Jason McD Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 Hey everyone, Jason McDonald, 29, Corning, NY. After a month of reading the wealth of information here, I figured it was time to introduce myself. I'm just getting started in blacksmithing. What drew me to it was the passions for old tools, and working with my hands. I've spent my adult life working primarily in manufacturing (forming semi molten glass for a living for the last 3 years). After stumbling across this site and others, I started looking more deeply into blacksmithing and the only way I know to describe it was that a fire was sparked inside me that has started becoming a full blown obsession, sometimes to my fiance's dismay, :-). I built myself a charcoal forge out of firebrick and a cast iron cess pool grate. I found myself a chunk of rail road track that I bedded in a bucket of sand, probably will mount it in concrete at some point this weekend as I'm not how well the sand will work. I even stumbled across a completely intact, albeit rusty, 50# post vice at the local scrapyard! Thank you to all the experienced smiths on here for being willing to share your knowledge for betterment of the craft and so that others like myself may learn and perhaps someday pass the knowledge on in similar fashion. Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njanvilman Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 Welcome aboard. Try to find a local group or blacksmith to show you the basics. Watching and learning is the best way to learn. Think of your tools as renting them for the duration. Most of them will never loose any value. If you stop blacksmithing, you can always sell them and get your money back. Have fun, and be careful. Safety practices apply all of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
781 Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 Welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedefiddle Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 Good Morning, Welcome to our world, from the Left Coast. If you have a problem with the sand moving, take a piece of plywood that is quite a good fit inside your pail. Mount your anvil to the plywood with whatever. To adjust the height, add or subtract sand. K.I.S.S. When you get tired of the pail, make a wood box and do the same thing. Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Olivo Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 welcome to this obsession. Anvilfire has some good stuff about making a usable anvil out of rail road track. Can't wait to see what you create. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason McD Posted December 14, 2013 Author Share Posted December 14, 2013 Thanks you for the welcome guys. I appreciate all the advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 Jason, look up the new york state designer blacksmiths, I was a part of that group, they are great! They meet at the arc and flame center in Rochester, Candace and Brian do a great job running the meetings. Also there is a southern tier chapter, great guys down there as well. Welcome to the group! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenskpr Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Hey, Jason. Just north of you here near Syracuse. Also new to the -iforgeiron- community. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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