

Thanks for the advice George (pun not intended) I'm pretty excited to be getting some better equipment now honestly. Hopefully I can get a stand put together reasonably soon and put it to work. Also this is the vice I got for anyone interested. 5 inch jaws, not sure about branding or weight.

Hi everyone, I just acquired my first post vice and brought it home and realized I have a problem, I have no idea how to properly mount the thing! The requirements I have for my stand are: It needs to be at least semi portable as I don't have a permanent location for my blacksmithing set up as of now. It needs to be able to be made without any welding as I don't have access to a welder. I do have some general carpentry tools and an adequate level of proficiency with them. If you have any ideas or suggestions on how to mount this vice please let me know, thank you!