Newbie in Virginia

[choppertrike]

Hello All -
I'm choppertrike - the name comes from my hobby building VW based trikes from scratch using "found" materials (otherwise known as JUNK to most people).
Being a self taught fabricator, I like working with metal and I've always had a "curiosity" or "passing interest" in the blacksmith's art. I've had the forums bookmarked for a couple of years and have stopped by to lurk from time to time. It's something I have wanted to try "someday" when I had the chance.
Well "someday" came last month when my son called and asked if I could use an anvil in my trike building.The answer was YES. "There's also a blower-fan thing and a big funky vise." (his words.)
When he brought the items it really fired my latent interest so here I am. I've already learned a lot by reading the forums in the last few days, now for some background work (cleaning the items, building the forge, building vise and anvil stands) then I can try beating some HOT metal along with my usual "cut & weld".
I've already had a lot of fun just reading the forum, I can only imagine the fun I'm going to have soon!

[Marksnagel]

Hey Chopper! Welcome to IFI. Glad to have you here. Where abouts are you in VA? There are several guilds up there over the border. I'm in Hertford NC just south of Hampton Roads. Narrow down where you are a bit and we may be able to set you huntin in the right direction for some fellow smiths.

Again, glad to have you and look forward to seeing what you make. Pictures, lots of pictures.

Mark <><

[choppertrike]

Northern VA, about 60 miles west of DC

Pic of the items I'm starting with, in "as found" condition.

[jmccustomknives]

why can't I get lucky and find "junk" like that. :( I'm an "reformed" hot rodder. Building jigs and subframe connectors turned into bladesmithing which turned into blacksmithing. Good luck.

[Marksnagel]

Congrats, you are well on your way!

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. You did a splendid job of raising your boy, well done! You have a fine start on your smithy, decent looking anvil w/hardy, blower and tuyere W/clinker breaker, a nice looking leg vise needing some oil and loosening up, great score all round. The rest is just a matter of a little fabrication, some scrounging and playing with fire.

Do you have projects in mind? Small stuff, large, or? Just don't get too hung up on getting it "right" things like a forge only have to hold a fire and the work so you really don't need 1/4" plate or better for the table, wood works just fine packed with a couple inches of clay. Heck a hole in the ground works quite nicely. Take a look in the "show me your anvil" thread to get a look at how folk mount their anvils and take your pick.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask, we love good questions and enjoy answering them even if we just make stuff up.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Travis Covington]

Welcome,
You have some good groups up your way. Checkout Blacksmiths Guild of the Potomac http://www.bgop.org/ or Central Virginia Blacksmiths Guild http://www.cvbg.org/
They are both great groups and will be glad to assist you in your quest.

[choppertrike]

Thanks All for the encouragement, I'll check out the guilds in VA.


Here's some pics of some previous fabrication projects. As you can see I'm not without some skill and imagination.
Working with scrap, I usually take what I have and just see what IT wants to be.
I know this will change somewhat as I get into forging, I'll learn to plan more beforehand & then fire up.
As someone here said, (sorry I don't remember who - I've soaked up so much info here) "Think at the forge, Act at the anvil" (not a direct quote but that's the nugget of wisdom I got from it)

Now I'll head over to other sections to post my clean-up endeavors on my "starter kit".