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I Forge Iron

Interested in Blacksmithing as a Hobby


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7 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Back a decade or two ago; someone was posting that they were a "true path" blacksmith

"I have no use for purists. Every hobby I know of has been ruined by them. They can't simply enjoy coins or stamps or model trains, they have to look down their noses at other hobbyists whose collections aren't as fine as theirs. Purists might serve a useful purpose if they also achieved excellence in something meaningful, but they almost never do. Almost always, they pick some piece of trivia to obsess over and feel superior to everyone else about their ultra-fastidiousness." -- Steven Dutch

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AZBL - I can offer 2 advices:

1. Do try to find a way to experience blacksmithing. Like a class. Not just observe. I was watching blacksmithing for years and went on to build a smithy. The first time I swung a hammer was after the smithy was built and done, and I found it was NOT what I imagined.

2. Your working place needs to be ventilated, and yet sound proof or distant enough from neighbours/family. Be sure you have proper location before you commit. 

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Here is my advice.

If you cannot get with a local, or local group first.

Get a heavy chunk of scrap to use for an anvil; drop from a shop, chunk from a scrap yard, forklift fork, hydraulic breaker point, large bucket pin etc from a rental yard or heavy equipment repair shop.

Make a JABOD forge to heat with; lump charcoal, wood, or coal

Get some hammers; 16oz on up to say 2# ball peen, engineer, or rock drilling styles.

Find some scrap steel bars that are long enough to hold without tongs; 3/8"-1/2" rebar, 1/4" - 1/2" rods from fences, garden decorations, interior items like racks, etc - no chrome or galvanized plated, but some paint is OK.

Read Aleander Weyger's book the Modern Blacksmith, or the ABANA tutorials for beginners on their website.

Read up on making round stock square, and square stock round, round and square tapers, drawing out rounds and squares.

This may not sound fun, but it has a purpose. It teaches you how the metal moves under the hammer as well as hammer control - you do not want to see your parts covered in deep hammer marks. Once you get proficient at these exercises you can start combining them with scrolls and twisting (need some method of holding the hot steel) to make items like S-hooks for hanging plants, and other items. It is a learning curve and some get there faster than others. It really does help to have a more experienced smith with you to serve as a guide, so that is always preferred. My community college offered a blacksmithing night class.

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On 2/28/2018 at 2:31 PM, JHCC said:

"I have no use for purists. Every hobby I know of has been ruined by them. They can't simply enjoy coins or stamps or model trains, they have to look down their noses at other hobbyists whose collections aren't as fine as theirs. Purists might serve a useful purpose if they also achieved excellence in something meaningful, but they almost never do. Almost always, they pick some piece of trivia to obsess over and feel superior to everyone else about their ultra-fastidiousness." -- Steven Dutch

Hey, I resemble that remark..  :) 

I am a purist in the sense of low tech and doing everything by hand which can include water powered hammers, electrically powered hammers any hammer where I am the person who has to position it to get the desired results..  Basically what you would find in a rural New England Blacksmithing shop up to about 1920's or so depending on location..  Ideally I wanted to the ability to be able to forge anything out of anything with no modern machinery needed.. :) 

I'd rather use traditional joinery methods on wrought iron work vs electric arc welding( If it's not used properly it can ruin all the other good work)..  But have no problem using it for where it's needed in stuff that I would not sell as blacksmithing or hand made or I should say Hand forged and assembled..  

Way back I would not use anything that was electrically powered to produce anything I sold.. Even the drill was hand powered, I just think it did a better, more accurate job.. 

 

JBOD is a great way to go, but I'd suggest you get involved with the group and make contacts and you will see most the members are very welcoming as they love blacksmithing and usually love to show off their equipement..   Like minded people and all.. 

You kind of have to be a little earthy crunching (not mind getting dirty) when it comes to blacksmithing so the quality of person is pretty good.. 

There are so many resources out there for blacksmithing now, there simply is no reason not to do it..   Not one thing is mysterious or hidden anymore..  So much free info..  

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16 minutes ago, jlpservicesinc said:

I am a purist in the sense of low tech and doing everything by hand [...] I just think it did a better, more accurate job.

In other words, you're a purist in the sense of choosing to produce aesthetically pleasing work of high quality by using (to borrow David Pye's terminology) free to moderately free workmanship. You're not a purist in the sense of imposing a system of absolute values based on whether or not a particular technology was available at a particular (and often arbitrarily chosen) place and time. Even your "Basically what you would find in a rural New England Blacksmithing shop up to about 1920's or so depending on location" criterion has more to do with the quality of the work that you can produce with such technology than it does with the idolization of that specific period and locale.

There's also a substantial difference between a practical constraint one chooses to impose on oneself and a standard of judgment one inflicts on others.

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