Helvete Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 I'm brand spanking new to this, but not new to working with metal in general. I've been working in machine shops off and on for 9 years, strangely starting out in a shop that solely fabricated tungsten carbide tooling. Currently I machine various mild steel, stainless, aluminum, tooling steel, and softer metals on conventional mills and lathes. My forum photo is the gearbox for a 1957 Brown & Sharpe surface grinder that I recently rebuilt. That being said, I've been talking about smithing for all this time and finally built an extremely sturdy (as in, overkill) forge that I hope will survive for the next 500 years. It has a 3/8" base plate and 1/4" walls. I'll be firing it up soon and practicing with working out some of the steel drops I'm able to get from work. I probably won't ask a lot of questions as I'm not a newbie to using forums and know it can be a pain to answer the same questions over and over for those established members. "The search button is your friend" What made me decide to finally stop talking and start doing was my recent procurement of some meteorite fragments. It may be years before I'm able to work those into a blade or something similar but I have to start with the basics. I tested their hardness--92 with diamond cone on the Rockwell! I don't know if I'm going to be able to do anything with them at all but one day I'll try! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njanvilman Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Welcome to IFI. We love photos here. Please keep us informed how you do with the meteorite fragments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Welcome aboard, glad to have you. My Father was a metal spinner and machinist, I grew up with aerospace level tolerances. For me blacksmithing is so much more visceral; by hand feel and eyeball it was freedom. Dad held incredibly close tolerances daily and I just wanted to play steel like modeling clay. It really fills the bill. That and the soul song of smithing, human civilization is built with and on steel, it's one of the central symbols of strength for good reason. Then there's us, using mankind's oldest tools besides big brains and thumbs, fire and something to bash with and we're bending steel to our will. It sings to my soul in ways other things just can't. It is addictive in the extreme, you are so hooked already. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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