June 2, 20188 yr Hey there! I am Laurel. I’ve been teaching myself and learning to smith on my own for the past six months or so. I sought out IFI after hearing about it on the Blacksmither Radio podcast. Im based out of Savannah, GA. I built a small brake drum forge in my backyard, got a scrap piece of I beam as an anvil and got to work. Soon after my landlord made me ditch the backyard forge. I found a little propane forge, moved my setup to my partner’s yard and found home there. Shortly after that I upgraded to a 2 inch thick strike plate with a hardy hole, and have been slowly making and acquiring tools. Im glad to have stumbled upon this font of smiths and information! If there’s anyone nearby, i’d love to meet up and mash some stuff
June 2, 20188 yr Hello Laurel, welcome to IForgeIron! if you will put your general location in your Profile, it will be visible in every post: Everyone will benefit from that. And If you have not already read this, the following guide can be very helpful: Sounds to me like you have the passion and the drive to accomplish whatever you set your mind to. Keep it up. Enjoy being part of a fine International Community, Robert Taylor
June 3, 20188 yr welcome, you don't have to be crazy to be here, we are happy to give apprenticeships in that
June 8, 20188 yr Welcome to IFI... Victoria Patti is great, my wife has taken several of her classes making a very nice yard pendulum in one.
June 8, 20188 yr Welcome aboard Laurel, glad to have you. which way do you have the plate oriented? On edge makes the most effective use of it as an anvil, the more depth of steel/iron between the work and the ground the better. You only need a little wider face than the hammer face straightening is better done on a wooden block with a mallet, hammering on a piece of flat steel forges the piece when all you really want to do is bend it straight. Don't toss the I beam, it's a loud and lousy anvil but there are a lot of other useful things it's good for. Frosty The Lucky.
June 8, 20188 yr Author Oh the I beam is still mounted to a stump, I have it ground down and bent into a horn, with wood blocks clamped all over it because yes, it is like hammering on a wilted gong. I do have the strike plate mounted flat right now, I’ve been punching a lot of holes, but I think I’m going to make a separate vertical stand I can just flip it into when I don’t need the hardee out. I hadn’t thought about straightening stuff out on a wood block though, it makes a whole lot of sense! What kind of wood would work well for that?
June 8, 20188 yr Almost any kind of wood works well I have both spruce and birch handy so that's what I use. Could use cottonwood but I don't have any cut. I pick up wooden baseball bats for cheap at garage, yard, etc. sales for thwockers or to make mallets from. A thwocker is any handy piece of wood you use to thwock the work you don't want to mess up with a hammer. Whole B'ball bats are prime thwockers but are handier cut down. They're good tire thumpers too. Handy things B'ball bats. Frosty The Lucky.
June 9, 20188 yr also Frosty has a personal Vendetta against Birch so having a bat to beat it with is therapeutic
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