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I Forge Iron

Newbie smith, hello.


Michael B

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Welcome to the site.

Pack a lunch and a cold drink and start reading the sections that are of interest to you. Usually the stickies and pinned topics are a good place to start.

What equipment? All you need is something to hit with, something to hit on, some metal to hit, and a way to get it hot so it moves easier. Next time your near hobby supplies, get a brick of modeling clay (under $5) to practice with and use for problem solving. 

Look for a blacksmithing group or organisation near you. Go to the meetings. You will learn more in a couple of hours than you can ever imagine. They are the source for your tools and equipment. 

 

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Glenn is ever optimistic. His little blacksmithing site has a outgrown a cold drink and a sandwich. I suggest staging your computer between the bathroom and the fridge. Forget that, just move the computer and fridge into the bathroom!

First off go to the pinned posts in the various headings, solid fuel forges, anvils and such. Plenty of ideas on how to put together a cheap to no cost kit. From their you can forge the tools to improve your kit and so on. Then come back and we will help you sort out a low to no cost effective and efficient forge, scrounge up a low cost or free effective anvil and show you the tools you need and how to forge them.

 

Unlike YouTube and other sites IFI is a peer reverted interactive document supported buy working smiths and talented holiest from around the world. Bad and dangerous advice will be called out, and experts from many difrent feilds weigh in on a veritable of topics. 

Welcome the IFI, meds on the right, straitjackets on the left. And keep your hands off my crayons!

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thank you both for the warm welcome, ive spent the past several hours reading  all around and some of the things. you in particular, Charles have helped a lot already,  namely  here 

im already extremely excited by the sheer amount of information i have at my access, i am happy I'm getting into this as young as i am(a measly 16) and look forward to learning from you all the ancient trade.

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We all wish we had the opportunity to have started when we were 16, or earlier.

This post may come as a total surprise because it will go against everything you think you know. There is no perfect forge, no perfect anvil, no perfect hammer, no perfect pair of tongs, and for that matter, no perfect anything. If there were, we all would have that forge, that anvil, that hammer and etc. No one ever said you could have just one. It is when you have two of a thing that you find one thing does something the other thing can not do. Look at the photos and notice the rows of hammers, rows of tongs, and multiples of other tools. Each has it's own special purpose or way it does something. 

Blacksmithing is not a goal. Blacksmithing is a quest, it is always wanting to learn more.  Each thing you learn, each technique, and each way to do something is a measure of success. It is the fire in your belly that makes things happen. Others will try to diminish your talent, your success, your dreams, and put the fire out. Thank them and walk away. Learn from those that are smarter than you. Find people that want you to succeed and take joy in being a small part of your success. Be ever respectful as they have the knowledge you seek, and a depth of knowledge that will serve you long into the future.

Reading is only a small part of the learning experience. You MUST take what you read to the forge and prove that the information is good, or not so good. You will find that there is nothing like hammer time to reinforce your learning, and to advance your knowledge. This is not regurgitating answers for a test. This is real life where you actually study, actually learn, then actually use that knowledge. There are no failures, just discovering ways that do not work. So fix it by studying and learning and practicing the proper techniques and ways of doing things.  No one can take knowledge away from you. 

That fellow that you admire, that has been a blacksmith for 20 years. Well you can be that good or better 20 years if you start now. And 20 years from now some young kid will look at you in awe, and wish he could be half as good as you are.  It is going to happen, are you up for the challenge?

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I'm ready for an everlasting quest, to forever seek more, to have an unyielding need to improve me. So Glenn, yes i am up for the challenge. I seek to learn from those my elder, and to in time teach to those my junior. To you, i give my gratitude for enabling me to be here.

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You will be lucky if it just laughs at you---it can bite too!

And please read up about PPE: Personal Protective Equipment: a lot of things in smithing are cumulative issues so abusing your joints with too heavy a hammer or bad form, Lifting too heavy items or with bad form, not wearing safety glasses or not using hearing protectors---you may laugh at this now but give it a few decades and you can find yourself a broke down old smith at a young age while others are still smithing in their 80's!

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