Peter R Posted August 19, 2020 Share Posted August 19, 2020 Hi folks! New member here from Hyattsville, MD (part of the greater Washington DC metro area). I've been browsing for a while and thought it's time to join. I've spent the last five years living in DC proper sharing a row house with no garage and hardly any back yard area while my wife got her masters and landed a great career that has anchored us here. We bought a house that needed some renovations and moved in March 2019. I was particularly excited to have a small garage and driveway. I wanted to get into blacksmithing a hobby - making hooks, home decor, fun xmas gifts, maybe eventually garden tools or steel frying pans. Back in February I even had a solid plan! Take a half dozen classes, get to know a local smith or two, and then have a better knowledge base to figure out the right way to start at home. I don't have any associated metal fabricating tools or skills, my other crafts are mostly leatherworking and a bit of wood carving. Of course, after my first class - which was super fun - pandemic happened. So for the past 6 months I've been reading a bit and reworking my plans until I can take classes again. Fall and the great weather it brings is fast approaching and I've been thinking more and more about just going ahead and getting a forge and some anvil object to start doing some work in my driveway. The current plan is 1) find a bituminous coal source (google shows a handful of coal suppliers no further than baltimore) 2) decide if I should buy a forge or try building a JABOD 3) acquire an anvil or heavy hunk of steel somewhere I wanted to give a big thanks to the website operator and everyone who participates here, resources like these are such a help to people who want to start a hobby! I'm looking forward to being able to post my forging attempts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jealdi Posted August 19, 2020 Share Posted August 19, 2020 Welcome! I've been in a similar boat. I finally built a JABOD and have an improvised anvil. Super easy to do both and a great way to get started without breaking the bank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Welcome aboard, sounds like you have a good plan for starting out. As far as the pandemic, my new saying is "This will end" (we just don't know when). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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