TwoRavens Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Hey all! I'm in...Delaware. (The state, not the town in Ohio, and bonus points if you get the reference.) Just getting into smithing as an extension of my woodworking hobby and involvement in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism). I do a lot of woodworking with medieval tools (or their modern equivalents) and wanted to get into smithing to try my hand at making my own, plus some other stuff. Been browsing for awhile as a lurker and finally decided to sign up today. I don't have much metalworking experience aside from working with tool steel in my saws/chisels/plane irons/etc, but I'm definitely excited to get into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Do you have a cuple if thrauls? Welcome to IFI, Thommas will be along soon, he comes from the SCA in the dim past. Read the stickies in the areas your interested in, don’t use the site search engine. After you do a bit of home work you will find folks bend over backwards to help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Welcome to IFI! If you haven't yet, please READ THIS FIRST!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Hello Ethylmarc from Midrelm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 I forgot about you, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Now CRS---I've only been in the SCA for 40 years this fall so the dim past is still pretty bright...or am I just going toward the light???? Got my laurel in smithing in the MidRealm about 20 years ago: Master Wilelm the smith... Now how can we help----WARNING now you have confessed to being in the SCA it's my DUTY (as well as my pleasure, BWAHAHAHAHahahahaCoughSputterChoke) to push you in a more medieval/renaissance direction! Which of course you are perfectly able to ignore! And I'm *always* willing to trade info on sources! So any specific areas/times? What kind of Woodworking do you do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwoRavens Posted June 8, 2018 Author Share Posted June 8, 2018 Charles: No thralls, though I do have a minion-in-training (he's only 9 months old, so it'll be a few years before he can safely swing a hammer ). Thanks for the welcome! I've seen several threads mention that the search box is garbage, and I've used it a couple times; enough to know that it *is* in fact garbage. JHCC: I did read it. It made me happy. I am clearly in the right place. TP: I'm in Caer Adamant in the East (whole state of DE is one shire, which is kind of awesome). My persona is Viking (Hallbjorn Tryggvason) and my wife is 10-12th C. Irish, so I'm working on putting together a Viking smith setup. Probably won't ever win any A&S awards, but hey, it'll be fun. Woodworking wise I do a lot of small stuff: cutting boards, turnery, and the like. Working on a couple viking chairs for Pennsic this year, and hopefully a table if I can get enough shop time. Edited to add: I will *gladly* take a more medieval direction. That's why I'm getting into this crazy hobby! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Real Viking chairs or the Star Gazers called Viking chairs? Do you have "the Prune People" Viking book? It has some good examples of Viking woodworking tools. You will want to have a copy of the Mastermyr Chest book for both metalworking and wood working tools . The Stave church carvings from Hylestadt show a good viking smithing scene. My early medieval anvil set up: I have been able to source hammers and tongs from fleamarkets and junk stores that match Viking examples. And then there is of course real wrought iron and forge welding of steel edges on WI tooling... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Here is a bit of a head start http://warehamforgeblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/quality-replica-anvils-va-iron-economy.html he also has a nice demo forge (I would use cheap cat litter instead of sand tho) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 the SCA is funny I have been around since pennsic 19 still dont have an AoA. many think I have them already for various things. I dont correct them LOL Welcome sorry about mixing up Eathylmarc and East Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Steve and Thomas are high on my list of guys to listen to, and also front of the line to help you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwoRavens Posted June 8, 2018 Author Share Posted June 8, 2018 TP/CRS: I just got a piece of 3" round steel stock ~8" long (15 lbs or so?) from work to use as an anvil. It's an old counterweight. It rings nicely, so it's definitely steel. Just a question of type/grade. Either way, it's going in a stand and becoming an anvil. I've read the JABOD threads already, and since we've got 2 cats in the house, litter is something I keep in stock. Just need to find some time to make a box out of scrap lumber. The good thing about woodworking with hand tools is that I can work at night when the baby's asleep, so hopefully this is going to be a quick turnaround! Steve: Yeah, it all depends on who's around you, I find. We've got a good group here, for the most part. I'm stoked for Pennsic this year. Didn't get to go last year because my wife was about to have our first kid, so we'll be camping with an almost 1-year-old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 BTW Steve Parker forged my anvil from a single piece of medium carbon steel back in 2008 and it's heat treated. I've seen others that he has done at Quad-State some years. Your chunk should weigh 16 pounds, a decent viking anvil weight; but of course they were forging real WI at very high(==soft) temperatures If it was designed as a counterweight it's probably mild steel---why pay more for the metal when you don't need the more costly properties. If it was a case of "We need a counterweight; what do we have in the scap bin that's close?" It could be almost anything; but unheattreated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwoRavens Posted June 8, 2018 Author Share Posted June 8, 2018 Yeah, it's probably mild steel, but since at this point I'm just looking for something to use as an anvil, I'll probably just let it work harden a bit. I've been eyeballing the 4x4 stake anvil from Old World Anvils as another option, since it's quenched and tempered 4140. Pretty similar to your stake anvil, in fact, but straight-sided. But we'll see what happens with this piece first. If it works for awhile, great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 I once got extensive machining work done for just a donation to a VoTech end of the semester party fund.....4140 is pretty easy to find in chunks as drops....not too hard to HT either.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS3900 Posted June 9, 2018 Share Posted June 9, 2018 Hey Two Ravens, Good to see another Delawarian on here, I am in Townsend "below the canal". We have a pretty awesome community in our area. I don't have a lot of time to post right now (3 month old little one myself) but I'll try to PM some info your way tomorrow about local people, groups, events, places to find materials ect.. if you're interested. -Morgan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoge Posted June 11, 2018 Share Posted June 11, 2018 Hi! I was born in Wilmington and used to spend summers with my mom's family on Rehoboth. Cool to see the various scenes developing there (it's changed a little since I was a kid). Don't get to visit very often but will have to look out for events, groups, etc. Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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