junker Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 i know i have made a few postings asking questions, so i would jsut liek to make one in which the more experienced people out there can just give advice on any blacksmithing- related topic. so thankyou, just trying to get as much info as i can Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 A good place to get oodles of info for general advice is on the home page in the Metalworking Lessons link. To have people post "general advice" is like asking, "How do I do blacksmithing?" There is just sooooo much area to cover. If you are trying to get, as you say, "as much info as possible," start with Metalworking Lessons. Read all of those topics, then go back and read every other post on this forum :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrous Beuler Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 i know i have made a few postings asking questions, so i would jsut liek to make one in which the more experienced people out there can just give advice on any blacksmithing- related topic. so thankyou, just trying to get as much info as i can Try these guys...Florida Artist Blacksmith Association Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Bly Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 I completely agree with Dodge - read, read, and then read some more. There is a lot of invaluable information here on this site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junker Posted March 31, 2009 Author Share Posted March 31, 2009 by general advice, i meant old- timer advice lol maybe i should have been more specific. but i had meant just like advice from experience... just odds and end that you don't normally hear about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
element Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/things-i-wish-i-had-known-before-i-started-blacksmithing-10654/ Read this thread junker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Here's a bit I give a lot of newcomers. Build a fire and beat some steel. Use a piece of RR rail or whatever reasonably heavy piece of iron or steel you can lay our hands on. A cast iron ASO is better than a rock. Use whatever smooth faced hammer you can find. Use vise grips and a cold chisel, find a file, hack saw and a wire brush. With that kit I can make virtually everything I need except a London pattern anvil. Then again I'm not fussy about anvils if I NEED to make something and one isn't handy. I'm using a block of birch log in the picture with an air mattress inflater for my air blast. Heat and beat, heat and beat, heat and beat, that's how you learn the craft. Reading is great, lots and LOTS of good info is written down but you can't learn to DO by reading. On the other hand you CAN learn the craft by DOing. I didn't know there was a book till I'd been DOing it for years. My Father actively discouraged me from blacksmithing, he believed I should learn a paying trade. I never could convince him I do it for enjoyment, not money, just like he collected rocks. Anyway, once you've DONE it a while the questions will come and we'll be here to answer them. Till then you can't ask something like how do I blacksmith? and expect meaningful answers. Oh sure the answers will mean something but you won't understand them. I'm not trying to be harsh but you need to understand, this question is frankly unanswerable. Dodge and many others here and I could toss it out and spend days discussing it but when I talk to a new comer I have to start at the beginning with things like. This is how you hold a hammer, don't touch THAT! And so on. Build a fire, heat it and beat it. That's my advice. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 I agree with Frosty. You can't learn to swim without getting into the water... Many years ago, I was chatting with a very experienced smith after a demo I had done before a large crowd and he made a pointed and fundamentally correct remark. He said that I was much like him - we both simply liked to hit hot iron. I have since thrown many thousands of hammer licks but I still get a charge out of moving a piece of steel with a hammer. When I go to a demo, I want to be up there with the guest smith - not to show off, but because I really like hitting hot iron. By hand, or with a striker or power hammer - nothing means much beyond making something I have visualized from that bar. Go hit a piece of hot iron and then decide if it's your passion - I started 27 years ago and still want to keep doing it until I die. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lumpkins Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Junker find you a blacksmith club and join them.. That will help you a bunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBrann Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 This is a learn by doing sport/hobby. Read everything you can, here the BPs, Ilgens book....any other books you can find,.. then try to follow or execute the techniques you have read about I'm not piking on you, but "how do you black smith?" is to broad a question.... kinda like "How do you go hiking in the woods?" you kinda just do, and get better the more you do and read about and talk about it with others. remember there is only 1 way to smith, heat it and beat it.. everything else is just style points!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRobb Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Junker, I agree with all that has been said. Especially about looking up local clubs. Click on the link that Dan OHare posted. There are many smiths in Fla. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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