dwight55 Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Just wanted to take a moment to say Hello . . . introduce myself . . . name is Dwight . . . I am a pastor, veteran, and am setting my sights on "playing" with some steel . . . making some small things for friends . . . and maybe one day . . . taking some to a local craft show. At 77 yrs old . . . my Dr and friends and especially my cardiologist keep pushing me to get a bicycle . . . go swimming . . . go walking . . . or play golf. Just ain't gonna do it. Figured I'd do like my grandfather did . . . play out in the shop until the Lord says come home. He did alright . . . so I think I'll try it. My equipment so far is a home made forge patterned after this one . . . my anvil is like his . . . same blower type . . . but when I get done getting it installed . . . it will be in the shop . . . inside a building . . . and out of the Ohio winter weather. Again . . . Hello all . . . may God bless, Dwight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Howdy; central Ohio is certainly a great place to get involved in smithing! Have you met up with the folks at SOFA yet? I lived in Columbus Ohio for 15 years and used to carpool to Sofa meetings and tried never to miss a Quad-State Blacksmith's Round-Up. Keep an eye open for Macabee Metals in Columbus OH, He's an old friend of mine who's a professional smith and teaching classes in Central Ohio! Your forge seems a bit off. A deeper firepot and a pass through to be able to heat the middle of longer pieces would help a lot. BTW is that anthracite coal? Blacksmithing is easier with good bituminous coal; I used to get mine through SOFA or Pocahontas or Sewell Seam coal from the east coast, (bought them at Quad-State). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Welcome aboard, Dwight. Good to have you. Don't feel bad about starting later in life. A fair number of us are around your age. Blacksmithing is a craft that allows you to get reasonably good reasonably quickly. And you have tangible things you have made to use, give as gifts, or sell which is more than you have after knocking a little white ball around a gold course. I've been doing it since 1978 and it has been a good journey. It has helped get me through some tough times including past and current covid isolation. Good group of folk here on IFI, men and women ranging in age from early teens to late 70s. All kinds of backgrounds. Educations from drop outs to advanced degrees. I'm sure there are widely varying spiritual beliefs and political opinions but discussions of those are not allowed here and that is one of the great aspects of IFI. The IFI community is kind of the internet version of Wyoming, a small town with really long streets. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwight55 Posted January 4, 2022 Author Share Posted January 4, 2022 (edited) 10 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: Howdy; central Ohio is certainly a great place to get involved in smithing! Thanks for the welcome and good words . . . that forge in the picture actually is not mine . . . it is the one I patterned my after . . . and while he has a slot cut in his . . . mine is much bigger to get like you said a "pass thru" piece in there. There used to be a smith at a "old time village" that the Ohio Historical Society ran . . . his place was fun to watch . . . he had a ceiling mounted bellows that was absolutely huge . . . but they closed the whole thing down several years ago. Thanks for the pointers on where to look . . . just may take a trip to one or more of them. As for coal . . . a neighbor died up the street a few years back . . . his wife gave me a good half ton of their coal . . . I brought it home . . . will use it and the several bags of charcoal I have stashed . . . along with acres of dead wood laying out back waiting for me to come drag it in. May God bless, Dwight 8 hours ago, George N. M. said: Welcome aboard, Dwight. Good to have you. Thanks for the welcome . . . I like the Wyoming analogy . . . one day I want to visit the place . . . there, Montana, Idaho, and Oklahoma. Nothing against the other states . . . just want to wander thru some time. And I like your idea as well of the tangible gifts. One thing I learned early on . . . sometimes we only have memories of those we loved . . . but an artifact of theirs makes the memory more realistic. I plan on making that happen for those I love. May God bless, Dwight Edited January 5, 2022 by Mod30 Trim quote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Paul Ailing used to be the smith at Ohio Village before they shut it down. Knew him well. The bellows they had was not installed properly; it took a lot of force to use it and messed up his hip and shoulder quite a bit. Meanwhile the double lunged bellows I built and used could be pumped to welding heat with only my pinkie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 howdy from eastern Oklahoma! Welcome to the forum! 23 minutes ago, dwight55 said: I like the Wyoming analogy . . . one day I want to visit the place . . . there, Montana, Idaho, and Oklahoma. If you ever get to wandering out my way let me know! Your welcome here in peavine Oklahoma anytime! We are Just a few miles north out of the great metropolis of Stilwell Oklahoma! (county seat!) the cows outnumber the people here 50 to 1 but there’s some cool historical stuff to see, an we got some good eaten! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 Been to the Heavener Runestone? Or Black Kettle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 Welcome from the Ozark mountains. I'm 79 and still hammering away. You will find that hitting hot steel on the anvil is very therapeutic. I started in 1985 and after a bad day getting in the forge was a life/sanity saver for me (retired LEO after 29 years on the job). I can tell from your post's that you will fit right in here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 Dwight, you mentioned that you are a veteran. What branch and when and where? A fair number of us here are military vets. Personally, I was leading an Infantry platoon in Viet Nam 1970-71 with the 1st Cav. Div.. It's really hard to believe that it was now over 50 years ago. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwight55 Posted January 5, 2022 Author Share Posted January 5, 2022 Thanks guys for all the welcomes, etc . . . looking fwd to getting it cranked up and working. My grandfather didn't do much for getting the smoke and fumes out of his shop . . . he built it out of 4 to 6 inch logs . . . but did not chink anything between them. You could see thru the cracks all the way around . . . he had abundant fresh air. I'm doing mine different . . . but will have to have better weather than we are having right now to finish up the "smoke pipe" up thru the ceiling. And yes . . . George N.M. . . . I made my contributions to that place we called 'Nam. First trip was with a Navy destroyer . . . USS Hamner . . . we were involved in some of the very first shore shelling attacks there someplace north of Saigon . . . that was '65. My second tour started out running generators for the 17th field hospital in Saigon . . . got transferred after only a couple months . . . to the PBR's in the delta. We were some of the very first boats on the muddy river . . . up in a place called Long Xuyen . . . finished my year there . . . came home in Feb 67 . . . Did my 3rd trip on the USS Wiltsie . . . and we mostly played plane guard detail for the USS Coral Sea . . . Come April 1st 1968 . . . got my red reserve ID card after 4 1/2 years . . . went home. Have slept well most nights . . . my M14 and .45 auto within reach every night has contributed to that. May God bless, Dwight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 Welcome, Dwight! A hearty second to all the comments above, and an additional invitation to let me know if you're ever up my way. Take a look at the Read This First tab at the top of the page, for getting the most out of the forum. Also, we really like pictures, so be sure to give us lots of views of what your setup looks like and of what you're working on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwight55 Posted January 7, 2022 Author Share Posted January 7, 2022 On 1/5/2022 at 9:01 AM, JHCC said: Welcome, Dwight! A hearty second to all the comments above, and an additional invitation to let me know if you're ever up my way. Take a look at the Read This First tab at the top of the page, for getting the most out of the forum. Also, we really like pictures, so be sure to give us lots of views of what your setup looks like and of what you're working on! Had to goggle where you are . . . about 70 or so miles away . . . I don't get up that way . . . y'all way too cold for this chicken . .. I'm just outside the metropolitan center of Waldo . . . ain't much there . . . but a bar that sells baloney sandwiches that people come from all over the state to get. Just a baloney sandwich in my book . . . but whatever. Holler at me if you come down this way . . . we're 3 miles off US 23 . . . and about 12 miles off I-71. May God bless, Dwight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 We have a small family store owned by Luther Stubbs, sadly he passed away years ago, but the store is still going 67 or so years now. They made the famous Luther Burger, thick sliced baloney with cheese and lettuce, tomato & mayonnaise with bacon if you wanted it. I sure miss those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwight55 Posted January 8, 2022 Author Share Posted January 8, 2022 11 hours ago, Irondragon ForgeClay Works said: We have a small family store owned by Luther Stubbs, sadly he passed away years ago, but the store is still going 67 or so years now. They made the famous Luther Burger, thick sliced baloney with cheese and lettuce, tomato & mayonnaise with bacon if you wanted it. I sure miss those. OK . . . couple quick questions: did they fry the baloney? What kind of cheese? And was it on a bun or light bread? May God bless, Dwight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 They would customize the Luther burger for you. Fried baloney if you wanted it (I did) or not, American cheese, Swiss, Provolone and any condiment mayo, ketchup, mustard or all three. Usually on a hamburger bun or Kaiser roll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 Welcome aboard from Fairborn. Nice to see another Buckeye here. If you are in the AO give us a holler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les L Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 On 1/5/2022 at 7:27 AM, dwight55 said: Have slept well most nights . . . my M14 and .45 auto within reach every night has contributed to that. Dwight, Welcome to the group and thank you for your service. My dad was a proud member of the service for 25 yrs, 18 months in Korea and 2 deployments to Nam. Unfortunately he was exposed to chemicals during those years that lead to cancer and ended his life at 88, as a man that was 100% self sufficient and on no medication, he passed away 6 months after signs showed up. I’m not posting this asking for condolences, but as a warning for all of our veterans, that have been overseas, to be checked before it’s too late He also taught me to keep my 45 within reach of my hand and don’t shoot BB guns, if it doesn’t start with a 4 every one else is trying to get to where your starting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anachronist58 Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 dwight55, thank you for your several kinds of Service, and Welcome to the Forum... Robert Taylor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwight55 Posted February 8, 2022 Author Share Posted February 8, 2022 Thanks everyone for the welcomes and other good words. My other job is leather work . . . I make belts, holsters, knife sheaths, etc . . . a little side business . . . and I've been busy with it for the last few weeks. Hoping to get out to that freezer box out there where my forge is . . . but every time I get ready to go . . . it snows . . . I gotta go out of town . . . something. But I'm looking fwd to getting back at it. May God bless, Dwight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 26, 2022 Share Posted March 26, 2022 It's getting to the end of March, Dwight, getting any forge time in? How're you doing or is the weather still beating on you guys? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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