Ali Ahmed Khan Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 I'm going to my farms back in India where we grow mostly crop and have poultry, it's in a Small Indian town. A good amount of blacksmiths there, my father wants me to work with the blacksmiths for a week for 2-3 hours a day before I can get a home setup. I'll be starting in a week, I'll try to get some pictures of the smithy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 Sounds like a great opportunity! I look forward to learning about Indian traditional smithy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 That is an opportunity I would have loved to have in my youth. Learn all you can and make beautiful things, keep us posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 Well most likely it would be simple utilitarian items; but the skills can be transferred to making more upscale items. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Hammer Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 Please take a lot of pictures and post them. We'd love to see how hot metal is moved without a lot of the tools we probably take for granted here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judson Yaggy Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 Get yourself some safety glasses. I didn't see many in the shops I visited while in India, but I did see quite a few blind beggars. We have at least one other IFI member in India, if I recall he's in Kerala. I know, a billion people in a large country, small chance you will be near him. But worth a chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 GOOD catch Judson! Safety glasses are a must, get a couple as spares too Ali! It'd be a real shame to lose a new blacksmith just as he was getting started. You can work around just about anything else but losing an eye is pretty much a hard stop. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali Ahmed Khan Posted December 19, 2017 Author Share Posted December 19, 2017 On 12/18/2017 at 8:12 PM, Judson Yaggy said: Get yourself some safety glasses. I didn't see many in the shops I visited while in India, but I did see quite a few blind beggars. Haha will do, that's the first thing my sister told me to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali Ahmed Khan Posted January 4, 2018 Author Share Posted January 4, 2018 I'm leaving india now to go back to the uae, turns out since the harvest hasn't been well it's also effected the blacksmiths work. The man had no projects so i couldn't work there and his smithy was wrapped up. I did buy one of those anvils you see in all the villager smithy videos, weighs around 41.6 pounds. also bought tongs and a hot cut. all for as little as 20$ they were selling all of it at scrap rates. Ill post some pictures once I arrive. Good thing i packed light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 Sorry to here that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 Sorry you didn't get the chance to do any work there, but at least the trip wasn't a total loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Hammer Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 Glad you could bring something back from the trip. I look forward to seeing the pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desmond Redmon Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 That sucks I was hoping to see how it went, but at least you got some new toys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunil Bhalla Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 Hi Ali, I am also interested in doing some blacksmithing here in Dubai, UAE. Would like to hear from you how and where you got your basic stuff such as Forge etc. I see from your posts that you've got anvil and tongs from India and you were/are planning to build your own forge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajajoaquin Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 On 1/4/2018 at 5:55 AM, MC Hammer said: Glad you could bring something back from the trip. I look forward to seeing the pictures. On 1/4/2018 at 2:37 AM, Ali Ahmed Khan said: I'm leaving india now to go back to the uae, turns out since the harvest hasn't been well it's also effected the blacksmiths work. The man had no projects so i couldn't work there and his smithy was wrapped up. I did buy one of those anvils you see in all the villager smithy videos, weighs around 41.6 pounds. also bought tongs and a hot cut. all for as little as 20$ they were selling all of it at scrap rates. Ill post some pictures once I arrive. Good thing i packed light. + 1 on this. I'd be curious to see the pics of the stuff you brought back.I am really curious to know what can be bought for $20 in India, as I go once a year for work. Also to know where you went. India is a strangely big place. Big in the sense that there's a lot of people and varied geography, but weird in the sense that it's still about a third the size of the US. On 12/18/2017 at 5:12 PM, Judson Yaggy said: Get yourself some safety glasses. I didn't see many in the shops I visited while in India, but I did see quite a few blind beggars. We have at least one other IFI member in India, if I recall he's in Kerala. I know, a billion people in a large country, small chance you will be near him. But worth a chance. Is there a member from Kerala, or are you remembering my visit to Kerala a while back? As was mentioned, the main thing that the smith I visited forged was utilitarian: rubber taps. He showed me one and tried to teach me to make one. His anvil was a block of mild steel about 9" on a side set loosely on the ground. Forge was a blower that had a metal tube blowing into a hollow in the dirt. Fuel was wood that reduced to charcoal as he worked. He forged sitting cross-legged with the anvil bouncing around in the heat and humidity and the fire singeing the hair on his leg (or mine, at least, when I tried to sit where he did). I found it so awkward and uncomfortable that I could do almost nothing. He, however, forged effortlessly and with great skill. I still have the knife he made me from a leaf spring. Still makes me smile every time I use it. To Sunil, that's part of your answer. Don't get hung up on some pre-conceived notion of what anvils or tongs or forges should look like. According to The Complete Modern Blacksmith, a forge can be as simple as a metal can with a really tall chimney and using charcoal for fuel. The draft was enough to get metal to forging temperature. There are lots of forges here that are made from brake drums, mud, old BBQs, and hair dryers or simple bellows. UAE has tons of construction. Where there's construction, there are scrap yards. A big snapped truck axle piece would make a serviceable anvil. Any hammer without a textured face (like for driving nails) will work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judson Yaggy Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 On 1/24/2018 at 11:29 PM, bajajoaquin said: Is there a member from Kerala, or are you remembering my visit to Kerala a while back? I'd forgotten that you went there too. Amazing place, isn't it? There was another member actually livinvg in Kerala, he was trying to bootstrap himself into having a little shop, and was having trouble finding borax in India. I saw several of the following anvils in southern India, so there are some avaiable! And, just because it was both terrifing and a little cool to be unexpectedly close to a wild bull elephant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 5 minutes ago, Judson Yaggy said: There was another member actually livinvg in Kerala, he was trying to bootstrap himself into having a little shop, and was having trouble finding borax in India. That was this thread: https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/52207-borax-like-substance-that-can-get-rid-of-the-gunk/ 6 minutes ago, Judson Yaggy said: And, just because it was both terrifing and a little cool to be unexpectedly close to a wild bull elephant Now I've got ideas going through my head for an elephant-powered treadle hammer.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judson Yaggy Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 Just teach 'em to swing a sledge, they are smart enough and plenty strong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 Judson, I would think a big honking treadle hammer leaves them with a trunk free for the bellows... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 Or to hold the top tool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 Beats the heck out of Lucy and her paintbrush! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajajoaquin Posted January 27, 2018 Share Posted January 27, 2018 Any time you’re in India and you tell someone you’re going to Kerala, their eyes open a bit and say “Kerala is a beautiful place.” And it’s true. Also the only state in India where you can legally have an elephant as a pet. That pic of he smithy was good, thanks. You can see the blower behind the swage-block pyramid thingie and I’m guessing it has an air tube under it to a fire “pot” in the dirt on the near side (in the photo)? That’s a step above the one I went to, but otherwise pretty close in overall feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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