OhioKeith Posted January 21, 2020 Share Posted January 21, 2020 Hello All, I've been a long time lurker and figured it was time to say hi. I've been interested in smithing for quite some time, just had to get some other hobby's out of the way. I've always been a professional tradesmen, so working with my hands and fire is nothing new. I started a 10 basic blacksmithing course at my local club and it's been a blast (only 2 classes in) and look forward to the class every Tuesday. My ultimate goal is to make a Damascus chefs knife (first time that's ever been said!) but throughout this short journey, I've amassed 100's of things I want to forge. Hopefully we'll be making nail headers soon, i'd love to build a new workbench from forged nails. I'd also like to make nails, hinges and hardware for a mobile storage cabinet for all my homebrew supplies. xxxx, the list grows every minute. I've got a 5x5x6 chunk of steel and a 2 1/2 x 6 round stock for an anvil and lots of tree stumps (heat with wood). Also have a MIG and plasma cutter. I've got materials being delivered to build a Freon jug forge, and I've already built the T burner. Just need to find the time to get out in the shop and get busy. Thanks to all of you who have been so generous with sharing your knowledge, I've read most of the posts on this site and have learned a lot and forgotten even more. Just a suggestion, but on a firewood hoarders fourm I belong to, they had a map, and if you were so inclined, you could add yourself to it like a dropped pin. It was pretty cool to see where everyone was from. It was also neat to see the concentrated areas. Anyway, thought I'd say hey, and hopefully post some pics soon. Keith Here are pics from class day 1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyGoatLady Posted January 21, 2020 Share Posted January 21, 2020 Hello Keith from Ohio from the great state of Texas! Welcome to the gang. I think it's not uncommon to want to make everything under the sun. Look forward to hearing from you and post pictures of your work. We love to see what everybody is doing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted January 21, 2020 Share Posted January 21, 2020 Welcome aboard nice fire tools and S hooks you made. Don't know if you have read this, it's full of good tips for using the forum. READ THIS FIRST Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 21, 2020 Share Posted January 21, 2020 Hmm I once salvaged an old oak barn board from a flood spoil pile along the Ohio river, adzed it down to good wood and built a mastermyr chest from it. Forging the nails in a 1 soft firebrick forge powered off a propane plumbing torch and run in the basement of my 100+ year old house as it was too cold for outdoor smithing and I was getting forging withdrawal symptoms. What I can say is that my smithing was much better than my adzing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 6 hours ago, OhioKeith said: on another form I belong to, they had a map, and if you were so inclined, you could add yourself to it like a dropped pin. We tried that on IForgeIron and it was not used as much as we had hoped, and was dropped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyGoatLady Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 Nice work. I didn't see a picture when I first posted. Thanks for adding that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fowllife Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 Welcome Keith. I must say, I had to look up were Vandalia is as I've never heard of it. I can very much relate to the whole too many hobbies part and being somewhat of a tradesman. You're lucky to have a local club that offers classes, there isn't really a whole top offered up north. Looks like your off to a good start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhioKeith Posted January 23, 2020 Author Share Posted January 23, 2020 Fowllife, Yea, I guess I should put Dayton as it’s more recognizable. I must say that it’s very nice having SOFA just up the road, they have been fantastic. I don’t know that I would have traveled much further, and would have missed out on a lot if not for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 Glad to have you. I'm just outside of Cincinnati. Sounds like the Blacksmithing addiction has already got you in it's grip. Yeah you are lucky to be right by SOFA. You won't have an excuse for missing quad state I guess. Welcome aboard. Be safe and remember it's supposed to be fun. Looking forward to seeing you progress. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 Welcome, Keith. Looking forward to seeing you at Quad-State. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhioKeith Posted January 23, 2020 Author Share Posted January 23, 2020 JHCC. I’ll be the guy in the hat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 You're going to have to be a bit more specific, especially since both ThomasPowers and I are identifiable by our hats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 Welcome aboard Keith, glad to have you. I get the feeling you're going to fit right in, like puns? Pretty nice work so far, looking good. Polish comes after you master a technique and the most complex forgings are just compiled basics. 1/2 a forged nail is the same as 1/3 of an S hook. Heading is upsetting be it a nail, rivet or tenon, the lighter the hammer the closer to the end it will upset. Heavier hammers upset farther into the stock. Headers are easy to make, have you done any punching? I punch headers from the underside over a too large bolster, the pritchel hole in my anvils are a little too small. Why I punch over a largish bolster from the bottom is to put a dome on the header. I also use a tapered punch I adapted from an alignment punch I got at a yard, garage, etc. sale. It's smaller than the stock I want to head when it breaks through. I then use a more bluntish punch from the top to open it for the headee. This puts a little hour glass shape to the hole so it grips the headee but will release it when finished. Anyway, once you make a nail header making nails is a popular warm up exercise at the anvil. It's amazing how something finicky easy gets your mind in the right place. Nails are easy to make and screw up but aren't much investment in time or materials so it doesn't hurt when you screw one up. Hmmm? Anyway, this is as much fun as you can have and stay out of jail, enjoy. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 Polish comes between German and Russian... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAG Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 And Swahili? SLAG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhioKeith Posted January 24, 2020 Author Share Posted January 24, 2020 Started in the forge tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fowllife Posted January 24, 2020 Share Posted January 24, 2020 13 hours ago, OhioKeith said: Fowllife, Yea, I guess I should put Dayton as it’s more recognizable. I must say that it’s very nice having SOFA just up the road, they have been fantastic. I don’t know that I would have traveled much further, and would have missed out on a lot if not for them. Yeah well, it would t be as fun if I didn’t have to do a little research. Its great that your so close to SOFA and have already started some classes. Unfortunately I’m 1-2hrs from the closest group either east or west. The forge is looking good so far, what are you planning for a burner? I went with a 3/4” Frosty style T with a naturally aspirated ribbon burner on mine. So far I’m really happy with the setup. I believe JHCC has the same setup (and many others) and has some pictures of his on here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhioKeith Posted January 24, 2020 Author Share Posted January 24, 2020 I’ve built the frosty tee already. Then started looking at the blown ribbon, I’ve got enough koawool I may build a ribbon after this. I gotta make up the burner mount and drill the forge this weekend, then place the refractory. I’m hoping to fire it up next week some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 24, 2020 Share Posted January 24, 2020 When I lived in Columbus Ohio we got a group of smiths together to carpool to SOFA meetings and workshops. 2 hours but a lot of fun! For meetings we always left a bit early and stopped by a fleamarket held at a county fairgrounds on the way. I bought a lot of smithing stuff on the way to the meetings and it was cheaper than the stuff being sold at the fairgrounds that SOFA was at. I attended my first Anvil Repair Day at SOFA and 2 build a gas forge workshops and how to build a powerhammer workshop. I still try to get back for Quad-State every now and then but my commute has gone from 2 hours to 1500 miles each way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhioKeith Posted January 25, 2020 Author Share Posted January 25, 2020 (edited) Thomas, I haven’t been to a meeting yet, next one is feb 1, I plan on attending. It is nice to be so close. Been slowly plugging away building at home. Here’s 1st coat of Satanite. Gotta get started on an anvil stand soon. It’ll be dimensional lumber for now. 2 herniated disks and a sopping wet yard means I’m not hauling any stumps to the shop for a while. Edited January 25, 2020 by OhioKeith Spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 They looked at me funny Saturday when I told them I didn't need any help unloading the helve hammer from my pickup. I guess they didn't notice that the front of my shop has a beam going across it just for use with a come-a-long... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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