new to smithin.. buildin a forge

[Sabre]

ok well i have a drain and i was thinkin of puttin it into a steet table with a hood over it. then i can still hook air up into it and an ash gate. i just need to kow where to find tongs and an anvil. im only 13 but i make stuff all the time and build little homemade devices. all i wast is a white hot heat. i am new so if any1 has any tips for me to use for forging of blacksmithing thats sweet.

oh ya fpr a forge it needs to be easy to build and use.

hehe srry for spellin mistakes

if any1 is wondering my name is canadiangansta because i use it for everything and is super eassy to remember:p but ya i do want to change it:cool:

Edited May 21, 2008 by canadiangansta69

[Dallas de Marr]

An easier forge is the 55 Forge. It's fairly simple to build, and easy to use / modify for your own purposes. I also recommend searching out some of the blacksmiths in the chat as well, if you're around (mostly) in the evenings. Also:

Go to the top of the forum and click on user cp
click on display your profile
enter your location and save

We would like to know where in Canada you are! Or, if you aren't in Canada, where else in the world you are.

[Frosty]

Well Canadian GANSTA ? It's good to see you getting into smithing, I don't think you'll make it as an english major.

Sorry, couldn't resist, I'm weak that way.

The list of things you need to do some smithing is ridiculously short.

#1, Hot fire. White heat is almost more a matter of perception than an actual temp though it's marked on charts. Usually it's wanted for welding but there are guys who can weld at low orange heat without flux and others that have problems at any temp.

What you need to start is a good working heat, high orange is plenty for general work. For that you need a hole and a blast. A brake drum or an old sink will work, as will any fireproof container resembling a hole.

For the blast a hair dryer or shop vac are pretty popular starters, I've used both and both work fine.

#2 On the list is an anvil. Virtually any heavy piece of steel or iron will work. RR rail is probably the most common improvised anvil around. Another common starter is "I" beam, not so hot if laid flat but okay standing on end. Then there are all the other really heavy THINGS from forklift counter weights to RR car couplers, to 1,000 crane hooks, to shaft cutoffs and all the other stuff like it.

#3 Tongs. A blacksmith invented visegrips because he was tired of dropping things using tongs. Then there are "Twist tongs".

These are really simple things you can make with little or no tools. Cut two lengths of strip stock, say 3/4"x1/4"x16" long. (to pick a usable length out of the air)

The next step is to punch or drill a hole in each piece in the same location, say 2" from one end. The hole should be about 1/4".

The next step is to either rivet or bolt the two halves together. If bolted either double nut it or pein the threads so the nut can't back off. leave enough slack so the halves move but aren't sloppy.

This step involves heat. Bring the bit (jaw) end to a good orange heat and place it in a vise gripped by the rivet or bolt with the reins (handles) down. Using a crescent wrench or adjusted vise grips, etc. give the bit a 1/4 twist.

Quickly remove the tongs from the vise and work the handles to make sure the hinge joint is moving freely.

Shape the bit to the stock you need to hold and they're ready to go.

Lastly, you need some hammers, a saw, chisels, files, measuring device, scribe, punch and other various misc tools.

That's it. With those simple tools the smith can eventually rebuild virtually every tool and machine you see in the world today. It may take a couple generations but we did it once (well, more than once really) we can do it again. :cool:

A vise is REALLY handy but you can do without. 3rd world smiths without a "real" vise will wedge a piece against a boulder with a foot.

Your most probably first vise will be a machinist's vise and they're good for holding and twisting but being cast iron will NOT stand up to hammering.

Oh yeah, Welcome aboard and you CAN edit your posts after they're uploaded, the button is at the bottom.

Frosty

Edited May 21, 2008 by Frosty

[nett]

Everything a young man needs to know about blacksmithing can be found in one very wonderful book:

The Complete Modern Blacksmith
by Alexander G. Weygers

Purchasing this book will prove to be a wise investment because you will find yourself referencing it and the pencil drawing extensively. A picture is worth a thousand words applies to this book in spades. If you don't buy it, at least check it out of the library to see what it's all about. If your library doesn't have a copy the librarian will be happy to special order a copy from another library. You will learn a lot in a short period of time, I guarantee it.

I wish I had had a copy of this book when I was your age.

[Max Mulholland - Tetnum]

i am 15 and started when i was 9 and there are many other pepole our age so your not alone

1. tongs, got an olt pair of plyers. vicegrips? they will work to a point

2. anvil anything you can pound on will work to start but try and stick to iron drops and such (stay away from moms good china:o)

3. forge brake drum forge or as was above mentioned the 55 forge

oh and be safe hot metal hurts and just when you think you have got it will try and mame you when your not paying attention

be safe have fun any ione correct me if i have bad info
thanks

[keykeeper]

Before you start on tools, I recommend reading and understanding everything you can about blacksmithing. Go to the local library, check out and read all the books. Get a good grasp of the concepts involved in blacksmith work.

Then, Go for IT!

But always be safe no matter what you are doing.

Good luck.

[sabre2]

ok i made a new account FROSTY i home it makes you happy lol. no offense

[Frosty]

ok i made a new account FROSTY i home it makes you happy lol. no offense

I was just teasing you a little. If either of us needed to apologize for giving offense it'd be me. Sorry if I offended you.

What'd really make me happy would be if you lived close enough we could get together. There aren't that many youngsters around here interested enough to actually come over.

Good new handle, Sabre.

Welcome aboard.

I second the vote for Wyger's book, it is one of if not the best book I've seen for field expedient smithing and general shop set ups.

Wygers traveled the world during a time travel wasn't easy. He was an artist in many media and liked to do what struck his fancy at the time. He did a lot of wood and stone carving but painted, drew, worked in all kinds of metal, ceramics and more. He liked trying regional variants of the arts.

There was no way he could pack enough tools to cover all his potential interests so he only packed the light and compact ones like paint, etc. he couldn't improvise.

If he found a piece of wood, stone, etc. he wanted to carve he'd build a smithy from whatever was available, make the tools he needed, make his carving or whatever and move on. After a while his tools started taking on aspects of works of art themselves.

The guy's a personal hero of mine, just for his McGyvering abilities.

Frosty Edited May 21, 2008 by Frosty

[FieryFurnace]

I am fifteen and I have been smithing for about a year and a half. I suggest a book called "The Blacksmith Primer." It's the only book I have read on smithing. It takes you from A-Z, and it is very amusing. I recommend a brake drum forge as well. I used mine for a little over a year, and it is still serviceable. The book I mentioned shows you how to build one. As far as anvils go, I agree with "tetnum." I used railroad track for a while. You can also try a junkyard and see if they have a rather large hunk of steel laying around somewhere. Tongs, well, I went for about a year and a couple of months before I got my first pair of tongs. (not to discourage you, I was just too stupid to try to build my own) I suggest you get some vicegrips and weld some angle iron on the mouth. Even if you have to pay to get it welded, it WILL be worth it. It might seem like a lot of equipment at first (believe me, sometimes I would want to quit because I thought I would never get the stuff I needed,) but stick with it, be patient, and you will succeed!!!
Go for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, and one more!
Oh! You're not the only one on the forum that can't spell very good. That is my weakest subject, and my Mom proof reads my posts before they go up.
Take no offense from "frosty;" ALL true gentlemen should be able to laugh at themselves sometimes! His time will come, just watch for your opportunity!
The kidsmith,
Dave Custer

Edited May 22, 2008 by FieryFurnace

[Frosty]

Take no offense from "frosty;" ALL true gentlemen should be able to laugh at themselves sometimes! His time will come, just watch for your opportunity!
The kidsmith,
Dave Custer

Why you young Whippersnapper! Soon's I find my cane I'll show you what for!

Frosty

[philip in china]

So who is Sabre and why is he banned?

[Johannes]

hey there youngster,
I would like to welcome you, your in for quite the ride, blacksmithing will enhance your life and your ability to sole problems.
For a forge, I'm no fan of brakedrum forges, there are simpeler and better alternatives in my opinion, but it works if you don't have annything else, you mentioned a sink? whatkind of? cast iron? plate a drain sink?..?
What everyboddy said about reading the right books is verry true, The Complete Modern Blacksmith by Alexander G. Weygers is indeed a greath source of information, but also, The Art of Blacksmithing (Hardcover)by Alex W. Bealer, A Blacksmithing Primer: A Course in Basic and Intermediate Blacksmithing and ofcourse all the blue prints on this site..
absorbe as much as you can
and don't mind your english mine is much much worse

[BeaverDamForge]

I built a brake drum forge a couple weeks ago. Instead of making an ash dump, I ran the tuyere (exhaust pipe) down into a bucket of water. It seals the bottom, puts out any embers, and serves as slack tub.

Good Luck!

[Archie Zietman]

some major things to keep in mind:

Keep It Simple.
I wasted a lot of time, designing my second forge to be all fancy and complicated, and then it didn't work great, so I wasted a year when I could have been smithing.
Start off with a 55 forge, or a 3 foot to a side wooden box filled with dirt and rocks, dig a fire pot sized hole in it before each fire and have a pipe sticking down to the bottom of the hole. Whatever you do, keep it simple.

Always know what you are making:
My first summer of smithing, I never had a clear idea of what I was making, so, forging for 3 hours a day for several weeks, I ended up with zip to show for it.
Think while your metal is in the fire, and when you pull it out of the fire, you go straight to the anvil or vice and do what you figured out to do at the forge.

[Sabre]

So who is Sabre and why is he banned?

sabre was suppost to be my other account and i was going to dump this one but i guess i am not alloud to have 2 accounts:(

i am currently talking back and forth with glen about deleting this one and getting that one back:D