When did you start making your own tools?

[ecra]

How did you get started into blacksmithing?

At what point did you start making your own tools? How'd it come out? lol

I've seen some videos and it looks time consuming but worthwhile.

 

[odblacksmith]

Welcome,I got started forging when i wanted tools that you can't purchase from the store.So tool making began early for me,also do you mean axes,froes etc; or do you mean anvil tooling like top and bottom sets?As far as anvil tooling goes as soon as i had an anvil with a hardy hole and proper sized stock i began making anvil tools,and from there i began wanting heavier hammers than you can purchase from the store,so on and so on.

everything depends on your equipment, ability, and drive imo,it can be very time consuming and at times discouraging but there is no better feeling than swinging a hammer you made yourself(or any tool for that matter) 

[jeremy k]

ecra - if you go to the main forum page and scroll down to the "introduce yourself" section - there is 115 pages of what you asked - people telling how/why they got into blacksmithing, a lot of them are because they wanted to make tools for a particular hobby/including blacksmithing. - read on........

[Charles R. Stevens]

Needed a pritchel, stem punch and head stamp for shoes, then a shoe creaser/ top fuller, then...

for a solid fuel using smith your first project should be a set of fire tools (rake, shovel and watering can) then on to punches, rivet headers, hot cut chisels and tongs...

most if us started out making tools the first week we took up smithing. 

[DSW]

I started out years ago in Jr high, but only got serious a few years back. I started out right away making various "tools" probably due to the fact I often do jigs and stuff anyways in my job doing construction. All depends what your skill levels are as to what you can accomplish.

[ThomasPowers]

Day 1, I had to make a forge rake for the forge.

[Quarry Dog]

I got a coil off of a car spring tossed at me in the first ten minutes, shown how to draw a taper, and was told to do that with the idea of a chisel and center punch, which I still use on a very regular basis, although I usually use the center punch for chipping slag off of welds, and I use that particular chisel mostly as a very sharp 3/4" wedge.  They're in my profile picture if I'm not mistaken.

Edited July 29, 2015 by Quarry Dog

[Chinobi]

first project was a little letter opener in an introductory class, a couple months later I took a 5 day starter course taught by Mark Aspery, and boy did we make tools!  They were all hand held tools like chisels and punches, but they are all tools.  Used them to make wizard head bottle openers as a training project.  Have taken various classes subsequently and have made my own scrolling tongs, bending forks, a hammer head, and uncountable more hand held chisels and punches.  I still regularly use all of the tools I made in that first class, and most of the other tools as needed.

You will find it difficult to NOT be making tools at some point  it's usually easier to make something than to buy it, and you can dictate exactly the specs you need.

[John McPherson]

Whaddya mean, time consuming? To me, every minute in the forge or welding or working on my farm is joyful effort with something to show for it at the end of the day.

Facebook, now THAT is time consuming, buddy! And if you really want to consume some time with absolutely nothing to show for it, get into online gaming.

And if you are a real masochist, you can volunteer for a committee. (Where minutes are kept, and hours are lost.)

Seriously, most of us got into this craft to make things that we could not buy, either because we could not afford them, or because they did not exist. Making your own tools and tooling is a source of great satisfaction, even if it is not the reason that you got into blacksmithing. 

Look around your place, and identify one thing that you know the name of the person who made it, other than framed art on a wall. When you put your touckmark on a creation, that is real magic!

Edited July 29, 2015 by John McPherson

[Steve Sells]

day 1,  why waste metal making bend S hooks, when we can make bent coal rakes, and tongs? after a while I made them again to be nicer...

[Quarry Dog]

Framed art nowadays doesn't mean that's the guy that made it either.  A lot of stuff is just screen printed or similar anymore and only has a frame so it looks nicer.  I've even seen some where you can tell that the sig was screened.  No difference in texture.

[Frosty]

I got into the craft because I'm aware enough of the world around me to not want to be at it's mercy. Go ahead, take away the hardware stores, I'll just make what I need or want then I'll make it for the folk who depend on someone else to do for them. I'm just too darned insecure to want to rely on others if I don't have to.

I may not make blades but I sure as heck know how and know how to make test blades and test them until I can make a one to do what I need. Even if all I have is a wicker or wattle and daub hut to live in while hammering scrap on a rock. Leave me there long enough and I'll have comfortable digs, be eating good red meat, fish, fowl and veggies grown in a garden tended with tools I made myself.

THAT is what brought me to the craft.

Frosty the Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

One other aspect; I started pre-internet and was on my own so to get started I had to build my own forge, make my own fuel (charcoal).  My copy of "The Modern Blacksmith" has big black thumb prints from being held one handed while I was looking at the iron in the  forge and comparing it to what was on the page.

[ausfire]

While I agree that it's nice to make and use your own tools, there are times when the bought item is a good option. I've made the usual rakes and pokers and punches and stuff, but I really wanted a good pair of scrolling tongs. I ground the teeth off a pair of long-nose pliers but they still fell short of what I wanted. Bought a pair of scrolling tongs from the farrier's supply shop in Brisbane and for the price I paid, I consider it a good investment. I have made flat jaw tongs but my skills don't extend to perfectly tapered scrolling tongs. Made in Pakistan, but they do everything I want. So I reckon you make what you can, but don't feel bad about shelling out a dollar or two for something you need.

[Francis Trez Cole]

I was making tools before I started I lit my first fire. made my forge and bellows. once I lit the fire I started with a fire rake and a shovel and watering can. Every time I lite a forge I make a tool of some type

 

[gote]

I have not thought about it this way before. However, reading this I realize that the first thing I made in my own setup was a tool; a rake for the fire.

Göte.

[Rashelle]

I finally remembered which was my first tool. I made a propane forge before I started blacksmithing. (Ok we are talking blacksmithing tools here as I had made tools as needed all my life.) My next blacksmithing tool made was day three of my first blacksmith class, the instructor seeing my interest offered my the option of instead of teaching my a bunch of different twists to do a pair of tongs. Which I did and are still better looking then many of my next twenty or so pairs.