March 21, 20197 yr I bought the ultimate blacksmith kit and am going to fire it up for the first time this weekend. I am so excited I can't stand it! I live in north central PA. I am an Information Technology Tech to pay the bills. A few years ago I got into bushcraft. While sitting around a campfire I started whittling and made a spoon shaped object. I then got into spoon carving and kuksa carving and bowls. I then wanted to be able to make my own tools. That led me to blacksmithing. I took a one day class and was hooked (all puns intended). We made several hooks and a cheese knife. I am married and 53 want to carve and blacksmith full-time someday soon.
March 21, 20197 yr Ah yes the "lure them in with making their own woodworking tools" ploy. Amazingly common and still working! The Emperor will be *pleased*! I have a friend who was a professional swordmaker back in the 80's that started that way. I also got a wood turner hooked by showing him how easy it was to make a custom curved turning tools that used carbide lathe inserts as the cutter....
March 21, 20197 yr Welcome aboard J, glad to have you. Another wood worker looks into the abyss! Bwa ha ha ha. You will be assimilated. What's fun is how many wood workers do a lot more blacksmithing than wood working once they start. There are few things that feel as good as using a tool you made with your own hands. Frosty The Lucky.
March 21, 20197 yr In blacksmithing you often can correct mistakes without having to start all over again. Wood is less forgiving. In blacksmithing you can collect the mistakes you made in woodworking and make charcoal from them and use it for blacksmithing. In blacksmithing you can leave stock unsheltered outdoors for a decade and generally not have a problem using it.
March 21, 20197 yr Ahhh some varieties, I remember getting White Oak in that smelled rather like urine.
March 25, 20197 yr Author On 3/21/2019 at 8:17 AM, JHCC said: Welcome to IFI! If you haven't yet, please READ THIS FIRST!!! I read it thanks!
March 27, 20197 yr Welcome J. One of the things I really appreciate about blacksmithing is the ability to make a lot of my own tools. Making stuff to sell or give is great but out tools become extensions of ourselves. Seems to me anyway.
March 28, 20197 yr On 3/21/2019 at 1:20 PM, ThomasPowers said: Ahhh some varieties, I remember getting White Oak in that smelled rather like urine. Good point, I've been away from places with a wide variety of woods. Now you mention it there's a Fir tree that reeks like urine, especially when you burn it. Frosty The Lucky.
March 29, 20197 yr What kind of Willow? The stuff growing around here smells pretty decent, not as good as the tag alder but it's decent. Birch smells sweet with a hint of spice. For some reason I find the smell of fresh cut birch deeply satisfying. Frosty The Lucky.
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