Ok, heres the deal: I'm new to this site and am a mediocre blacksmith on a 15 year old's budget and need some plans, tips, pointers, advice and all the help that I can get. Iv'e made a few sword's, knives, and a few of my own tools, such as a welder's chipping hammer, but they're all crude. my friend and I are really getting into this and need schematics to guide us. Thanks for reading and I hope I haven't wasted your time.Please post.:)

Not sure what you mean by "schematics".. Perhaps the Blueprint Section of IFI would be of help. Also check out the "Lessons in Metalworking > Blacksmithing" page. Good luck.

forget the knives and swords for now and learn to smith first, once you learn the basics then you can do anything you want.

tx11- i'm eldorado- so close-listen to irn and gerold and get with her-is hard but lots o good knowledge here-an welcome, jimmy

Have you used your local library to ILL books like "The Complete Modern Blacksmith" and "The Complete Bladesmith"?

(Note: I'd suggest getting to be a decent smith before going onto blades---lot better to make your mistakes on S hooks than swords!)

If blades it must be have you though of taking classes at the American Bladesmith Society school up by Texarkana?

I'm newer than you.

Try this thread in this forum...( I hope this link works)

http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/free-blacksmithing-books-web-2032/

One of the best books you can buy is Country Blacksmithing by Charles McRaven.The book is out of print but you can still get a copy.Over the years I have read alot of blacksmithing books but none the equal of this for a beginner.

Where there is smoke, there is fire.

its been re published the new title is "The Blacksmiths Craft" I got one from Amazon for like $14.00 plus shipping ...about $10.00 cheaper than ebay.

Lessons in Metalworking > Blacksmithing > LB0008 Reference Material

Lessons in Metalworking > Blacksmithing > LB0008.0001 Reference Material

nice saying, Glenn. that's very true because today i rigged a propane pear burner to act as a forge while im waiting for a shipment of coal.:D

Texassmith11, Welcome! Ask questions, study the projects in the "blueprints".
Also Anvilfire has projects, called "I forge" , That's where I first started,
then I found this site and WOW! This is great! I've made some projects here and
was enthused to make other things of my own. I hope you enjoy this site,
the people here are both informative and friendly, good luck!

Thanks for the link. I love it and already have 3 projects in mind. But now to the point:
I am using a piece of railroad track as an anvil with the bottom facing up and welded pieces of square channel iron on the ends to hold it up. It works great, but I need a hardy hole. Any ideas on how to modify my anvil?

Pictures if you need them:

these are a few of my pieces. please judge them and tell me what you think my skill level is.

Photo 1
this is a chipping hammer i made from rebar

Photo 2
a fishing spear with a pine shaft that i stained myself

Photo 3
an unfinished bowie knife

Photo 4
not quite finished grilling fork thing that i'm making for my mom

Two more pieces:

Photo5
my foot is size 15 mens

Photo 6
from point to point the blade is 10 inches wide

You are doing fine, I'd say. Since you seem to have welding capabilities I would stiffen the anvil by welding in some support along the web. Some 1/2" thick by 1 1/2" would help a lot.
For a hardy hole could you weld up some heavy pieces on the sides or end? Since you enjoy big stuff how about making a punch and putting the size you wnat through a piece of 1" or more then mount on a vice or stump or weld into the end of a piece of track and stand it up.
Standing the track up and using the end is a pretty good Idea anyway. puts more metal beneath your hammer where it counts the most.

Hi! I'm planning to get some rail for an anvil too. I wasn't thinking of having it upside down. Don't you loose too much of the impact by not having any direct support from below?

Because if it's upside down, you have a much nicer and larger face to work on!

Attached is a quick sketch of a rail anvil with a good weight/length ratio.

This is how rail is stacked to store, ship, etc. and it's a good way to tripple the weight without appreciably lengthening the anvil. It also gives you a good flat face that's backed by the rails beneath.

The horn can be shaped by simply leaving one bottom rail long and shaping as desired, it'll be offset to one side but that isn't really important to performance.

If you leave both bottom rails long on the heal end you'll have a rounded valley that'll serve as a bending and swaging shape.

This is a welded unit and rail being high carbon you'll need to observe proper pre-heat, welding and cooling practices.

It isn't perfect by a long shot but it makes a good servicable anvil.

Frosty

In general you really only need as much anvil face as you can cover with your hammer's face. To get good performance from a chunk of rail, stand it up on end in a bucket of concrete and use the crosssection to hammer on---puts all of the mass *under* the hammer and not beside it. If you are talented with a welder you could do a full penetration weld of a piece of steel to make the face nice and square.

great ideas guys. thanks.

Your work is coming along nicely Texas, I like the "axe"!
As for the hardy hole, I see you weld, do you have a cutting torch?
You could cut a hole in the webbing, and to be "accurate" drill 4 holes
at the 4 points of the square and with the torch connect the holes.
Or take square tube and steel plate, weld pieces of plate around the tube
then weld to the anvil grind the welds and you now have a hardy!
good luck & keep "forging on!" ;)

Im trying to get ideas for pieces for a craft show in November. I have a few I could make from anvilfire.com's iforge, but I need more. Help?

IForgeIron.com > Blueprints

Pictures of my new coal forge that I built. Unfortunately,my coal hasn't come in yet:mad:, so im using hardwood charcoal from LOWES, and it's working well enough.

Like Glenn said, The blue prints in this site will be of great value, also for ideas, the gallery may also help. I have even gotten ideas from items found on "e bay" under "blacksmith" hey, it may sound funny, but it works ;)

I like going to ABANA chapter meetings and finding out what other local smiths are having luck selling; most of them I've run into will coach you on how to do it too!