So I'm roughly a month into forging, and still wouldn't dream of calling myself a blacksmith yet. I've created a few things that Ive posted on here, and am somewhat proud of what I've figured out on my own with trial and error and of course google. Clean solid forge welding is still tough for me (tried some mokume gane and some chainsaw blade damascus and it was a disaster, however i made a decent weld with an old wrench head), but i feel i have gotten a VERY BASIC  feel for shaping and getting there with hammer control. My question is this, what is a good project to work on to  hone my limited skills with the material I have to work with? My materials are at this point only Lowes bought stock and RR spikes. I would love some suggestions as to what I should be working on to "get there". 

Things like BBQ forks are good to learn on. Forge welding is advanced. Especialy chainsaw blade damascus. 

In the British book "Wrought Ironwork," there are written and pictured directions on how to forge 'scroll ends' going from simple to complex. These ends wind up being the decorative centers of the formed scrolls. Great exercises.

Well I suggest making things you can personally use or give as Christmas gifts.  I find that for myself making things I want or need or can use keeps me focused better than working on "abstract" projects.

I have found that I can generally buy a 20' stick of A36 for the cost of the same sized 4' one at a big box store.  *MUCH* more cost efficient so much so that I often will buy an extra piece of every size I'm buying to have some on hand to "play" with.

bbq forks, fire pokers, s-hooks, and wall hooks are all simple easy projects that don't take much steel. search 'blacksmith railroad spike projects' in your search engine and go to 'images'. there is a lot of cool ids there. 

Make tools unless you have too many already.

Start with fire handling tools and ahardy.

Then punches, drifts, a hot cut top tool.

Make a blacksmith's square,

A bevel guage, an adjustable taper guage.

Make some spring fullers and a scrolling fork or two.

Make a nail header, rivet and or bolt headers as well.

After you get all the simple stuff out of the way, make tongs. You can never have too many tongs.

From there move onto heat treated tools like cold chisels and learn that aspect of the craft.

Last but not least make hammers.

By now you will have the tools or the skill to make the tools to do anything.

like Thomas said, buying stock at big box stores is poor practice.

Make a rack along a wall to keep your stock dry and out of the way. 

Stock rack, good idea.... there's probably a thread here devoted to that subect, and if not, there should be.....

 

Thank you all for the advice, it's truly appreciated . As for buying better stock, I haven't been able to locate a local vender for good steel that will deal with a private buyer at the quantity I would be buying. I see good stock for sale online, however the shipping costs usually end up higher than my actual purchase cost. Which may just be something I'll have to get over for the time being.  Arfist, I love that list; thank you. I'm honestly not even 100% about what 100% of those things are. Which is all the better; it let's me look more things up and learn even more. I know from just my limited experience so far, that I'm in dire need of certain tools. I've got absolutely nothing for the hardy, and only a ground 2x6 for any kind of swage. And tongs that won't help me add any more burn marks to the floor would be nice lol

When in search of stock, go to the places that the stock is used. Machine shops, fabrication shops, off road shops, garages, custom shops all produce scrap.

Tell them what you are doing and ask to visit their dumpster. Tell them you have steel toes boots, long leg pants, gloves and a hard hat in the car as well as donuts or cookies that you would like donate to their lunchroom. Look at their employees and match their safety gear. Always work safely and leave things that might cause harm or injury to you or their business.  ALWAYS tell any crane operator in the area, where you are going to be so he KNOWS there is someone new, and their location.

Look behind every building or business you can find. ALWAYS ASK before taking something as there are too many scrappers willing to get in and get out before being seen or caught. Give them your name and phone number if they are going to throw out anything useful. If they call you, always shop up and take what is offered, whether you can use it or not, and thank them.

If a building is being torn down, speak with the supervisor about selecting certain pieces of the metal for blacksmithing.

Run the alleys. You will be surprised what gets thrown away on trash day.

Always carry food and water for yourself in the car, as well as a first aid kit, hacksaw, rope, ratchet binders, etc. to secure any load. Carry a caution flag to tie to the end of any long items.

The scrap is out there, you just have to get to it before the scrappers.

 

 

The closest place to my shop that sells steel is a Windmill repair and service company.  The get a discount on volume for the steel they buy and so are happy to sell a bunch to other people to beef up their orders.   They sell about 30$ under the lumberyard in town and will do special orders.   Next closest is a Mom&Pop scrapyard but they only have "the luck of the pile" selling at US20 cents a pound and then there is a steel supply company down near my casita where I can buy pretty much everything in a 20' stick (or 12' for 1/4" CR steel)

Do a Google search for ABANA controlled hand forging.  Lots of great instructions for beginners technique.  I'll echo what's been said above - keep your eyes open for scrap, it's out there.  Even if you don't have something specific in mind for a certain size, pick it up and save it, guarantee it will get used.  Plus once your family and friends know you're a blacksmith, they'll start saving odd chunks for you.  Anything you don't use goes in a scrap bucket and taken to the scrap yard couple times a year.

7 minutes ago, Chris Comtois said:

Keep your eyes open for scrap. It's out there.

Chris is right. I've even picked up some axle steel from the land fill at the dump.

Wandering across the desert once I espied a low pile of rotted wood, metal rods and rattlesnakes.  Turned out to be the remains of a wooden RR car that had a number of real wrought iron braces from 1/2" rod; thanks to a friendly rancher I ended up with about 100' of 1/2" real wrought iron. snakes were not amused...

I have found similar lengths of 1/2" round in the form of hoops from old water tanks

4 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Wandering across the desert once I espied a low pile of rotted wood, metal rods and rattlesnakes.  Turned out to be the remains of a wooden RR car that had a number of real wrought iron braces from 1/2" rod; thanks to a friendly rancher I ended up with about 100' of 1/2" real wrought iron. snakes were not amused...

wow. wish we had that kind o' thing laying around here. all you find in the wilderness here is old whiskey stills. 

Get friendly with your mechanic. Mine just gave me a pair of brand new axles. 

On ‎11‎/‎6‎/‎2016 at 0:39 PM, arftist said:

Make tools unless you have too many already.

what?! no such thing! can never have to many tools!

                                                                                                                             Littleblacksmith

Get a race car.... you have a lot of parts left over after you break them.....  springs, axels, control arms, shock mounts ect

 

As for searching around, i have found a few items in alleys so far.  And I am making friends with a local 4x4 shop as well to see what I cna snag from their takeoff bins.  Lots of springs/axels at car shops.

On 2016-11-07 at 10:15 PM, ThomasPowers said:

Wandering across the desert once I espied a low pile of rotted wood, metal rods and rattlesnakes.  Turned out to be the remains of a wooden RR car that had a number of real wrought iron braces from 1/2" rod; thanks to a friendly rancher I ended up with about 100' of 1/2" real wrought iron. snakes were not amused...

Reading the first time I wondered who would drive a Rolls Royce into the desert and leave it. (The early phantoms and ghosts had braces under the chassis)

maybee you should drive it into by backyard and leave it.

Yes and I'm amused by how many people tell me they are going to make an anvil from a rail road tie (AKA sleeper) and get a funny look on their faces when I tell them that the creosote is highly toxic and wood doesn't make a great anvil.

BTW if you ever read Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E.Lawrence he extols the Rolls Royce for use in the desert...

2 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Yes and I'm amused by how many people tell me they are going to make an anvil from a rail road tie (AKA sleeper) and get a funny look on their faces when I tell them that the creosote is highly toxic and wood doesn't make a great anvil.

Lol. I can relate.

18 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

BTW if you ever read Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E.Lawrence he extols the Rolls Royce for use in the desert...

A very interesting book Apart from being fashionating, it gives a lot of background to what is going on in the area now.

 

Yes you really learn *why* the "modern" history of that area is so messed up and how the various countries got hacked out of the remains of the Ottoman Empire with little concern for the peoples living there.

Thank you everybody, it is all very appreciated