Starting at the bottom

[Gabriel DigDug Davis]

Hello fellow blacksmiths! I just started in the trade (and by just starting, I mean I was given a rivet forge, a few tools, and a 100# anvil, for Christmas) And have been having the most difficult time trying to find other blacksmiths in Northern Iowa/ Southern Minnesota that I can glean some knowledge from. I've watched a grand array of Youtube videos, on how to forge a wide assortment of different things,  but I find it hard to actually put some of that education to the anvil. When it comes to me, and I would imagine most of you fine folk. I feel that I would learn so much more, with some hands-on training. This cold snap in the Midwest has made it no picnic to get started, especially since I have no shop to speak of. My setup is basically in my backyard at the time being, and mother natures likes to be quite fickle. I live in Northwest Iowa and would love to know if there is anyone nearby that can help a young 27 year old, get into the business. I am a man of small means and would prefer to horse trade, perhaps heavy work with a strong back, for some schooling. The closest place that I can find actual soft coal is in Ames, IA ( which is about a 4-hour drive for me) besides that, I have been able to find anthracite in Mason City, which is still about 2 hours and 30 minutes away from me. What I've learned about the super hard anthracite coal, is that it's quite hard to get burning, and stay burning without throwing my arm out of the socket with my crank blower. Any help would be greatly appreciated, and I hope I can learn and grow to be one of the very best blacksmiths in my area. To give you a general idea of what i am working with, I will attach some photos of my set up.

[ausfire]

Well, you have all the makings for a good start. Nice anvil, neat little forge and Buffalo blower ... you just have to get going making some simple stuff first. Try some S hooks and progress from there.

And perhaps find some better stuff to burn - that looks like barbecue charcoal to me. I hope you can find a local smith who can help you with some coal or coke and a few guidelines to set you on the right track.

[JHCC]

Even hardwood lump charcoal is better than briquettes. 

[Al Stephens]

Hi Gabriel, Start with checking out the ABANA website. You should be able to find the closest blacksmith group to you. Joining, and being active in a local group is the fastest way to learn and make contact with others that are interested in the craft. Good Luck, be safe. Al

[ThomasPowers]

plain old charcoal, NOT briquettes was used for blacksmithing about  2000 years or so before dug coal was (and ever since in parallel with using coal).  Read up on how to tweak your forge to use it. (I'd put a parallel line of fire brick backed by dirt or clay in that rivet forge to make for a deeper but narrower trough for using charcoal. Or just mounds of clay to either side going for a more U shape trough.)

[Daswulf]

I didn't see where he said he was using briquettes. He mentioned anthracite coal and it kind of looks like burned anthracite in the forge. I could be wrong tho. 

Welcome aboard Gabriel. Very nice gifts you got there. First look for local black smithing groups, they might know where to find coal closer. Second, if you can buy in bulk it might be worth going to get the bituminous coal if you are able. It is much more friendly to a hand crank forge then anthracite. 

[Gabriel DigDug Davis]

Glad to be here, and thank you guys for such a warm welcome. Those are actually lava rocks that I used at first when iI just had charcoal. I wanted to see if it would actually help keep a better heat, and eventually took them out once I switched to anthracite never used briquettes except to maybe help with starting the starting fire. The anthracite I can get going, Even been able to get a couple pieces of 30" stake, just a bit harder out in the elements.

 

Pvf AI: I have checked out ABANA, and the closest places are in Southwest Iowa, and Northern Minneapolis, in the cities. I'veI joined a blacksmith group for Des Moines, on Facebook and they have been super friendly, even inviting me down to work at there forges, which I plan to do once the weather gets better, and I'm better financially.

 

I like this idea of hammer-ins and meetups. what are some other good gathering places to find blacksmiths? Pow-Wows? Biker rallies? and when are they? 

I've since Ground down the top of this anvil to a nice smooth finish, still a couple of gouges, and I need to fill in that huge divet on the side of the table, with a welder. is there any reason to choose stick welding, over wire? I usually see people weld with stick when it comes to their anvils

[Daswulf]

Ugh.. There was nothing wrong with the face of the anvil. Use it as is before you take more life away from it. Hopefully you didn't grind too much of the "thin" hardened steel face plate off of it. Please take some time to read through some topics here like the anvils for beginners thread so you have a better idea what you are working with. It can save you from some misconceptions like needing a perfectly smooth anvil surface with sharp edges. The worn in parts of an anvil many times make Good features to help you. 

 

[ThomasPowers]

In general I say only grind off the depth of metal on the face of your anvil that you would be willing to grind off your own face and do your face FIRST!

Just forging hot steel on the anvil face would have shined it up nicely!   And remember if you have produced sharp edges GO BACK AND ROUND THEM OVER!

May I quote from "Practical Blacksmithing", Vol 1, 1889, Richardson: "For my own part, I am satisfied that not only are sharp edges useless, but they are also destructive of good work.  I cannot account for their existence except as a relic of a time when the principles of forging were but little understood."     I hope you didn't go that far!  

My suggestion: do not make permanent changes to your tools until you know if your ideas about modifying them actually reflect good practice.

I know that you may feel like we are dogpiling on you; but we hope you have not damaged your anvil much and hope that it will prevent  the next person reading this from making what can be a BAD mistake.  Assuming you are an experienced and skilled welder and can deal with welding high carbon steel in a cold climate I will refer you to The Gunther Method of anvil repair for preheat/post heat and rod suggestions.

(So far in 37 years of smithing I have seen 4 anvils that I would suggest get ground or milled before using; I've seen dozens damaged to one extent or another!)

Now for conferences: Quad-State Blacksmiths Round-Up held the last full weekend of September (usually) is probably the biggest annual one around.  It's held on the Miami County Fairgrounds, Troy OH  (Western side about mid way down the state.)  It's fairly inexpensive as conferences go and you can camp on-site to hold down costs.  I hope to attend this year---it's a 1500 mile each way trip for me---If you get a chance to go; I'll be wearing lederhosen and an aloha shirt around the site Friday---given good weather. (It's an old joke from a Heinlein book that a smith friend got when I mentioned it on-line and I recreate it in his memory.  The red hat with horns on it is also a good clue that it's me...)

 

[Gabriel DigDug Davis]

It's hard to be offended, when it's such good positive criticism. I didn't grind any of the edges, to a sharp point, I felt like that would have been taking it to an extreme. but I did just take a 40 or 80 grit flap disc to the table, to take out a few of the small grooves made by someone giving it mis-hits before me. As for welding, I actually went to a trade school for it the last 2 years of highschool, and am a bit rusty, but with a few practice strokes on some scrap metal, and I should be able to get my proper amperage set after that to do some filler welds. Thankfully I have a family friend that has a shop with both a wire/stick welder and an oxy/acetylene torch with different head attachments. As for the trip to Ohio, It would be about 800 miles (one way) for me and that most definitely manageable. How many people gather at this conference typically? I hope to be well on my way by late September, with a few homemade trinkets of my own to trade. Still thinking on a touch mark, have a list jotted down with a few ideas....but nothing concrete...With time I suppose. Thankfully, My parents just came into a storefront, and I already have a place to sell my wares to start gaining a revenue, once I have some worth selling. Thankfully i live in a vacation area, and the summer always makes the lakes gush with tourists looking for homemade creations made by the locals, hahaha. Moving forward, Is it smart to just start a new post, when I have any questions, or is there someplace most of you congregate on the forum here? any threads you might be able to link me to, with good topics for where i should start, or great techniques? or even maybe show me some of your own products. 

[JHCC]

The problem with ANY welding is that the heat from the weld is going to mess up the heat treatment of the hard face. DON'T DO IT.

[Daswulf]

First things first. Don't weld Or grind on the anvil until you have used it for a year to know more if you even need to. ( probably not) 

next, the search function on the site isn't the best so if you type in your search topic with iforgeiron after it in your search engine you'll get better hits. Try looking up beginner projects. That will bring you to some threads that that question has already been answered many times. There are many great ideas in them. 

You need to learn the basic techniques first. There are threads on about any topic like hammer control, posture, anvil height, etc... To help you start out right. If you have any questions, ask away. Reading up on the subject first gives you the ability to ask a better question and helps you to better understand the answers you receive.

If starting a new topic, do it in the section it fits into, there are many. 

 

[ThomasPowers]

Yes you worry us!   You can dial in the amperage; but what is the proper preheat temperature the whole anvil needs to be at BEFORE welding?

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard Gabriel glad to have you. You're making a common beginner mistake in trying to repair or perfect tools you don't know how to use. We've all done it, I tried turning my first ever car into a hot rod and could barely tell the points from the condenser. There are a number of good beginner projects that will develop your skills and turn out marketable products and not one needs a pristine anvil face, not ONE!

More anvils have been ruined by professional welders than have actually been repaired or improved. Welding on an anvil is not a trivial matter think 24 hrs. not counting grinding the welds, IF it's a simple repair and if you have to re-harden and temper it, it becomes a real crap shoot.

Learn the craft process by process and practice a while before moving to the next. I like to start people out doing straight tapers, finial scrolls and simple bends. You'll need to make uniform straight tapers as long as you practice the craft and it's harder than it looks. Finial scrolls are a way to either decorate the end of an element say a fence picket or coat hook while blunting a point. You have to consider safety in the products you make, you don't want a reputation for making products that a person can cut themselves on or can fall off a table and poke a hole in a foot. If it bruises a foot, no biggy a falling book will hurt if it hits you.

Simple bends are a way to turn tapers into useful products, popular beginner projects are "S" and "Drive" hooks. Lots of how tos here.

Just remember this is FUN. Forget about turning it into a career till you've learned the craft and met the local gang. Play with the fire and beat poor that innocent steel into submission. That's why I do it. 

Frosty The Lucky.