DarthRaider Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Im retired MSARNG with two tours to Iraq. I suffer mild to moderate anxiety and PTSD from events I had there. I've been through counseling and my psychiatrist suggested I get a hobby to help with my coping skills. I've been a fan of Forged in Fire for a couple years now. I really want to start making knives and swords and the VA and my GI Bill will pay for school and equipment. Any suggestions and directions will be greatly appreciated. I'd like to know money wise approximately what it'll cost for me to start doing this hobby/trade. Semper Fi and Cav Scouts to all my brothers and sisters. God Bless.... email removed as per ToS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron Poet Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 You may wish to check out the blademithing subforum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthRaider Posted September 21, 2017 Author Share Posted September 21, 2017 Thank You Sir. Is it a subtopic in this forum or a separate page? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 It's a separate subject, from the main page scroll down and you will see Bladesmithing just like this is Blacksmithing. Hitting hot metal is good therapy. BTW welcome to the forum. If you put your location in your profile you may be surprised how many of the gang are near you and a lot of answers are location dependent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthRaider Posted September 21, 2017 Author Share Posted September 21, 2017 Thank you brother and I'll do that. I got a 4 year old son that's having a fit to kill some zombies right now, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-1ToolSteel Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 Welcome aboard! What it will cost to get started is really however much YOU make it cost. Some cash to spend on good tools is definitely a plus, but you can also make a bare bones smithy using trash form a dump. Seriously. I highly recommend the book, $50 Knife Shop, if you want to start as cheap as possible. Look through some of the great threads on this forum like forges made from dirt, and makeshift anvils made from scrap, to get your wheels turning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthRaider Posted September 21, 2017 Author Share Posted September 21, 2017 Ok thank you Sir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 You will also find that you are not alone with PTSD here. TBI and other mental and physical disorders are represented. It's nice to be excepted. As mentioned, we can help you set up your first forge for little or no cost, as well as scrounge a sutible anvil, as well as other tools. We can also help you start your little zombie killer off in the wrong direction ;-) welcome to the addiction and thank you for your service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthRaider Posted September 21, 2017 Author Share Posted September 21, 2017 Thank You Sir. Words can't describe my appreciation for people like you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tzelik Hammar Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 Like Mr. Stevens said, PTSD, tbi, needing a therapy hobby, all pretty common around here. Welcome aboard. Word of advice, start cheap, get to know if you like it before the Anvil-lust takes hold. Try the jabod thread! Read the stickies or some of the curmudgeons will make you think fond thoughts of boot. Great people here and an amazing amount of accumulated knowledge. Just read up beforehand and you should be safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthRaider Posted September 21, 2017 Author Share Posted September 21, 2017 I can tell so far that there's years of knowledge that I can learn from. The PTSD is a xxxxx, my nightmares aren't as frequent as they were a few years ago but they're still graphic. I woke up at 1:30 last night crying and in a pool of sweat and even with my CPAP it was hard to get my breathing back to normal. Thank Y'all for all your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 Welcome aboard. It's good to have you, and you've already seen the wealth of information available to you. I'm not sure how many actual therapists we have in our membership, but I think just about all of us can vouch for the therapeutic effect of putting in time in the forge. Sometimes you just need to get out of your head and into your hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 If you are out my way let me know by PM and I can help you get set up on the cheap. Now if they will pay for training the ABS, American Bladesmith Society, has classes offered 6? different places in the USA! Also if you are anywhere near Troy Ohio SOFA puts on Quad State THIS WEEKEND! It's the largest annual get together of smiths and since tailgate sales is free once you pay your entry it's dripping smithing tools both used and new. There are a bunch of demos going on including blade smithing. https://sofablacksmiths.org/event/quadstate-2017/ I can't go this year but I am planning to drive up from New Mexico for it next year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommie Hockett Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 Welcome aboard sir and thank you for your service!!! As mentioned above try a jabod or a tim lively washtub forge. Aldo if you have 27 extra bucks go to amazon and get tim lively's movie or instructional video... whatever it is termed as lol. I think it is called bladesmithing unplugged. It is very interesting this man shows you how to use a hole in the ground for a forge and a block of steel for an anvil. Anyway have fun and thank you again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John in Oly, WA Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 Welcome and thanks for your service! Stick around here, people will be happy to get you started in the right direction. Working at a forge and anvil can be very therapeutic - as JHCC says it gets you out of your head and into a great "hands on" space. I don't know if Randell's word of advice is all that helpful - that "anvil-lust" takes hold almost immediately and you find yourself scouring everything and everywhere for anvils, hammers, tongs, tweaking your forge for maximum heat efficiency, etc. The addiction is consuming, but incredibly fun. Least for me it is. (Just joking 'round Randell ) But do be careful, it could become an obsession - well some people might use that word - I wouldn't. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jclonts82 Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 Welcome. As stated above, let us know where you are from and put it in your profile. Lots of help, humor, and also curmudgeonry to go around in here. Get a comfy seat and read read read. Even the foums that don't concern bladesmithing. There is plenty of useful general info in just about every section here. Good luck, be safe, and have fun Lt. Clonts. USPHS PS, based on a few XXX'd out words in posts, be careful with any language of any sort... just an FYI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 22, 2017 Share Posted September 22, 2017 Threw my cpap across the room more than once. Wake up and try to control your breathing and the little beast fights ya. There are some therapies that realy help, but be aware that your brain dosnt stop growing befor 25, and severe stress causes the hypocampis to stop growing. Some symptoms we just have to learn to manage. but hitting hot steel takes focus, so the worms don't have a chance to come out and you get all those rabid hamsters running in the same direction, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 22, 2017 Share Posted September 22, 2017 Welcome aboard Darth, glad to have you. Thank you for serving. Everybody has issues some of us just have an excuse. I was almost killed by a great white . . . Birch! I haven't said that in a few years now. I'm a TBI survivor, tree kicked back and I came to what pass for my senses about 3 1/2 weeks later in intensive care. I deal but the real bummer is how my accident ad recovery effected my wife, Deb. She's almost a textbook PTSD sufferer, has close to panic attacks if some things don't go right. We may argue but we have each other's back. I wear my sense of humor like armor, the more it hurts the harder I laugh at it. That's just me though and some folk don't understand but that's okay. I can: laugh, be angry or scared, it's how my brain got rewired. I'll be a joker. Anyway, blacksmithing is excellent therapy, we have a number of Vets in the club, some joined for the therapy. It works, smithing is very Zen, it puts you in the meditative zone. You can just put the bad aside, it's not gone it just doesn't matter. Whatever you need help with you just give a shout out, we have your back. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthRaider Posted September 22, 2017 Author Share Posted September 22, 2017 Charles I think a couple of my hamsters are still on the cannabis I used in High School, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 22, 2017 Share Posted September 22, 2017 I'll be 50 come October, I still haven't fully recovered from high school! At first I read "canable" now that was a mental image, lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 22, 2017 Share Posted September 22, 2017 Now I have a mental image of canning hamsters stuck in my head! Oh THANK you so much Charles! I'll have my voices talk to your voices. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthRaider Posted September 22, 2017 Author Share Posted September 22, 2017 Lol, Charles now that's a mental image I can't take. Im really interested in making blades. I've got to see about a building and just what the VA will pay for. A friend I was in Iraq with in 05 and 09-10 got into taxidermy and the VA paid for his school and all his equipment. I'm waiting on a call back from JESSE to see what steps I need to take. Also another veteran brother wants me to open a dispensary if medical cannabis becomes legal in Mississippi. But our state is always the last to do anything. I updated my profile but apparently it didn't save. Im Chris Clark, 51 from Iuka Mississippi. I'm Retired MSARNG with one tour to Bosnia and two to Iraq. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 22, 2017 Share Posted September 22, 2017 Canned Cui is probably available---just not in the USA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted September 22, 2017 Share Posted September 22, 2017 Canned Cui is probably available---just not in the USA. Maybe in Cancun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 22, 2017 Share Posted September 22, 2017 The army ran me off because for being a problem child (Type II bipolar, PTSD and ADD and an IQ at least 1/2 again what my NCO's had) my marine budies laugh and say that the core would have kept me. ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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