A reborn blacksmith.

[lyuv]

New blacksmith here. Just wanted to say hi to you all.

I"m 52, and forging iron has allways been a desire. But it seemed unrealistic and remote. That is, until some pathes crossed at random, and few weeks ago I got into blacksmithing class. (I was fortunate to have Uri Hofi as a tutor).

Anyway, me and a friend are having our first steps. Got some antique basic tool (anvil, hammers and tongs). and built a forge - somewhat unusual. It's suppose to be inspired by the japanese side blast style. However, it's constructed of loosly placed fire bricks, so we can experiment and re-design it.

Since that picture was taken (before the first fire) the forge design varied several times, some tools added and a LOT of black dirt everywhere. On output, however, not much to tell. We did manage to make a simple, but good knife. And that's it. Otherwise, we struggled with fire gremlins, coal issues, making tongs and so on logistics.

Actualy, my first project is to make a flower as a birthday gift to my wife. Have been struggling with it for weeks now :-( (weldings and what not). Probably too ambitious for a newbie... 

BTW, I just bought a Hofi magic hammer. So I guess all the difficulties will be gone in the next session.

 

[Thief_Of_Navarre]

Nice kit. IFI and anvilfire have very extensive resources for projects and techniques. Work on things that improve your techniques, hammer and tong control and the little used muscles of the arms and back so your cartilage and ligaments can keep up with the rigors of blacksmithing. I personally started with S hooks but folks will probably there are better things to start on. Square to round or Visa versa is also good to work on and can give you decent stock to work from scrap

[JHCC]

Welcome aboard! If you put your location in your profile settings, you might find yourself connecting with other IFI members in your area. (We will also be able to better offer location-specific advice.) There's a lot of information here on the forum, so please take your time to read everything over. Lots of questions have been asked and answered and discussed and revisited and argued over, so reading the forums in depth will really help you either find the answer you want or ask more informed questions.

If you want a simple-but-effective way to forge a flower, google "Russian rose by Larry Mills" -- this will take you to a great little demo (on a non-IFI webpage whose owner has asked us not to link directly).