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I Forge Iron

forge help


tholdorimm

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I suggest you embark on a course of reading. That will give you a lot information so that you sort through the alternatives to a solution for your individual need.
There are so many good books on blacksmithing at the intro level that is hard to recommend one. You might check your public library before buying books on line.
If you contact the Pennsylvania Blacksmiths they can probably put you in touch with someone near you to help you get started. Their web site it: PABA Home

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  • 9 years later...

Hey guys. I know that this hasn't been used since 2009 so I'm not expecting any answers, but I'm also new. My friend introduced me to this and I know this will be fun. He's given me a lot of tips on how to do this. I don't have a lot of money to spend on this so I'm hoping to get the best bang for my buck. Could anyone recommend the perfect tools for a beginner like me?  I would also appreciate if anyone could drop a few tips. 

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Welcome to IFI... The best tip I can give you right now is to read this. READ THIS FIRST

Then start reading the sticky threads in the area that interests you. If we knew where in the world you are located we could suggest some blacksmithing groups to attend meetings, there is nothing better than hands on learning.

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Hi Sharp5! Well, first - you came to the right place for good info. TIP: Avoid YouTube for the most part - a lot of bad info there. Hard to weed that out to identify the good info.

Need more info from you to help answer your questions though. What will you be forging? Can I assume you are looking to buy or build a gas forge (this is the gas forge section of the website)? That can be a bit more expensive to make than solid fuel forges. But read the "Forges 101" thread in this same section to get an idea of what building a gas forge is all about.

Until then - just guessing to recommend you might need an anvil, a welder, tongs, gloves, goggles, wire brush, leather apron, or hammers.

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There's been a fad for fancy handmade hammers the last few years; however I'm still doing good work with the plain single jack I first bought used at a fleamarket for a couple of bucks 38 years ago...and buying used/cheap makes it easier for you to modify your tools as you don't have so much tied up in them...

If you are in the USA find the nearest ABANA Affiliate and start attending meetings.  We used to carpool 2 hours to SOFA meetings when I lived in Central Ohio. (Saved money and was a lot more fun stuffing the vehicle full of smiths and stopping at a fleamarket on the way for pie and postvises...)

Note a lot of us use the "unread posts" page so any new posts will show up on our radar no matter how many years the previous post was sitting around.

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