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I Forge Iron

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Posted

ok me and my brother dewayne are from south carolina, i come from a long line of blacksmiths but my grandfather took all his secretes to the grave so there is a generation gap from my grandfather to me, my dad refuses to help us in any way and wont let us even touch our grandfathers uncompleted progress untill we have some experiance. so to make it short we are brand new to the blacksmithing world and would like any tips possible that may help us, from being able to use scrap metal to makeing swords or knifes. anything will do, thank you for your help

Posted

Your father probably has a good idea in that the un-completed items were done after years of experience by your Grandfather and might not be a good starting place for new smiths---however they might be a great series of projects to try to duplicate on your own!

My Great Grandfather was a smith and I don't have *anything* made by him and have only seen some "quick and dirty" items he forged during the great depression. So you at least have something more than I do!

Posted

well i wasnt going to jump right into making weapons right away, i already know that it takes several years to actualy make a good sword and such. thats why we're going to start out small and experiment with metals and making different items. but the main problem i have is building a forge. i have a bunch of things lieing around the house from a charcoal girl to a smoker. and im trying to use the materials i have onhand to make a good enough forge to withstand heat. i dont have alot of money to spend on this and its just going to be a hobby not a profession as far as i planed it out. so if there is any way yall can point me in the right direction to makeing a cheap but durable forge out of anything (perferably a wood buring) then that would help me out a great bunch

Posted

It's all been discussed on this forum *many* times! May I commend to you the search function!

As to expense I once assembled an entire beginner's set up for under US$25 including a forge, blower, anvil and basic tools. That forge was my favorite one for welding up damascus billets too! Also the most esoteric tool I used was a 1/4" electric drill. (that tale has been posted here several times as well...good hunting!)

Posted

Start small. See if you dad will let you use the basic tools that are left - forge anvil tongs. You are going to want to MAKE tooling after making some trinkets (j-hooks, s-hooks, leaf key fobs, etc) Keep some of these first projects so you know where you started. Practice hammer control, leaving very few hammer marks, and moving metal in a way you want to.

Most of all HAVE FUN!!

As for the unfinished projects of your grandfather, leave those be but instead replicate them separately to the same level of finish, then decide - with your dad - if you are going to finish them or be happy with your reproductions.

Phil

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