Forge Friday! (weekly blacksmith fun)

[Vinito]

I got to thinking others might like and maybe even do what a couple other guys and I have started to do.

I'm new to blacksmithing but older, so you know how life tends to interfere with hobbies often. I was somewhat concerned that over time my blacksmith endeavor could be set aside with increasing frequency as other things encroach, so a couple other beginners and I started meeting up on Friday evenings to practice banging on hot metal. We just had our 6th one in a row and it's already an event I look forward to each week.

It's just fun anyway and I think making it a weekly meetup kind of thing will help a ton toward sticking with it so as to gain skill over time. Baby steps and consistent habits seem to be pretty much THE thing to do if you want to get good at something eventually.

So we call it "Forge Friday". It's working out really well.

Here's a clip I took yesterday. It pretty much captures the mood. Feel free to critique the setup - I'm sure some of you might have some interesting observations.

So far it's been at my brother's house, but in a couple weeks I'll probably have a working setup at my own shop too so we can alternate where we meet. Mine may be more suited to being indoors (thinking on a gas forge to suit inclement weather) plus I amazingly just made a deal on a little power hammer so that should also be set up soon.

Anyways, Forge Friday is a resounding success. Maybe something similar would be fun for some of you too.

[Glenn]

Put a piece of wood on the anvil and hit it 3 times so you can look at the imprints of the hammer.  Crescents mean the anvil is too high or too low, circles mean the anvil is at the right height.

Easy fix is to stand on a platform to check how the correct anvil height feels before you adjust the anvil stand.

[Frosty]

The anvil being hammered on looks awfully high for the fellow using it. As a rule of thumb the anvil face should be about wrist height when standing next to it with your hands relaxed at your side. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Vinito]

Yeah, that might be call a "legacy" setup. That stump & anvil combo has been sitting outside that garage door for over a decade and not exactly installed as per industry standards. However, the anvil itself has recently benefitted from helpful updates, i.e. much more added mass and a small shelf, plus a couple other new features. The stump will undoubtedly be adjusted at some point soon. You'll notice that the other anvil to the left is situated more righterer because it's entirely a product of more current attention.

[Glenn]

In the video you are only using the wrist for hammer strokes, and just playing with the metal.

Set the hammer on the face of the anvil. Take a half a step, or a full step, to the side and walk up to the hammer handle so that it slides comfortably into your hand, which is at your side. This puts the hammer, wrist, arm, and shoulder all in the same plain during the swing.

When you swing the hammer for a power stroke, try raising the hammer head to shoulder height, or above, then start the powered down swing.  Move your body to the side so the hammer hits the metal over the sweet spot of the anvil.  Do not aim the hammer to stop at the metal, but aim the hammer 1 to 2 inches BELOW the face of the anvil. You will need a little practice, but you can get a LOT of impact when the hammer hits the hot metal. 

You will find that you can now aim the hammer to the point of impact, and you physically move the hot metal to position it under the point of impact of the hammer. The hammer is always hitting the same point on the anvil.  This way each hammer blow is controlled, deliberate, and intended to move metal in a specific direction.   

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

The anvil will be a lot quieter, if it's base is set in some calking compound.

[ThomasPowers]

Note: gas forges in an enclosed structure are a great way to create CO, if you re-run exhaust back through a burner it spikes CO output.  Be sure to have a working CO detector in your building until you figure out what works; you are too far away for me to attend an estate sale!

I have a 20'x30' steel building with open gables and 10' walls and will still open the 10'x10' roll up doors to ventilate it when using a gas forge.

[Geding]

On 11/28/2021 at 12:32 AM, Vinito said:

Я новичок в кузнечной работе, но старше, так что вы знаете, как жизнь часто мешает хобби. Я был несколько обеспокоен тем, что со временем мои кузнечные начинания могут быть отложены все чаще, поскольку другие вещи посягают, поэтому мы с парой других начинающих начали встречаться в пятницу вечером, чтобы попрактиковаться в стук по хот-металлу. У нас только что был 6-й подряд, и это уже мероприятие, которого я с нетерпением жду каждую неделю.

В любом случае, это просто весело, и я думаю, что сделать это еженедельной встречей поможет тонне придерживаться этого, чтобы со временем получить навыки. Детские шаги и последовательные привычки, кажется, в значительной степени то, что нужно сделать, если вы хотите в конечном итоге получить что-то хорошее.

Поэтому мы называем это «Кузница». Это работает очень хорошо.

I'm new to blacksmithing but older, so you know how life tends to interfere with hobbies often. I was somewhat concerned that over time my blacksmith endeavor could be set aside with increasing frequency as other things encroach, so a couple other beginners and I started meeting up on Friday evenings to practice banging on hot metal. We just had our 6th one in a row and it's already an event I look forward to each week.

It's just fun anyway and I think making it a weekly meetup kind of thing will help a ton toward sticking with it so as to gain skill over time. Baby steps and consistent habits seem to be pretty much THE thing to do if you want to get good at something eventually.

So we call it "Forge Friday". It's working out really well.

Привет Винито! Хорошая идея, проводить подобные встречи, для любителей кузнечного ремесла! Полностью согласен,с тем что дела неотложные по жизни, могут мешать душевному хобби. Желаю развиваться в этом направлении, успехов вам!!

Hi Vinito! It's a good idea to hold such meetings, for blacksmith lovers! I completely agree that urgent matters in life can interfere with a spiritual hobby. I wish you to develop in this direction, success to you!!

[ThomasPowers]

I find it more fun to forge in a group; but less distracting forging by myself. So I tend to work things out on my own and then teach them to my friends.  Last Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving here in the USA; we were running two forges: coal for welding billets and propane for drawing them out.  My wife likes me to have folks in the shop keeping an eye on me and watching out for insulin crashes. (I am an insulin dependent diabetic and a bit brittle.)

[Geding]

8 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Мне веселее выковываться в группе; но меньше отвлекающе ковка самостоятельно. Поэтому я склонен разрабатывать вещи самостоятельно, а затем учить их своим друзьям.

It's more fun for me to be in a group; but less distracting forging on your own. So I tend to design things on my own and then teach them to my friends.

Томас, чем вы проводите кузнечную сварку? Бурой или каким то ещё способом?

Thomas, what do you do forging welding? Brown or some other way?

[ThomasPowers]

I'm currently forge welding in my coal forge as my propane forge's liner is not "armoured" for it sufficiently.  I use Borax:3 and Boric Acid:1 for flux.  I'm also very happy I finally got a full sized floor standing cone to true up circles with legs for holding pots off the coals for Medieval/Renaissance cooking.  Lots of cooking implements in "The Opera of Bartolomeo Scappi" written in 1570; including all the items for his "travelling kitchen".  My cooking is more along the lines of the viking era stuff, though I made my copy of the Lund spit sized to fit modern chickens.

Did you see the link I posted to a fellow "making an iron age sword in 1 day"?  Real low carbon wrought iron, charcoal trench forge blown by two separate bellows, "cube" anvil, tools based on archeological finds, etc.