Wishwon Posted June 2, 2005 Share Posted June 2, 2005 Hello everyone. I am so green at blacksmithing that I put golf course grass to shame. :oops: I don't have an anvil, or proper hammers, or those tongs in fact I don't have much of anything. At my work I have access to a machine shop and welding shop so I am planning on making my own forge. Is there any suggestions or link to good plans from you guys? I want to make a forge that will create minimal smoke (neighbours) and a respectable size (so I can make larger objects as well) but doesn't need to be huge (my wife insists that she should be able to park in the garage, silly sweetheart) Is there a good affordable forge to purchase out there? Good supply stores with good prices that will ship up in Canada. etc good basic tools to start out with. Anything... please help :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimG Posted June 2, 2005 Share Posted June 2, 2005 check out http://www.iforgeiron.com/Blueprints01/BP0133_55forge/BP0133.shtml for plans on how to build a forge from a 45 gallon barrel. The smoke a forge creates is more dependant on the fuel and fire control skill of the operator than forge design. Now the hood that carries said smoke away is a different story. And NEVER EVER EVER call your shop a "garage" the next thing you know after calling it that someone will want to park a car in it! What part of Canada you in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvillain Posted June 2, 2005 Share Posted June 2, 2005 Dear Wishwon: It appears you have been afflicted with that desire to heat & beat iron things. Welcome to the club. I've got good news and bad news. You know something about the stuff lying around machine shops, so you may find any number of things that could serve as an anvil. An end of a large shaft standing vertically will give you better rebound than a real anvil many times its weight. In fact one of the most famous knife makers I know uses a 4"or 5" square bar for some real serious hammering. I have a huge hammer head a neighbor gave me that would serve as a good anvil, so keep an open mind and your eyes open too. A pair of channel lock pliers will pick up all kinds of hot things till you gain the skill to make your own. Those huge arrays of hammers you may have seen hanging on walls are beautiful and desirable, but mostly thay are not necessary. I would recommend a cross peen of about 1 1/2 lbs to start and you will use it for 90 % of light to medium work. Don't even think about large jobs for now, that will take care of itself in time. The forge is not quite as quickly done but the previous post would give you one way to do that. If you want a quick one that don't smoke and requires no blower get a gas weed burner and a couple of small lp tanks and build an oven out of fire bricks on a substantial metal table. Do this outside and only as a temporary set up, no use dying for lack of Oxygen. ANY forge gas, coal or otherwise could kill you in close quarters without proper ventilation. Thats about all the good news. The bad news is your wife will probably always think the car should go in the garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wishwon Posted June 2, 2005 Author Share Posted June 2, 2005 I live in Calgary, I know about calling the WORKSHOP a garage but that damage has been done already. doh! Anvillain I am unclear what you mean by An end of a large shaft standing vertically will give you better rebound than a real anvil many times its weight. just like a thick peice of stock 4-5 inches wide and maby a few inches thick, on a stand? Or about 3 feet tall all the way to the floor? I can maby get a peice like this. Is it hard of soft metal? My shop I work at has lots of scrap peices, maby they will let me take it home. I was looking at some of your pics of knives on this page and they were very nice... I have a long road to get to your guy's level. I found out about a guy here that makes knives so maby I can hook up with him and have a blacksmith buddie. Good idea about the channel locks, I have many of them. I was thinking would auto body hammers be a good investment? Or are they too small? You guys might like some of the tools that I have made in the machine shop I work at. Thankyou for all the advise and ya I must work on my wife about this. Edit: Quote removed from post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimG Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 Well your in luck being in Calgary, there is a great bunch of smiths there, only second to the great bunch here in Saskatchewanhttp://www.wcbg.org/index.php Should get you in touch with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvillain Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 Wishwon: I could have been more descriptive. It kind of depends on what you do find. But think of it like this, there have been a lot little anvils made out of short scraps of railroad iron. but used in the horizontal position as such it is pretty bouncy. But if you had a longer piece, say 3 foot, it might weigh 40 lbs ( ? ) in the vertical postion you would be hitting on the end and it would be very good then. Lots of rebound is good, that means when you hit the hot metal with your hammer the "anvil" hits back and you can really move some metal. I was amazed by the rebound once when I first started forging, I missed hitting where I wanted and the hammer made a solid hit on the anvil without there being any soft hot iron between the two. The hammer came back up so fast I narrowly got out of the way as I was kind of leaning over the work. I assume you were referring to JimG about the knives, I have a few pics of candleholders in the gallery, but no knives. I don't know what a body hammer is but I would just start with a blacksmith's hammer. In my humble opinion the cross peen is probably the most useful and versatile. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 Wishwon, I have edited your post to remove the quote referring to the post imediatley above your reply. The quote is unnecessary as we just read what you are quoting and there is usually no need to read it again. If your reply refers to a comment made 3 or 4 posts back, please use the quotes to refresh our memory on what is being addressed. Not the entire post, but just the specific subject. Please do not take this personally in any way, it is just trying to make the forum flow a little better as it is being read. Thank you for your cooperation and please continue to post as often as you wish. Glenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wishwon Posted June 3, 2005 Author Share Posted June 3, 2005 haha no hurt feelings at all mate. Thanks for all your guy's help!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wishwon Posted June 4, 2005 Author Share Posted June 4, 2005 here are some auto body hammershttp://www.mytoolstore.com/wilmar/prod039.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandpile Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 WISHWON: I have been using an old Diamond Rounding hammer for thirty years. I have lost some but always go get another.. You can find them at farriers supplys and livestock feed stores. They cost from thirty plus dollars to thirty eight or so, depends on where you find them. They are a very good smithing all purpose hammer. A cross pien of two or three lbs. would make a good second hammer. Good Luck Sandpile Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAG Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 Keeping the forge smoke down, can be done by switching from the usual bituminous smithing coal to anthracite coal, or metallurgical coke. A lot of smiths use coke, for forging, in the calgary area. (so ask them about the fine points). The suggested forge fuels require almost constant forced air. And the firebox, ideally, should be thicker walled than the standard ones. Good luck, Regards to all, SLAG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wishwon Posted June 7, 2005 Author Share Posted June 7, 2005 slag you from Canada or just know people here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAG Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 Mr. Wishwon, I live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Where are you from? SLAG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wishwon Posted June 8, 2005 Author Share Posted June 8, 2005 Calgary Also known as God's Country Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wishwon Posted June 29, 2005 Author Share Posted June 29, 2005 well I got my hunk of steel for my anvil. It measures 11.5 inches by 8 inches by 6 inches. Man that thing is heavy :shock: now I am going to build the stand for it. After that it will be creating my forge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted June 29, 2005 Share Posted June 29, 2005 Each year Calgary hosts the worlds blacksmithing competition,,,either the week before or the week following the stampede......try and atten,,,Youi will see the worlds best at work...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wishwon Posted June 30, 2005 Author Share Posted June 30, 2005 Ya I heard that I will be attending for sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wishwon Posted July 3, 2005 Author Share Posted July 3, 2005 I have a question I have my stated peice of steel. Now I was thinking (yes that condition afflicks me once in a while) if I were to drill a hole into that block, then make some different shaped peices of steel (rounded, sharp edges etc) with a post welded to the middle of the bottom of these peices that fits in the hole. Then I can interchange these peices with different shapes on top of my anvil, and bang against those shapes with the metal that I am using. Would this be a good idea?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted July 3, 2005 Share Posted July 3, 2005 my hunk of steel for my anvil measures 11.5 inches by 8 inches by 6 inches. Rather than drill into the steel, see if you can get a piece of heavy wall sq tubing and have it welded to the side of the anvil block. You can make the anvil tools with the hardie post attached to the side and the tool can rest on the steel block. A sq hole that will keep things from turning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wishwon Posted July 5, 2005 Author Share Posted July 5, 2005 wouldn't the eventually bend after a bit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 The anvil tool is resting on the anvil. The hardie post is attached to the side of the anvil tool, and fits into the hardie hole that was welded onto the side of your block of steel being used for an anvil. The hardie post just holds the tool in position. The actual anvil tool sits on top of the anvil and the anvil takes all the impact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wishwon Posted July 6, 2005 Author Share Posted July 6, 2005 ahhh I see... ya that is a better idea, then I have more space to bend the metal. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ertwdan Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 Getting started in smithing in Canada eh?...well here's a few sources for the cheaper tools to get rolling ..Princess Auto has a not bad (not great) 70lb Anvil available that sure beats nothing. They also have several hammers and a good selection of vise-grips to get rolling. As far as coal, you can get smithing coal from Home Hardware anywhere in Canada...just get your local dealer to contact Len Dykesterhuis (I believe that's his name) at the head office in St Jacob's Ont...They provide the transportation for a local smithing supply place called Thak the Blacksmith....I've gotten a quoted price of $22/70 lb bag delivered to Northern Ontario....hope this helps..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wishwon Posted July 7, 2005 Author Share Posted July 7, 2005 yes that helps. I am not sure it would be the same price for coal in Albera, but it should be cheaper. Coal is everywhere here. I will look into princess for the "accesory" tools for sure. They seem to have a bit of everything in that place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angie Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 Hello, I'm the wife of Thak (Robb) and came across our name in this forum. We can also help you with supplies etc. We sell much of what you are looking for and ship across Canada. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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