Hello from Callisburg, Texas

[CrazyGoatLady]

Hello everyone! My husband and I have been reading (or studying I should say) I Forge Iron for about two months now.He is already a member and has encouraged me to join as well. He has worked hard on building a forge and a RR track anvil. All with the guidance and encouragement of the fine folks on this forum. We both greatly appreciate the help we have found here. We are both newbies, but with the education you can get here, I hope that we can succeed in this craft. Thank you Glen for providing a safe place where people can get together  and talk and learn about so much.

[Tommie Hockett]

Hello crazy goat lady welcome to iforgeiron.... so who is your husband?hahaha

[Charles R. Stevens]

Howdy ma'm. Welcome, always good to have a lady smith join.  

 

[CrazyGoatLady]

Thank you so much Mr.Stevens! You have been very helpful to us. Especially with the RR track anvil. I appreciate your wisdom and help!

[Charles R. Stevens]

my pleasure. We have another husband and wife team as members, they are very competitive. 

many smiths here have helped me, least I can do is pay it forward. Don't be afraid to ask questions. 

 

[CrazyGoatLady]

Thank you again for the warm welcome and I certainly might ask a question or two...or three! I am thankful for such a great place to come to.

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard CrazyGoatLady, glad to have you. I'm a big fan of goats When Deb and I met she was breeding African Pygmies in the UP of Michigan and I was living in a trailer court in Anchorage. One thing led to another, we bought 30 acres of forest, cleared out a little hobby farm and brought her herd up. 

Do you have goats, what kind? 

We've decided Tommie is okay and you can't do anything but raise the bar around here. There aren't enough ladysmiths. You have a distinct advantage you don't naturally have the upper body strength of us apes so ladies tend to be more accurate and controlled. Accuracy and control is the "secret" of the craft getting the metal to do what you want isn't about how hard you hit it but where and how.

I sure hope you like puns. Know any jokes?

Frosty The Lucky.

[Mark Ling]

Nice to have you join Mrs. Hockett! I am really glad o hav you here, we have enjoyed havin your husband, and I am sure we will enjoy your company too. Like Frosty said, there are not enough lady smiths, but the smiths who are lady's, most are really good. 

Pleasure meeting you, I'm sure your not THAT crazy compared to some of us.

                                                                              Littleblacksmith 

[CrazyGoatLady]

Thank you so much Frosty and littleblacksmith!  

Frosty...yes sir I have goats. Boer. I only have five right now. I sold a pretty red buck here a little while back. They are my babies and act more like dogs than goats. We only have about an acre so I don't run very many. When we get the land  we want, the plan is for a whole lot more! Maybe Nubians for milk and a separate herd from my pets for meat. And yes it seems I am more controlled and he can wail on it! We have only gotten to fire up the forge together a couple times. He works  two on and one off usually. Sometimes more. He works like a crazy person when he is home to try and get everything that needs done. We have not made anything yet. Mostly getting a feel for it. I went solo for the first time and I don't think my fire was hot enough. I LOVE a good pun. I have been known to make a few( bad) ones! Tommie is the joke teller. He always comes home with something new! 

Sorry for the long post...I even hit submit on accident. 

littleblacksmith

Thank you for the welcome! I have been reading here long enough to see you are an outstanding young man. Most folks your age wouldn't know what hard work was if it slapped them in the face. You are to be commended and I am sure your parents are proud of you. I hope to be a good smith. It would be another step toward self reliance and I would like to be able to eventually maybe be able to sell some things to supplement our income. I would also like to make gifts that would be both beautiful and functional.

[Mark Ling]

Thank you very much ma'm.  If you and/or your husband are near here, let me know, y'all are always welcome to stop by, y'all can show me some stuff, I'll show y'all some stuff, and depending on yalls time maybe fire up the forge.

                                                                            Littleblacksmith 

[CrazyGoatLady]

Thank you for the invite! Same goes here. I think you are about three hours from us

[Frosty]

Ahhhh, Boers the big meaty ones, mmmmmmm. Nubians are the LOUD ones, always talking and loudly. We had neighbors who kept a few Nubians in the back yard when I was a kid. They taught me to love goats, smart, mischievous and very playful just don't cross them badly enough they decide to . . . The neighbors who lived there before had a tether ball set up the goats LOVED tether ball, even played a nearly regulation game. One would serve, they'd volley and when one made a point the next one in line would take it's turn and the loser would go to the back of the line. Challenger served of course. 

They'd us play of course but we had to follow the rules, NO cuts especially or they would just wrap the ball around the pole and stand there till we either got in line or left. I don't think a human kid EVER won a single game. 

Do you have a Livestock Guardian Dog? This is Buran our first Great Pyrenees Mountain dog and HIS kids. Fabulous animals and nothing but NOTHING will get one of their charges. Some of the stories on the LGD forums are heroic epics.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Sandy's lap goat. 

[CrazyGoatLady]

Frosty

My does are all big mouths. Especially at dinner time. I am sure everyone can hear them from a mile away! And yes, they are intelligent and affectionate. Very loyal also. Beware the horns! Particularly when a big buck is in the mood for love...

I have three dogs. Not necessarily guard dogs although one is very sensitive to when a goat(especially a baby) is not feeling good. I talked to  ausfire about making goat horns instead of Rams horns. I want to learn to make animal heads and since goats are a big part of me, I figured goat heads would be a cool thing for me to do. I want to be able to acquire a wide range of black smithing skills. But I seem to be really drawn to the artistic aspects in particular.

[CrazyGoatLady]

Charles R. Stevens

I like her baby! I have a lap goat also. Actually two. But one is way too big to get in my lap. Doesn't stop him from trying though. Tommie says the big buck is HIS baby. I just let him think that The smaller buck is a bottle baby. His mother rejected him at birth so he has been with me ever since. He definitely views me as Mama. I know you are a horseman. I would LOVE to have horses. But we rent this land and the owner is a cattleman and won't let me have a horse because he says they tear up the ground. I had thought on becoming a farrier a few years ago. Then I injured my knee to the point where walking was kind of iffy at times. I didn't think I could physically handle it. I'm not old, but I'm not a spring chicken either. So I am happy that we are persuing becoming blacksmiths. 

[Charles R. Stevens]

Common misconception. It's just that horses start eating grass at about the point were cattle stop. Compaction and damage to wet areas is about the same. It's interestin to note the hight of grazing prefference goes from goats to cattle to horses to sheep. 

Squating is certainly part of the Job in farrier work. 

[CrazyGoatLady]

Yes. I can't see where grazing of the two is much different. I think he is full of "you know what" and he just don't like horses. A friend who was going through rough times had some mules and a horse that we were going to keep for him and went to fix our fence accordingly and got told no for the reason stated. It kind of crushed me. I love to ride and it would have been great. But even more reason to buy our own place. Land is crazy expensive in this area ironically because it is the big middle of horse country.

 

[Frosty]

We disbudded out kids as soon as buttons could be felt. Too dangerous to have horns, they get hung up in fencing, can injure pregnant does and nothing makes a knee stop working properly like having a horned goat give a head shake behind your knee? They can butt hard enough with their little block heads no need for horns. Anyone doesn't believe that should see a 50lb. pygmy goat doe drive an uppity 150lb. ram  sideways 15' into a wall hard enough to rattle the barn. Then she chased him out of the barn by glowering at him and wouldn't let him back in for dinner.

As mild mannered as the Ram was he got moved to the buck pen when the sheep arrived. By then the bucks had adjusted to him enough they just roughed him up for a couple days till he knew his place in the herd. We brought the sheep in as lambs and the does adopted them so there was minimum herd boss dispute even when any one of the sheep outweighed any two does. Our farm had NO surprise births and only one kidding during a late cold snap. Buran the Pyr. was collecting kids as they were born, cleaning them and tucking them into his fur by time Dab and I got dressed and out. He had it all under control, 2 of triplet kidding completely out of sight and he was waiting on the next.  The doe was calm and as comfortable as any animal I've seen giving birth. Nothing like a 150lb. Gentle Giant midwife to make it good.

Deb only got to assist in the last birth and mom relaxed when she let Buran have the kid to clean and take care of. We had baby monitors in the barn but the doe made so little fuss we didn't notice. Deb insisted we keep the volume up fro then on. 

Bummer about your landlord. Pity the man for not liking horses, I do. (pity him that is, I've always loved horses. This is Me and Banjo in 1969, the Polk st. place in Sylmar before the quake. The palomino in the background is Top Hat's Babydoll. Babe. 

Banjo was always just Banjo, Dad bought him from a round up of mustangs in Utah. They'd round up a string of wild horses, break them as remounts for the cattle roundup and drive then sell the extras. He's the reason I don't see an Appaloosa when Deb points at some spotted horse. I know what a real Appy is. 

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[CrazyGoatLady]

Oh yeah disbudding is probably ideal. I just love the look of their horns and most of our fence is horn proof. There is one section that isn't though and my little buck is the only one who ever gets stuck in there. That is going to be remedied soon though. I keep eyes in the back of my head for them. Nobody ever gets me on purpose but accidents happen and you have to be careful. I have taught my boys to be gentlemen. My herd is an odd mix. My father-in-law raises goats and that's where mine came from. I sort of assisted in a birth of one once and then I decided I wanted him. So he wethered him and gave him to me. Then I decided he didn't need to be alone, so he got a friend and so on and so on...I have a breeding pair besides the wether. I sell or trade the kids. I adopted the little boy so now the problem is I have two intact bucks. So the boys are going to get there own pen away from the girls. More controlled breeding that way as well. My oldest doe is probably due in December and I don't like that at all. That's about the time it decides to snow around here. 

I wish he would let us keep a horse. But I am thankful he let's us run goats and we have a  rabbitry as well. I love being surrounded by animals. I would LOVE to have an Appaloosa. When I was little I tried real hard to convince my Dad we needed to adopt a mustang. After all it was only 200 dollars! Not realizing we didn't have that kind of money and a tiny back yard in the city!  Oh well...someday. I

By the way, Tommie will be home tomorrow! Hopefully we can get our chores done quickly and get to forging!

[CrazyGoatLady]

Been a few days since I have posted anything. It's been a busy week, but we did manage to get some forge time in! Three evenings in a row no less.Tommie is packing to leave out again in the morning...

Anyway I thought I would post my first few practice pieces. Not so great, but every time I get to work, it gets more comfortable. The last picture is a plant hanger I made for my mother- in-law for her birthday. I still have to clean it up. It took WAY longer to finish than it should have. Started out pretty quick and I was pretty happy about that. Then I turned to do the other end and it kept getting out of whack. It's still not perfectly straight; but I stopped because I was afraid I was going to burn the end up. It is made from a two foot long 3/8" round bar. The others are 1/2" round. All I know is I LOVE doing this! Any advice or critiques welcome. Thank you.

 

Sorry the first picture is the plant hanger. Pictures didn't load right.

[ThomasPowers]

suggestions: watch the temps closely; try to put the piece in a less oxidizing part of the fire. (may need less air in the fire or more fuel; or both)  Wire brush off the scale as you go along, break the corners so they are not so square and sharp.  Have lots more fun!

[CrazyGoatLady]

Thank you Mr. Powers. Yes sir. Fire management is taking a little bit to learn. Every time we work, I am trying to see where things need improvement. BUT it will get there! More fun is on my agenda! Thank you for your advice. It is greatly appreciated and will be put into practice.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Fire management is a thing, we tend to try and beat the steel to fast. Think of it as roasting a marshmallow to a golden brown on the outside and hot and gooey all the way threw. To fast what happens? 

So practice closing up your scrolls, and looping them around each other in a realy tight spiral. Next a lose spiral that has an even negitive space. Hint, don't use the horn, start the first bend over the edge of the anvil. This will help you with seeing what it takes to move the steel and core to it as it gets wonky. Take the time in the fire to rehearse your next round at the anvil. 

Your doing good, looks like you have a fair handle on tapers. You will be forging punches, drifts and chisels befor two long 

[Frosty]

Those look fine. Fire management is one of the tougher learning curves but it'll come, you cook yes? Same same only a different dish. 

I turn scrolls by starting them over the edge then flipping it up on the face and finishing it on the face. Scroll up, you need to visualize the force from the hammer taking a straight line to the anvil. The scroll will divide the energy half way down the curve between hammer and anvil. It's really much easier than it sounds but takes practice.

I almost never use the horn as anything but a fullering die.

Frosty The Lucky.

[CrazyGoatLady]

Charles and Frosy

Thank you for your input. The marshmallow and cooking analogies put it perfectly for me to understand. I think Thomas Powers is right about too much air and not enough fuel. We are using a blow dryer for an air source. Pointed downwards with an LB conduit Frosty suggested. As far as the fuel, I probably don't let Tommie build it big enough. I have been broke so many times in my life that I freak out about hating to waste things. I need to lighten up I think. I watched a Brian Brazael video on tapering and got a copy of The Complete Modern Blacksmith by Alexander G. Weygers at the recommendation of Mr. Powers. I couldn't figure out how to pull a taper out until the video and book. Thanks for telling me how to scroll a piece. I was trying to work that out then I started fearing I was going to burn it, and I stopped to help him with nail header he is working on. We don't have a horn currently anyway. We are using a RR track anvil. Maybe have a lead on an anvil. I will find out tomorrow! Thank you so much!