Newbie from Portsmouth, UK

[Kyra]

Hi, I'm Kyra. I'm not a Blacksmith yet. I have joined so that I can read through forum topics/ look at gallery/etc and gain knowledge.

I am a member of the BABA, but I’ve not been to any forge-ins yet.

I am currently saving to retrain. Mean while I am revising all I can and I have taken up jewellery making, to learn some manual skills.

I have just finished an admin temping job and am looking at volunteering opportunities; too keep me busy between paid roles. I won’t be able to get anything directly to do with Blacksmithing. So I am a bit torn between applying to help out in an arts centre/museum or joining the local forest volunteers to gain physical skills.

If anyone has any advice I’d love to hear it.

Thank you.

[Glenn]

There are just short of 1/4 million posts on IForgeIron so reading the site is a good way to gain knowledge. Most subjects have been discussed, so if you have questions, reply to that thread. If your question is specific, start a new thread with your question.

Click here to find one way to build a quick and easy forge for little or no cost. It can run on raw wood as a fuel if you can not locate coke, coal, or other solid fuels.

There are several UK smiths on the site that will reply to your post. They can better direct you to what is available in UK than I can being half a world away.

Welcome to IForgeIron.

[Steven Fabrizio]

Welcome to the IFI!!!

[Astro_Al]

Kyra, as far as advice goes, I think you need to do some forging before you know if its really what you want to do. Why not try a weekend taster course or something? Try to find any opportunity to give it a go. Secondly, try to set up a forge in a shed or wherever you can - it needn't be big, and can be done cheaply. There are a million things you can do by yourself to get into it - the net has more info than you could ever read, just start bashing and start asking questions!

I'm just up near Winchester. If you start trying to put a forge together, let me know, I have a spare leg vice that is sitting around. You can come and pick it up for nothing if you're passing. (Quite a small one, but its a start).

Good luck, Al.

[beth]

hi kyra - im not that near to you, but if your in the area let me know i would look on john b's british guild link on this forum, they run loads of courses some of them free, and they are great - will give you a brilliant idea of whats involved - i think jewellery is very cool way to learn about how metal moves too, i have done some myself when my kids were small and i could not get out, you can learn alot from working silver or gold.. if theres stuff you need to know, there are loads of friendly experts on here who are more than willing to share the joy!! good luck with you job apps :)

[John B]

Hi Kyra,
Welcome to the site, If you take a look at our website www.blacksmithsguild.com you can see what we are about, If we can help, please feel free to contact us.

Next year's courses will be up as soon as we know other dates that we have commitments for, and we can put up a viable schedule, places are already being provisionally booked for next year, and we hope to have some more useful to newcomers courses coming too. We can show you all the skills you need, what you do with them is up to the individual.

Enjoy your new path, and don't forget to support you New Forest Show, they have an excellent blacksmiths competition, Live and Static


Couple of pics for you

[Astro_Al]

John - who did the head? I think I saw that half finished when I was buying a tool from someone in my village...

Al.

[John B]

Sorry Al, all I know is that a young lady made it, she lived relatively locally, and I can't remember her name,

Here are some more pics of it, an excellent piece of metalwork.

[Astro_Al]

Yup, that's her. Was about 3/4 done when I saw it - came out great!

I should pop round and see what she's up to now...

Al.

[John B]

Yup, that's her. Was about 3/4 done when I saw it - came out great! I should pop round and see what she's up to now... Al.

You should, see if you can get her name so we can give her the credit she deserves, better still, get her to post a 'How to' on the site.

[Kyra]

Thank you for the warm welcome and advice.

I have been told to do a weekend course before. Unfortunately, I am not having a lot of luck with jobs at the moment and I wasn’t aware of free courses. I will defiantly be keeping an eye out for those, cheers.

Thank you for the help with setting up my first forge. Is it a good idea to just plough on with setting up a forge before I do a weekend course? I would like to, but I don’t think I’d know what to do once I have made one, lol.

The mad hatters amazing.

[John B]

Thank you for the warm welcome and advice. I have been told to do a weekend course before. Unfortunately, I am not having a lot of luck with jobs at the moment and I wasn’t aware of free courses. I will defiantly be keeping an eye out for those, cheers. Thank you for the help with setting up my first forge. Is it a good idea to just plough on with setting up a forge before I do a weekend course? I would like to, but I don’t think I’d know what to do once I have made one, lol. The mad hatters amazing.

Hi Kyra, Got no spare places until next year now on any taster days,

I would suggest at least having a chat and visit to someone who has some forging experience, and if possible a bit of a try to familiarise yourself with what you are embarking upon.

Do you have your own transport ? How far are you from Southsea? We have a couple of professional members located in the Forge at the rear of 38 Osborne Road, Southsea PO5 3LT who may help you if you ask nicely, tell them John from Westpoint mentioned them.

[Astro_Al]

I agree - find something, somewhere that'll give you some experience before you commit to something you are guessing you'll like.

Don't try building a forge until you know what you need and why you need it.

Best of luck, Al.

[beth]

kyra your 2 or 3 hours away i think from me, so southsea is def a better bet, and so are the proffesionals, but your welcome to come and mess about in my workshop if you find yourself down glos way, to see what you think . i would def reccomend like the othres that you try it all out a bit before you commit - trying it out certainly does not have to cost you anything. :)

[Ian]

Hi Kyra,
I run a small workshop on a City Farm in Stepney, Central London. I'd imagine that it's possible to get a train or something into London from Portsmouth pretty easily and there's a tube station five or ten minutes walk away from the Farm where I am in Stepney Green.

You are more than welcome to drop in if you can give me a bit of notice and I'll light a fire for you, show you a few things and give you a chance to have a go at least before you start shelling out anything.

My numbers 07899 780703 or you can email me at ian stuart lowe @ gmail.com (just remove the spaces) if you're interested

Best wishes

IAN

[John B]

John - who did the head? I think I saw that half finished when I was buying a tool from someone in my village...

Al.

Manage to track down a name, Jessica Bradley, I hope the info is correct. Here are the pics again for those that missed them

[Kyra]

I don’t have transport, but it won’t be hard to get to Southsea, I will phone the blacksmiths on Osborn Road, tomorrow. Thank you for all the offers; this is defiantly the friendliest profession going. I will let you know how it goes.

[Ian]

quote:

"this is defiantly the friendliest profession going...."

now that's my kind of typo :D