A question on advice

[nogrodoth]

So looking through these forums I've been finding a lot of really good advice on how to start out forging and learn the correct basics, but is there any advice you've seen widely given that is either not entirely correct or is detrimental in some way, so I can know what not to follow?

[teenylittlemetalguy]

Everything that someone says will have pros and cons when it comes time to apply advise. The best thing is to get in there and start making (minor) mistakes. Experience is the best teacher.
One thing that was poor advise for me was the typical anvil height. I personally do much better work with my anvil just a bit higher. But if I was doing a lot of items over 1" square I would have to lower it.

[nogrodoth]

thank you teenylittlemetalguy

I just realized this is in the wrong section, I apologize

i don't know if I can move it

 

topic moved to general blacksmithing

[Bob S]

So looking through these forums I've been finding a lot of really good advice on how to start out forging and learn the correct basics, but is there any advice you've seen widely given that is either not entirely correct or is detrimental in some way, so I can know what not to follow?

 

If you actually light a fire and do some real forging the good advice will reveal itself to you. At some point you have to try.

 

Mistakes are cool.

 

Just as a rule of thumb I would advise not doing anything Frosty says.  :P

[Glenn]

After you put the advice to use, you will figure out what works for you. When the same fellow posts good ideas that YOU can use, you will learn to trust his advice more and more.  

 

Bad advice or bad ideas are usually corrected in the next couple of posts.  IForgeIron encourages this for safety reasons.  We want you to avoid injury.  We also want you to succeed so there may be several suggestions made by several members to give you a choice of ways to do something. Try them all and choose what works best for you, Keep the rest as second choices on how to do things. 

[joshua.M]

If you actually light a fire and do some real forging the good advice will reveal itself to you. At some point you have to try.

 

Mistakes are cool.

 

Just as a rule of thumb I would advise not doing anything Frosty says.  :P

 

Im telling him you said that! :P

[nogrodoth]

K. I'll hopefully get to start actually forging for the first time in the next couple days, thank you all:)

[Quarry Dog]

The following is advice derived from things I did or saw within my first month, that seem to be reinforced by a lot of the stories from the older guys:

• Don't put your thumb on the back of the handle.  It'll make your arm sore and has a good chance of causing injury long term.
• Don't hold the hammer or tongs with a death grip.  It will make your wrist sore.
• Don't grab anything without thoroughly investigating it first.  Everything in a blacksmith shop is Hard, Hot, Heavy, and/or Sharp.  You will immediately know when you break this rule.
• It takes longer to get even the loosest hot glove off than it does to drop a piece of steel.  You lose a lot of dexterity and heat sensitivity when you wear gloves.  Use at your own risk.
• Use eye and ear protection at all times until you're sure what your doing is safe, and even then you do so at your own risk.
• Be careful where you point the hammer.  Hand's don't hold up as well as even the hottest steel.
• High performance equipment means the potential for a high performance malfunction.  Use electric/belt/gas/water/non-human powered equipment at your own risk.
• You only have one chance to overbuild something.  After that any work done to it is just fixing it, and that usually takes longer.
• Don't be a tool, use the right one for the job.  It makes your job easier and more fun.
• Don't smack cold steel or a shadow in hot steel, It's a good way to end up with 2 pieces of steel, instead of the 1 piece that you were holding.
• Learn from others successes as well as their failures and mistakes.

If what you're hearing doesn't conflict with any of these, there is a chance it might be right. Correct me on any of these statements if I'm wrong.

[joshua.M]

• Don't grab anything without thoroughly investigating it first.  Everything in a blacksmith shop is Hard, Hot, Heavy, and/or Sharp.  You will immediately know when you break this rule.

 

Not necessarily, i have grabbed hard/hot/heavy/sharp and your immediate reaction isn't always to drop it, sometimes it shocks you and yo hold on longer.

 

One thing I would add is not to tray and grab anything that falls, you wont necessarily catch it where you plan on catching it

 

Josh

[Frosty]

Thanks Josh! Nogrodoth: you should believe everything Bob tells you. He's NEVER wrong. :rolleyes:

 

Different things work for different people, that's what makes this an art. Glenn has the right of it, try different things, pick what works and develop your own methods THEN tell us what you did and how it worked.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Dale M.]

Not necessarily, i have grabbed hard/hot/heavy/sharp and your immediate reaction isn't always to drop it, sometimes it shocks you and yo hold on longer.

 

One thing I would add is not to tray and grab anything that falls, you wont necessarily catch it where you plan on catching it

 

Josh

 

 

You will also find that no matter what end of the piece you pick up, it will be the hot end....Never quite figured that one opu

 

The following is advice derived from things I did or saw within my first month, that seem to be reinforced by a lot of the stories from the older guys:

• Don't put your thumb on the back of the handle.  It'll make your arm sore and has a good chance of causing injury long term.
• Don't hold the hammer or tongs with a death grip.  It will make your wrist sore.
• Don't grab anything without thoroughly investigating it first.  Everything in a blacksmith shop is Hard, Hot, Heavy, and/or Sharp.  You will immediately know when you break this rule.
• It takes longer to get even the loosest hot glove off than it does to drop a piece of steel.  You lose a lot of dexterity and heat sensitivity when you wear gloves.  Use at your own risk.
• Use eye and ear protection at all times until you're sure what your doing is safe, and even then you do so at your own risk.
• Be careful where you point the hammer.  Hand's don't hold up as well as even the hottest steel.
• High performance equipment means the potential for a high performance malfunction.  Use electric/belt/gas/water/non-human powered equipment at your own risk.
• You only have one chance to overbuild something.  After that any work done to it is just fixing it, and that usually takes longer.
• Don't be a tool, use the right one for the job.  It makes your job easier and more fun.
• Don't smack cold steel or a shadow in hot steel, It's a good way to end up with 2 pieces of steel, instead of the 1 piece that you were holding.
• Learn from others successes as well as their failures and mistakes.

If what you're hearing doesn't conflict with any of these, there is a chance it might be right. Correct me on any of these statements if I'm wrong.

 

All the above  points  apply....

Only thing I never figured out was why what ever end of piece of metal I pick up is always the hot end....

 

Dale

[Quarry Dog]

You will also find that no matter what end of the piece you pick up, it will be the hot end....Never quite figured that one opu

Yeah, that's how I learned my lesson about heat, I was drawing out the reins for a set of "easy" tongs from 1 piece of 3/8" * 3/4" and grabbed the end that I was sure was cool.  2 seconds later I had a 3/8" stripe across all 4 fingers and right up the middle of my thumb on my tong hand.  Next week I did the same thing with a hot piece with a welding glove with a relaxed fit and a piece I'd just welded together.  I thought it was cooler than it was, until I couldn't get the glove off fast enough.  My hammer hand looked like I put it on an electric stovetop.  I now thoroughly investigate, gloved or not, usually by taking the glove off first and checking for radiant heat.

[Rich Hale]

i think this is a great question and Glad you asked.

i read a a lot for advice nearly every day here,,,and some of wot is written is backed up by lack of forge time..  Some of it is simply from wot they have seen written  on the net and not from anything they have worked out in the shop. Some of that can be good, If the source they use is mentioned it indeed works. Some of it not so much..

If you stick around here you can sort ouit the keyboard smiths from working smiths.

I find that if I look at profiles and do a little research it helps me to pay close attention to. And if you are interested ask them for a few pictures of wot they have done that relates to your question.

Fpr me I learn new things in several ways..the best is if I see it done..then I can spend shop time to see how it works for me. Second best is reading,,then time in shop....then reading again. Pictures of finished work help me with this,,as it provides a goal..A great tool is a printer..print out pages and take them to shop..Finished product,,,how to instructions. and add pics of your work,,,keep these in a binder and now and then repeat the same project as yoiu skill develop and look back at yoiur prior pics and notes and see if you are progressing. Work on basics and then move forward....Keep us posted.

[eseemann]

The reflex to catch something that is falling is what hurts the most. I have a rule, if I working and it is falling let it fall! And if you use Borax flux make sure you are covered where it might splatter on you. The burn lasts for weeks.