August 11, 201015 yr 40 something from Spring Texas, I've always had an interest in 'old' and 'different' things and the DIY thing. Started trying to repair & clean out my grandfathers barn, and stumbled on some old farm tools, which rekindled some interest in smithing, off to google I went and here I am. Doing some family research at the same time, found out the family patriach had been a smith, prior to immigrating to the states in the 1840's, and that one of his sons had taken up the trade. Unfortunately it seems the smithy was torn down early/mid 1900's, my grand father having vague memories of working the bellows. ...going to try to build a charcoal based forge out of a 25 gal drum, similar to the Lively's wash-tub design using local sources. Ie: Clay dug from my small retention pond. Using charcoal due to the availability of wood. Plenty of pine & oak after storms, to the point that we've got more than we can do anything with.
August 11, 201015 yr Howdy from East TEXAS!! and welcome to IFI! I lived in Spring, TX, about 100yrs ago... My Dad was raised in the Willis area and we still have family there. Check out the HABA group. Excellent bunch of smiths and always enjoy having new folks join them. Their site http://habairon.org/ If you ever get up to the Longview area give me a holler, my shop is always open.
August 15, 201015 yr Author Unfired as of yet, working on an air source. Pit is 5 1/4" deep... I'll fire it, do a test run and see if I need to cut out a section out of the wall for a better height in the coals. Updated 'forge' shot...& and where it's going to call 'home'.
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