I want to get into blacksmithing.

[Monchan]

Aloha, I'm Monchan (didn't really introduce myself in the introductory forums heh) and I wish to get into blacksmithing.
First off, some background. I'm a college student from Hawaii, who has a friend that does a lot of DIY stuff (especially bows. He even wrote a book called 'backyard bowyer'). Back in high school, he would do a lot of wood work and metal work. He used to invite me over to his house and I would watch him do all kinds of crafts.
Long story short, now I wish to get into the blacksmithing field as a hobby. However, I have a few dilemmas that need advice:
1) I live in an apartment. Is blacksmithing even possible for me? (I don't have a garage, nor would security here allow me to setup a forge in the parking lot.
2) What metals are good for starters? Also, are recycled metals bad to use? (AKA old kitchen knives, utensils, etc.)
3) What items can substitute an anvil.
4) On average, how much money is used to maintain this hobby (starters and intermediates?)
5) Can most house hold items be used at blacksmithing tools? Can I use my nail hammer? Regular monkey wrench?

Mahalo for all your answers!

[Willis]

Volums have been written on those five questions. I suggest you get a copy of The $50.00 dollar knife shop by Wayne Goddard. There's a Basic need list at the end of chapter one.
As far as a place to set up. You might try one of those storage areas where you rent a space, keep you stuff there and ask the owner if you can set up occasionaly in an out of the way corner of the lot.

[Steve Sells]

cheap.. away from home? umm a local Volcano must have a Lava run you can borrow to supply heat? Sorry I could not resist...

How about setting up at a friends place? There are various fuels that can be used for a heat source, as well as fire pots, look around the forums here and see. Scrap metals are fine for many things, when we are beginning, we tend to ruin(burn up) a of of stock, so may as well keep the costs down until we get better. Welcome to the forum

[David Einhorn]

I don't think that you will be able to try metalworking in your apartment. If you can find someone nearby with space for you to use that would be good. Minimally you will need a heat source, a hammer, a pair of pliers, and a flat surface to hammer against. At least one person on this forum reported that while camping he used a campfire, a carpenter's hammer, a pair of pliers and a flat rock for a quick repair of something.

[HWHII]

Even though you live in a apartment you can still get started. I rent shop time to people just like you who want to see what it is all about. I also have artists who rent time in my shop because they travel alot or do not have a permanent shop set up. Look around for a steel fab shop in your area and you might be suprised what you find.

[ThomasPowers]

How much to run? Almost zero to thousands of dollars---depending. I've been running my hobby shop off of my "allowance" currently $20 a week for *all* my vices for the last 30 years and am just finishing off the 20x30 dirty forge extension on that allowance + christmas and birthday money + teaching fees and the occasional sale!

Note that you can build a micro forge based on a common plumber's propane torch and your whole smithing kit would fit into a 5 gallon bucket!

Anvils: any solid mass of steel can make an anvil. Avoid cast iron anvil shapped objects.

Actually in your case I would find the local smithing folks and make a deal to use their equipment/space. If you were in central NM I would offer my shop upon meeting you and determining if you were safe and worked well together. I already run an open shop some weekends for some of the local college kids.

[bajajoaquin]

Aloha, I'm Monchan (didn't really introduce myself in the introductory forums heh) and I wish to get into blacksmithing.
First off, some background. I'm a college student from Hawaii, who has a friend that does a lot of DIY stuff (especially bows. He even wrote a book called 'backyard bowyer'). Back in high school, he would do a lot of wood work and metal work. He used to invite me over to his house and I would watch him do all kinds of crafts.
Long story short, now I wish to get into the blacksmithing field as a hobby. However, I have a few dilemmas that need advice:
1) I live in an apartment. Is blacksmithing even possible for me? (I don't have a garage, nor would security here allow me to setup a forge in the parking lot.
2) What metals are good for starters? Also, are recycled metals bad to use? (AKA old kitchen knives, utensils, etc.)
3) What items can substitute an anvil.
4) On average, how much money is used to maintain this hobby (starters and intermediates?)
5) Can most house hold items be used at blacksmithing tools? Can I use my nail hammer? Regular monkey wrench?

Mahalo for all your answers!

I think that most of your questions have been answered, but let me give it a try in any case.

1. Smithing is possible for you, but not in your apartment. With the mirco-forge mentioned below, you might be able to set up on a lanai or something, but only if you were on the ground floor. The issues are flame and impact. You would need to have and contain a fire capable of heating steel to 1800 degrees, and you will be striking things with a hammer. That's way louder than walking around on a second-story apartment.

The suggestions about finding space are good, and you might also look at some other, oddball options. If you have a micro-forge, could you set up under a tree in the park? Is there an independent study program at a local college? Those are just two ideas that come to mind.

2. For starter metals, you can try lots of things, but the items you listed probably aren't good candidates. You generally want to start with mild steel. That will be easy to forge, and the most forgiving material readily available. The things you listed are stainless and high-carbon steels, and will be problematic.

Good places to look are Home Depot/Lowes/Hardware stores. These are expensive, relatively speaking, but you can get some limited stock for under $10. Next, you might try rebar scrap, but do some searches here. There are definitely issues with it. Next, try some local metal shops. Any places that make gates/window bars? You're not looking for sheet metal, but bar stock. Tell them what you're doing, and they can help you out, either with cheap/free material, or information.

3. An anvil is anything you use to pound metal on. You can't substitute anything for an anvil. You can, however, substitute lots of things for the familiar "London Pattern" anvil that most people think about. Any heavy (25-30lbs or greater) chunk of steel will work. Beyond that, it's a big discussion. I recommend you look in the anvils section, and do some browsing for threads where people want to make their own anvils.

You can find this kind of stuff by asking at the metal shops you're going to start checking out.

4. "Average" is not a good way of looking a things. How about "reasonable?" I just did some math, and you could start up for about $100:

ball peen hammer 24 oz or heaver (better than a claw hammer): $15
Propane torch: $20
Firebrick (found it on Amazon.com): $20
Scrap steel block for anvil (25 or 30 lbs): $20
Steel stock: $10
Hacksaw: $10
Vise grips: $10

That can be made much cheaper if you're a good scrounger. A ball peen hammer can be had at a garage sale or swap meet for $5 or less, steel stock may be free, you may have a hacksaw and vice grips (or get 'em cheap used). Your ongoing costs will be to cover propane and stock for forging. And upgrades.

Assuming you had the space, you could easily triple (or more) that starting cost, and have a pretty nice setup.

5) Household items can be used, but there's a big step up in quality if you make a couple small changes. Use a ball peen hammer rather than a claw (A claw hammer will work, as long as it doesn't have the cross-hatch pattern on the face). A monkey wrench won't work, but vise-grips will (although you'll really prefer really blacksmith tongs eventually). There's lots of threads here on vice grips, also called mole pliers, and you should check them out.

But the four things you really need are: Fire, hammer, anvil, material.

Good luck.

[arftist]

Make tongs for your first project. You don't need tongs to make tongs. There are instructions for tongs in most blacksithing books. A lot of beginers use a chunk of railroad track for an anvil. You can spend as very little money if you want. Make most of your own tools. It is great practice, plus you get the tools. Auto repair shops are a great place to get steel for free that is good for making blacksmith tools. Springs, torsion bars and rods, steering links and axels are all real good tool steels.

Two good books, The Edge of the Anvil and the Complete Modern Blacksmith. They both tell you what you need to get started, but the Complete Modern Blacksmith has more step by step illustrated tool making info.

Stop by large construction sites that apear to be neering completion. Speak to the Construction Supervisor, and ask if there is any scrap steel you can have. He will have to pay to get rid of it at the end of the job. He may give you bits of re-rod, left over bolts, and trim cuts from structural steel.

[OddDuck]

if you really have the bug to start, use clay instead of iron, the no-dry school clay you get at Michaels or other craft stores. Get a large anvil shaped chunk of wood, and a ball peen hammer. Start banging out your basic forms in clay and develop your hammer technique and basic skills that way. If anyone complains, tell 'em you're learning how to play drums. You should be able to set yourself up to do this for under ten bucks, and you don't have to ask anyones permission. If it appeals to you, seek out a smith on the island somewhere (there's gotta be at least one) and ask for lessons or use of space. Nice thing about clay, if you mess up, just roll it back into a bar and away you go again.

[Steve Shimanek]

You didn't say what island you are on.......depending on where you are, I may be able to direct you better. I am on Kauai and can also speak about Oahu.