Sparky93 Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 Howdy all, I have been lurking around the forum for a few days now and decided I'd better post an introduction. I am going to college at Purdue University in West Lafayette Indiana, but my home town is in southern Indiana. My major is mechanical engineering technology, and I love the outdoors. I like to hunt, fish, hike, and just spend time outside. For a long time I have had a fascination with blacksmithing, when I was younger I dug a hole in the ground and tried to make it into a forge. I would like to construct a proper forge and try my hand at this, which leads into my first couple of questions. I already have access to an anvil, my dad shoes horses and has one for that. I would like to construct a simple, cheap forge to get started with. I am thinking a coffee can forge or paint can, whichever I can find first. Here is the site that I found with instructions on building a coffee can forge http://zoellerforge.com/coffee.html the fuel would be provided by a bernz-o-matic torch. Is there a simpler design that I should use? I eventually would like to try bladesmithing once I get the basics down, so would this forge be a good choice for that? Also what are some good beginner projects to get started with once I get my forge constructed? Thanks, C.M. Brown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fciron Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 Southern Indiana Meteor Mashers should be getting together the Sat. after Thanksgiving in Floyd Knobs, down towards Louisville. If you're nearby it would be worth a trip to talk to some folks in person. ptree on this board is the guy hosting things. He's very knowledgeable and there should be some other smart folks there too. (I'll be out of town.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
781 Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 Welcome Also Indiana Blacksmith Assoc and Ill. Valley Blacksmith Assoc are great groups to bleong to I have a friend who has used a bean can forge to do small projects at work. He has a job where he has to be there but there isnt much to do other than monitor some alarms and be there if there is a problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 May I commend to your attention "The Complete Modern Blacksmith" with tons of stuff you can make in it. Also the blueprints on this site and the iforge section over at anvilfire.com has a bunch of stuff to get started on---better hurry if you are going to make your Christmas presents this year! Note that a hole in the ground *is* a "proper forge" you just have to know how to use it properly! One of the micro forges would be a good place to start and you can do small bladesmithing and heat treating using them. I had a college student as a smithing student; he built a "regular" sized gas forge in a gas grill shell and kept it chained out back of his dorm with the other grills... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky93 Posted November 17, 2011 Author Share Posted November 17, 2011 @fciron - I'll be home for thanksgiving break, but I probably won't have time to make that trip. @ThomasPowers - LOL about the college students forge Thanks for the welcomes, I think I am going to try and put together my micro forge over thanksgiving break so I will post some pics of my progress if there is any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky93 Posted November 18, 2011 Author Share Posted November 18, 2011 What is a good cheap torch to use in a coffee can forge, it needs to be under $35 to stay in my budget. I like the looks of the bernzomatic JTH7, it has been about $25 on most sites but it is sold out everywhere. And it is the one they used in the plans and claimed about 2000 F from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtforge Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 You might also look into the Rocky Forge Blacksmith Guild 8 miles south of Lafayette, IN www.rockyforge.org It's also one of the Indiana Blacksmithing Associations satellite groups http://www.indianablacksmithing.org/satellite.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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