I am beginning to build a forge, and am wondering where I can get metal to work with. What should I get and where can I find it?
For now, I want to forge things like spring fullers and tongs.

Edited May 31, 200917 yr by Smith93

My favorite place to get metal is at junkyards. Not so much car junkyards, but the industrial ones near big cities. Not that there isn't good metal to be had from cars, there is, in fact cars provide an abundance of various spring, tool, and high carbon steels. It is just that often a car part is worth more as a part than the steel in it is worth. Other possibilities are scrap metal dealers, especialy large ones, automotive spring replacement shops, car repair shops, and welding and fabrication shops. Expect to pay something at all but auto repair shops, which should be glad to have you haul their trash away.

I have had good luck at large construction companies that fix their own stuff, treads links and stuff. I ask just about everyone where ever I think there may be steel if they have any junk laying around. Lawnmower shops also. good luck. kevin

For mild steel I had a deal with a medium sized "ornamental iron shop". They would scrap all their drops and even some larger stuff after a job and as they had to pay to have their scrap hauled I was able to get hundreds of pounds of new steel for free by asking them, always wearing PPE, never getting in the way of the shop and leaving the scrap bin cleaner and neater (and able to hold more!) when I left.

(medium sized as the small ones tended to keep stuff and the large ones won't want you there---forging trinkets for the office staff helps too!)