First thing you ever forged ?

[LITTLEJOHN]

After reading Wagonmasters,what got you started in smithing question,I thought I would ask,what was the first thing or piece you ever forged ? The first thing I forged was a BBQ fork.I was doing real good until I put it back in the forge to finish forging the tines and got distracted and left it in a little to long and when I pulled it out the tines I had started were gone,melted away.Well that was ok I just split it a little more and finished the tines it turned out alright and had a laugh thinking if I could have only saw the look on my own face when I pulled it out of the forge seeing only a stump of what use to be the tines.So tell us what was your first project and what was it made out of ? Let those memories take you back.

[KevinD]

http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/first-forgings-4013/

[Sesshoumaru]

The first thing I ever made in a (crude) forge was a (mostly bent) cutting tool (supposed to be a knife-like tool) :rolleyes:to be used with dirty clay. It was made out of a very weak, mostly magnesium, and aluminum pipe. It didn't even need any heat!

Thank goodness I've moved on since then!:cool:

[Donnie]

The first thing I ever forged, was a very large piece for some heavy machinery. The first thing I ever forged, just for the fun of it, was a split cross. It's not pretty, but I still have it.;)

[larrynjr]

The very first piece was back in high school metal shop was a cold cut chisel. We had to cut a bolt in half with it to prove we had hardened and tempered it properly.

At the blacksmithing course that really got me going, it was a round punch, to punch the hole in the tongs we made next, then a hot cut chisel using the tongs I had just made. That was day one.

[chyancarrek]

My first wasn't a piece of forged iron it was a copper dip cup. It still hangs on the wall of my shop - It's ugly . . . very very ugly . . . but I'll never get rid of it.

My first forged iron was horseshoes hammered into spikes to hold the piece of I-beam I was going to use as an anvil

[alabamablacksmith]

first thing I forged was a very crude set of fire tools for my forge, the were ugly, but the worked great, still have them today (ten years later).

[racer3j]

39 years ago- trigger guards for "Plains Rifle" style muzzleloader rifles. Mostly I pounded mild steel kind of flat- in reality, I was doing more filin' than smith'n. But did get some valuable experience in shadetree heat treat. When we forged any high carbon steel after hardening, the draw was a heat soak in the ashes of wood fire. It was my first exposure to color as temp control. By the way, the muscle memory is long gone.jet

[Sabre]

my first forged item was a small sharp knife...
i wanted it to be a sword but shaping it was hard

[nett]

Cold chisel. High school. No power tools were allowed. Cut the stock with a hot chisel (we were teamed up for that step). Forge was a natural gasser. Heated and pounded, heated and pounder - I suspect I did more packing than moving the steel, but it was fun nevertheless. Annealed in lime. Filed by hand (tough work when a huge floor model power grinder was a few feet away), then harden and tempered it. 3/4 inch, I still use it today. It's my favorite.

[civilwarblacksmith]

First thing I forged was in blacksmithing 101 at the Blacksmith Guild of Central Maryland. We made j-hooks and some tools for blacksmithing like the coal rake and drip can.

Reb

The Civil War Blacksmith

[KYBOY]

Some trap parts if Im not mistaken..:confused:

[ironrosefarms]

The first thing I forged was a S hook. The reeinactor smith I ended up learning from handed me the hammer and talked me through drawing out the metal, squaring the middle, twisting the square section, curling the tips over and then finally making the S curves. Very basic, very addicting! As for where that S hook is today? I don't rightly know, it was sold as fast as it came out of the quench tub to a Japanese lady who was visiting the US... could be half way around the world?

[LITTLEJOHN]

Nice photos Reb! The smithy that got me started works in a museum that is the original blacksmith shop in a small town south of where I live in central Illinois.He has invited me to come and share some time with him doing some forging there and I am looking forward to it.I think it will be great to stand and work where a piece of history was preserved.Thanks to guys who spend their time demonstrating in the museums and passing on the skills to us beginners.Truly this is an addictive trade!

[FieryFurnace]

The first thing I made came from 1/2 inch rebar. All I did was flatten it. That was back whan I had a brick, wood fire place, and a rock. The first thing I made with a forge, anvil, and coal was a fire poker for my forge. It was done under the supervision of my teacher. it turned out tolorably well. I still have it laying around somewhere. That was a year and a half ago.

[ChrisB]

I was in a class and made about 50 hooks. The instructors came over and were in awe, because I had sent the entire morning making hooks.

[hammerkid]

The first thing I ever forged was a nail hook at Jeff`s shop (unkle spike) . In late Sept. of 2007
Thanks,Chris

[Tom Roberts]

I took a weekend 'smithing class about 8 years ago. The first thing I forged was a welded round ring from a square bar. We rounded the bar and then scarfed the ends. Next, we rounded it into a ring over the anvil horn 'til the scarfs mated up and made a forge weld. Then we heated the whole ring and trued it up on a floor mandrel. The best thing though; I was taking way too much time with the hot steel. I would pull it out of the forge roll it on the anvil and study it for awhile, trying to figure where to hit it next. My instructer, an old WW2 vet, came over too me and barked "If you're gonna just stand there and study that iron all day, you better take up wood carving, 'cause you'll never be a 'smith! When you take that iron out of the fire, you better already know what you're gonna do with it and do it fast!" I'll never forget it. What great memories! I was very lucky to spend some time with that old smith. I learned a great deal from him in just two days. I understand that he's not teaching anymore, but he still makes it out to the blacksmithing classes when he can and helps the instructors.

[Don A]

The first thing I ever forged was a fire-steel (for a flint 'n steel fire starting kit).

I used a worn chainsaw file for stock.

Seriously, I know this sounds like a tall-tale, but my forge was a burnt-hollow hickory stump in the yard, my anvil was my bench vise (it has a flat, anvil-ish platform on the back) attached to a board, and all I had was a ballpien hammer.

I hammered it flat, then made it "C" shaped, heated it and quenched it. And, believe it or not, it worked. I've still got it; I keep it as a reminder.

So remember, it ain't about how much money you have to spend on tools and such... it's about how bad you want to do it.

Don

[Frosty]

Jr. highschool shop class. Screwdriver. I gave it to Dad and haven't seen it in decades.

Well said Don.

Tools don't do anything without the mind of a human to direct them.

frosty

[Pault17]

The first thing I made was a simple little hook. about 10 or 12 years ago.
There was a smith set up at a city fair and was inviting all comers to try a guided hand.
He had two anvils and small coal forges and two sons helping him out. They gave me a rod of 5/16 round and didn't have to say anything else.



It took me another ten years and a gift from God to actually get into it for real.

My wife has kept that hook all this time.

[Justin Caradoc]

The first thing I ever forged was a tent stake. It is great for learning basic skills and the best part is that unlike the tent stakes you buy from wal~mart the forged stake will punch through concrete. I made it about a month ago.

[triw]

I went to a blacksmiths shop to see about getting a camp fire set made. I watched him making some items for a craft show he was going to. I asked if I could try and he let me. The first thing I forged was a hoof pick for my wife and I was hooked. Then I went to Frank Turleys school in New Mexico and the first day he had us make a new horse shoe out of two used ones. Forge welding them into one. That was a lot of fun. William:)

[Frosty]

A hoof pick for your . . . WIFE!?!

Uh. . . Er. . . Eh HEM. . . No comment brother.

Frosty

[arftist]

First things I forged were nails, in blacksmith school. This exercise teaches drawing out, upsetting, and hammer controll. Next was hooks, which taught twisting and bending.Still have most of them and still teach forging in this order.