July 6, 201213 yr Hello everyone. I was told about this forum by the smith who gave me my first lessons on Blacksmithing and sold me my anvil. I want to get acquainted with more smiths in my area and learn as much as possible as well as get advice and tips from you guys. As I mentioned before I do have an anvil, I also have a space for a smithy but I'm still working on buying/building my forge. Any advice on forge making would be greatly appreciated along with any other advice Matt
July 6, 201213 yr Hey Matt, Welcome aboard! You can gain a sigificant volume of knowledge about the dos and don'ts of forge construction and/or purchasing by reading through some of the threads in the forge section of the site. Here is a link to the solid fuel forges. Solid fuel being coal, charcoal, anthracite, coke. . . corn. . . pecan shells:http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/64-solid-fuel-forges/ Here is a link to the gas fueled(propane or natural gas) forges section:http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/65-gas-forges/ Go through them and try to find subject lines that look like a question you want to ask, there is a lot of information in them! A good thread is the "Show me your forge" thread. It is rather picture heavy and also long, but it will show you just what working forges can look like. Caleb Ramsby
July 7, 201213 yr Welcome What part of Richmond are you from ? You may want to check out the central virginia blacksmith guild
July 7, 201213 yr My advice is to join a local blacksmith guild or three, and take a few courses either in Virginia or Maryland. - Central Virginia Blacksmith Guild http://cvbg.org/ - Blacksmith Guild of the Potomac http://www.bgop.org/ - Blacksmith Guild of Central Maryland http://www.bgcmonline.org/ - Mid-Atlantic Smiths Association http://masametalsmiths.org/ - Tidewater Blacksmith Guild http://tidewaterblacksmiths.com/index.html
July 7, 201213 yr Author Alright, I'll look into those, thank you. Also I know its probably above my skill set right now but can anyone offer advice on forging my own hammer. I can't find one that I like in a store and the ones online are over $100 so I would prefer to make one, plus I would like to know I made my own hammer. Any help is greatly appreciated
July 8, 201213 yr Author Yet another question, sorry I have so many. I think I'm going to make my own firepot, would y'all suggest a square or rectangular one? I feel like the rectangle would be better because I could heat longer pieces better, but I am not sure if I'm correct in this assumption. Thoughts?
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