Hello all. I thought i'd introduce myself after being on her for a little while. I'm Delboy from Kilkenny in Ireland. I got bitten by the blacksmithing bug back in Nov last year on a 4 day traditional ironwork course. Since then i have done a few day courses elsewhere and have recently completed setting up a forge in my shed out back. It's taken a while to get ti all set up, but in am happy now that i am well on the way to fulfilling my drea of being a blacksmith. I reckon in a few years i may be able to call myself one. :) Anyway, i'll put some photos of my forge and some work i've done up soon. Thought i'd better introduce myself firstly though. Great site and full of brilliant info for a starter. :)

Yet another smith from the Emerald Isle! Welcome!

Welcome. I'm also a raw beginner and already I've had tons of help and advice.

Welcome to the group

Welcome to IFI and to smithing. I look forward to seeing some of your work. :)

Welcome aboard Delboy glad to have you. You'll find quite a few smiths from Eire posting here. Pics are good, we LOVE pics.

Congratulations on getting a smithy up but I must disabuse you of the notion it's completed. A blacksmith's shop is never completed, you'll run out of room to pile happy mistakes before you believe it. There's the stock pile you'll have to collect along roads, allys, scrap yards, etc. etc. too. Any smith worth the title has several piles of iron and steel no rational non-smith would consider living near. Tools, a smith can't have enough tools let alone too many, you have to have racks, shelves, sheds and piles of tools, you'll need them. Oh yes lots of tools are a MUST!

Did anybody mention how addictive blacksmithing is? It is but I can quit any time I want to. I can!

Frosty The Lucky.

welcome to IFI.
Ireland is a good place to be starting smithing . there is a blossoming blacksmithing scene with lots of forge ins and what sounds like a great scene. see you around.

hi there delboy welcome to our very cool forum, i too have learned heaps off here, its brilliant, there is some serious knowledge aboard this ship :)

Thanks guys for the welcome! :) BTW Frosty, by "completed" i meant that i have my vise, anvil and hearth all set up . I find every time i want o make something new i have to make at least one tool to do it. I also have a good collection on scrap already and always on the lookout for more. :D I'm actually giong to a forge-in the weekend after next for two days. Really looking forward to it.