Anthony Mans Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 Hello! My name is Anthony Mans and I am from Lawton, Oklahoma but have recently moved North to Blanchard, Oklahoma. I am about as green as it gets when it comes to blacksmithing but I am good with my hands and over the years have picked up skills such as basic MIG welding, torch welding, brazing, and countless projects with wood. I am going to turn 30 in November and I have decided to take the plunge into the world of Blacksmithing. I have been going to fairs and different events since I was a small child and every time the "ting...ting...ting" would always catch my ears and I could lose myself for hours watching them work. Im planning to leverage my birthday as a vessel to buy all the things I want/need to begin this new adventure so I have from now until November to draft up my list of things to buy! This is important to me and I am over the moon excited for the coming months. There's nothing in the world like the pride that a person gets when they've worked really hard on something and they can sit back and say, "I did that." Anyway, it seems like a great group here and I am looking forward to getting to know all of you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 Look up the Salt Fork Craftsmen; seeing other people's set ups and getting coached 1 on 1 is WAY faster than using the internet to learn smithing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Mans Posted July 30, 2017 Author Share Posted July 30, 2017 Thanks for the recommendation! I had already printed out their application but wasn't sure whether it would be worth it or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 No reason to wait until November which is 4 months away. Take a look at the threads on JABOD (Just A Box Of Dirt) forges, especially Charles Steven's original thread. Also look up the 55 Forge build (side blast). All of them could be built an a couple of hours. A trip to the flea market and $20 will get you all the tools you need, usually in one trip. Look for a 2 pound hammer, sledge, cross or straight peen, or ball peen. Look for a heavy hammer 8 to 20 pounds with or without a handle to use as an anvil. An old hair dryer will work as an air source. Once you build your first forge and start playing in fire, you will better understand what you need to look for as far as tools, another forge design, another air supply, etc. 4 months of experience also teaches you how to ask better questions and more specific questions. Go to the blacksmith meetings and observe, ask questions, and make contacts. By the end of the day you will know whether to join or not. Keep the application handy so you do not have to write down all that stuff again. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDDstudios Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 2 hours ago, Glenn said: A trip to the flea market and $20 will get you all the tools you need I agree with Glenn. However, try an auction. While it takes a little looking to find an auction with the right equipment, I have seen and bought some equipment for a good low price, but the price depends if someone else is bidding against you. Still, welcome and have fun with what you make. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Mans Posted July 31, 2017 Author Share Posted July 31, 2017 If I had my way, I'd open up the checkbook and buy everything I need right now but the reason for November is because my birthday brings something that money can't buy and that is my wife's approval! She can't say no to me on my birthday. So until then, I will spend my time researching and learning so that when I do finally get my equipment, I will be equipped with 4 months of mental knowledge that I don't have right now. I plan to ask a lot of questions and learn everything I can learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 Scroung up the basics, that way you acualy have practical knowledge come November. One meeting at one of the Southfork member shops will be worth more than 4 months lurking here, and you don't even haft to join the first time or two. There is a meeting every weekend some were in the state, and every month in each region. Several members up in Norman and Newcastle. How much cash would your wife let you part with today? Bet we can go " shopping" and I can have you up and running for less than $100 and a few hours or $20 and a week or two of scrounging. Auctions are hit or miss, peaple get crazy and bid more than new on junk, you have to do your reserch and set a price in your head and just bow out when they reach it. Now the pawn shops at Percel can have some good finds as their is a ferries school in town, again use your smart phone and Google so you know the new price on stuf and be willing to walk. My smithing spaces are a wreck as I am working on other things but if you come down I can show you the mark I and mark Ii boxes of dirt forges and the other rail iron anvil and such. What experiance do you have working with your hands, what do you do for a living and what do your friends/family do? This will help point you where to go scrounging for stuff that we can use for a forge and anvil. Any one in the oil field, welders, machinests or farmers will be good resorces Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Mans Posted August 1, 2017 Author Share Posted August 1, 2017 Really good advice here. As for myself, I have been bouncing around kind of my whole life chasing an honest dollar. I worked 6 years for a Auto shop building their racing engines and modifying cars for the strip or the oval. My Ag teacher in school was very focused on welding and fabrication and I spent everyday for 4 years learning to weld, braze, run a torch, plasma cutters. I also have dabbled on and off in residential construction and remodel projects. Currently I work for the Goodyear plant down in Lawton. It's a production job that doesn't allow much for enjoyment but it's great pay, great schedule, and unmatched benefits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted August 1, 2017 Share Posted August 1, 2017 Great, so this gives us an idea were to send you scrounging for materials, and what kinds of materials you can adapt. All the springs, torson bars and axles from cars, trucks and over the road tractors, all good tool stock. Large farm tractors and heavy equipment can have shafts and parts of good steel that can be reperposed as an anvil, Frosty still cries about a heavy axle he left in a sand bar he used as a feild expediand anvil and more than one smith has used forklift tines. Being able to weld and work with wood sets you up for stands, jigs and tools. So I say lets scrounge you up some material, even if you start with a broken pallet from work a steel drum if you liberate on and buy your better half a new hairdryer. Boom forge, what can we score for an anvil? 8# plus sledge, large drop, bent fork, hevy axle, even a 2" solid drawbar. What can you come up with? Bet you already have a servisable hammer, 1 1/2-2# ball pein will work just fine. From there we can forge most other tools. Be in the look out for mud flaps, often the 3/4" square hanger is still there. Punches and tong material right their! Sucker rod is another perineal faverite. m Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Mans Posted August 2, 2017 Author Share Posted August 2, 2017 Actually now you have me thinking! I have 6 wooden pallets on my back porch that are left over from some pallet patio furniture that my wife had me build. I'm thinking break them down, cut to length and band them together to make an anvil block. And then I know where there's an 8 inch long 6" diameter piece of steel that I could mound to my pallet anvil block. Car parts are nearly a no brained as I am still on very good terms with the owner of the shop I used to work at. I bet I could even get my hands on some old iron chevy small blocks and cylinder heads if there's a use for them. Engine block = swage block maybe? I'm still way too green for that as I haven't even built a forge yet, but I'm just snowballing here. Also with that big piece of steel that I mentioned above, it is marked 4140, which by the reading I've done on here, seems very capable of handing the hammer blows Thank you guys for the help and the warm welcome for sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 Save the scrap space for more usable stuff than car engines. 6" dia 8" long is a very nice 64 pound anvil and someday might become your treadle or powerhammer upper die! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Mans Posted August 2, 2017 Author Share Posted August 2, 2017 At least I'm headed in the right direction! I'm really thinking I might lean more toward a gas forge than solid fuel due to the fact that my entire house is fueled by a 500 gal. Propane tank that we have filled several times a year. If there was a way to feed the forge off of that it would be great but may also look into leasing a smaller tank just for the forge and just have them come fill it when we have our big tank filled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 But charcoal, wood or coal can get you forging this weekend fo no $, with gas you will find that you end up with 3 or 4 forges to effecently heat your work, a small single burner for most things, a larger 2 burner and a bug fat dude for od parts, or a small gasser for most things and a coal/charcoal forge for the big or odd shapes. Look over in the knife making class pins for information on using a round slug as an anvil, the round side is great for drawing out and the top or bottom is nice and flat, it also shows you haw to dress and modify hammers, tho TS has. A cross pein that needs little work, it's the one with the flat pein. here is a $10 double action bellows, add a couple or 3/4" black pipe fittings and a box of dirt I liked the worn out one on the mark I box of dirt forge I bought a new one for the mark III Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Mans Posted August 2, 2017 Author Share Posted August 2, 2017 That is true. i would prefer to build my first forge. I looked at some of the ones that I can get from the farrier supply in Purcell and while they look nice, I think I can just about clone the body of it for pennies on the dollar myself, but I do want to look into the cylindrical shaped ones. I saw a build for one out of a steel 5 gallon bucket that could work. I also have an old steel washing machine tub that I think would work with a healthy layer of kaowool and a good refractory cement. Im not opposed to coal, just kind of had my mind on propane. I like the freedom you have with a coal forge but I like the user friendliness of the propane. Not having to stoke a fire to keep it hot and nurse it. Sometimes when I think I have hours to work, I end up only having minutes and sometimes when I think I only have minutes, i end up being able to run for hours. So the propane setup fits that better. Same reason that I have a propane smoker and a full size woodfire one that I built out of 100gal propane tank. The woodfire one does a better job because I can pour a lot more smoke in and cook a lot more product but it takes at least an hour to get it burning how I like it whereas with the little propane one, I can spark it and throw the meat in almost simultaneously. Was also thinking when I am fitting the anvil into my block, I could also fit in some smaller ones to provide smaller radii to work form around and fitting the outer perimeter of it with hooks or straps for hammers and etc. to sit in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 1 hour ago, Anthony Mans said: I like the freedom you have with a coal forge but I like the user friendliness of the propane. Not having to stoke a fire to keep it hot and nurse it. Sometimes when I think I have hours to work, I end up only having minutes and sometimes when I think I only have minutes, i end up being able to run for hours. So the propane setup fits that better. I totally get where you're coming from on this, and there certainly is a lot of convenience to the easy fire-up and shut-down of gas (although even a gas forge can take some time to heat up to working temps). However, even if you eventually switch over to gas, a basic JABOD will (as others note above) get you forging faster and cheaper than just about anything else. I built my own almost entirely from pallets (and would have entirely, had I not had a sheet metal pan that was just too good for that precise application), right down to the gate valve on the back that manages the air flow. Total cost was a couple of bucks for screws. If you are at all available to take @Charles R. Stevens up on his offer to get together, DO IT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 Wayne Cole has a nice set of plans for one using a discarded helium/refriderant tank. And Mike and Jerry can help you build the burners. I use a pro forge for work, but as one can only hand forge about 6"before running out of heat it's way overkill, for efecency folks tend to end up with 3 or 4 gassers or on gas and one solid fuel. Make a portable hole and mount the diferent radieye on hardy shanks. Tho making a bick is sertainly a good idea to go with your anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 Does your tank have a high pressure outlet as well as the low pressure household use regulator outlet? Talk with your propane service about what you want to do and how to go about it safely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Mans Posted August 2, 2017 Author Share Posted August 2, 2017 No it does not! And you're so right, safety is key. There's no sense in doing something that will get you killed because then you can't do it again. Another idea with an accessory hole maybe instead of putting it in the wood itself, I could put it in the anvil so that if the accessory is something that needs to be hit on, it has the mass of the anvil under it? Think it would make a difference to hog out a big hole in the anvil block and fill the difference with concrete? Or just a nice tight fit in the block is sufficient? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 Stay away from concrete for anything that's going to get hit, if at all possible. It will eventually crumble. @notownkid has a portable hole that bolts to the top of the anvil; maybe we can get him to post a photo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Mans Posted August 2, 2017 Author Share Posted August 2, 2017 I'm rebuilding the staircase in our house today but I'm hoping to finish it early and start building my anvil block and getting it ready for The steel to go in. I only asked about concrete for the purpose of locking it in permanently. But I can see what you're saying about crumble. Also molten metal + concrete can turn ugly. Seen that first hand as concrete shrapnel doesn't feel good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 Currently I am setting at 2T nails and spa in Blanchard wile Sandy gets her nails done, lol. Rebuilding a stair case sounds like fun in comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Mans Posted August 2, 2017 Author Share Posted August 2, 2017 Haha yeah I know the feeling! Thankfully my wife does her own nails but those hair appointments.... you know... lol Anyway, I've had a productive afternoon of digging through my own scrap pile and after a little circular saw work and some puzzling, here's what I've got. Not finished by any means but glue, strap, and sand and it's ready for an anvil. I figure before I actually glue and strap, I'll know exactly what shape and depth my anvil object will be at and I can precut at least the 4x4 in the middle to fit. I may end up going with a 20# sledge head for now and having the 4x4 in the middle would make for an easy fit. I think I'm going to leave the 1x1 holes at the 4 corners to make for 4 extra tool holders in addition to the ones I will have off the sides Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 If it works, that's what matters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Mans Posted August 3, 2017 Author Share Posted August 3, 2017 I think it will. I measured wrist and knuckle height before I started cutting and came up with 30-32", I cut my block lengths at 24" which gives me a anvil height of 6 inches. Providing that I would prefer to recess the anvil object at a minimum of 4 inches but more if necessary, that gives me plenty of room to work with as far as the actual length of my object. I've got an old Ford bumper weight that weighs in at 125# that I could use if I wanted but kind of wanted a more practical shape like a perfect square block or cylinder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted August 3, 2017 Share Posted August 3, 2017 As long as it's not cast iron, it would work fine. The scrap yard north of the via doc in Chickasha will let you walk the south side and buy scrap, if you don't have a good sorce of large drops, or the rail maintinance yard north of the county court house will probably let you have a rail drop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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