mmondaca Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 Hello my name is Mario Mondaca and I'm in Tucson, Arizona. I recently started (about 1~2 months ago) interested in blacksmithing and I believe I have accomplished a lot in this short time. I have a coal forge set up. I started with a brake drum and a cowboy from Colossal cave was generous enough to give me his forge and some basic tools. The forge uses a leaf blower with a small pipe system to regulate the flow with a butterfly valve. My current Anvil is a rail road piece stuck on a short stump forcing me to work sitting down. I'm still trying things out, I bought some steel springs from the scrap yard. I cut one (very badly...heh took me around 10 heats), straighten it and shaped it as a chisel. However, I did not anneal it or temper it and the tip snapped off =( but the piece is big enough to make a new tip and this time I will try and temper it correctly. My main interest right now is tool making and decorative work but a friend of mine is very interested in knifes and hes been a real help around the forge (hes better built than me and does a great job as a striker =D ) If you guys could maybe suggest some basic projects I would love to hear them, anything and everything to help me get started and keep the forge going would be great help =D! If you are in Tucson and would like to come by and use the forge, its not great...but it works for most basic jobs =) I would like to acknowledge all the amazing Blacksmiths and cowboy that have helped me these last months. My deepest appreciation for their great help and support. I would not be where I am if not for their help, thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 The Arizona Artist Blacksmith Association has some members out that way---you should look them up and try to attend some meetings. I used to carpool to SOFA meeings when I was living 2 hours away---a lot cheaper and more fun to travel in a group! http://az-blacksmiths.org/ Sounds like you could profit from a copy of "The Complete Modern Blacksmith" abebooks.com shows several for under $15 *shipped*. It's a great book to get started from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
781 Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 Welcome to the group As Thomas said jion the AZ blacksmiths. You can learn a lot faster watching someone who knows what they are doing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWHII Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Way to go Mario! Welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmondaca Posted November 17, 2011 Author Share Posted November 17, 2011 Thank you so much, I'm currently reading The art of Blacksmithing and Basic Blacksmithing by David Harries but I will definitively check out that book. Last night I reshaped my chisel's tip and now I'm wondering how to avoid the issue from last time. Should I anneal it and harden it if I'm going to use it for hot steel or should I keep it malleable? Me and my friend also tried a knife out of a square stock (one of those fence square poles) and it looks a bit rough, but it was nice working with a softer steel for a change. I've also noticed a lot of terminology from the forums about steel using numbers. Is there a good place to get some of these terms as far as the steel quality? Thank you all for your help, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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