Donald from Wyoming

[Donald Sawyers]

Just joined today so I hope I’m posting this correctly.  Retied and needed something to get my backside out of the recliner.  After watching a few shows of Forged in Fire, my wife suggested that I give it a try.  Ordered a cheap forge and started making knives( at least they look like a knife) out of RR spikes.  Watched several videos on internet to learn a little.  Made a few out of a coil spring and other than my arm getting tired I think I will be doing this for a while.  My biggest problem at this time is getting the gas forge hot enough (8300 ft).  Thanks for letting me join.

[swedefiddle]

Good Morning Don,

Welcome to our world. We have all done that to start with.

Look up the Blacksmith Group in your area (I think there is a list at the bottom of the page. If not, there is a list at https://abana.org/

If you are not sure how to make something, get some 'PlayDoh' and make it in your hands. Hot metal works exactly like Modeling Clay or PlayDoh. Find someone near you and spend a little time with them to figure out the 'Basics'. Find a copy of 'the Blacksmithing Primer', Randy explains things in plain language.

Enjoy the Journey,

Neil

[George N. M.]

Welcome aboard, Donald, from 7500' just east of Laramie.  Where in Area Code 307 are you?  You can put your general location in your profile.  There aren't that many places that high.  Albany?  Miner's Delight? Somewhere up in the Big Horns or Absorakas?  There are a couple other IFI members in WY, one in Kinnear and one near Cody plus me.

If you are in the southern part of the state look up Rocky Mountain Smiths which is based in Colorado.  They are a very good group and have good events.

If you are close enough and once it is safe (my wife is VERY covid cautious) we may be able to visit.  I'm setting up my shop with 2+ forging stations.

As far as altitude I think that naturally aspirated propane forges are more prone to problems with getting real hot at altitude.  My Sandia forge gets plenty hot at 7500' for forging but does not make it to welding heat.  If I need to weld I use my coal/coke forge where the only compensation necessary for altitude is cranking the blower a bit faster.  You may need a propane forge which has a blower assist or go to solid fuel to get more heat.  A JABOD (Just A Box Of Dirt) solid fuel forge is very easy and cheap to construct.

I hope that you find the craft as rewarding as I have for the last 44 years.  It is a real stress reliever and fun.  You can even make it pay for itself which is not common among hobbies.  And you can outfit pretty well on a budget.  Yes, you can get crazy with big, fancy anvils and power hammers but you can also do very good work with just a few basics.  Block out a few hours in a comfortable chair with your favorite beverage at hand and start exploring the various IFI threads.  There are a lot of rabbit holes to go down.

Also, there are some very good (and some very bad) forging videos on You Tube.  I suggest Black Bear Forge, JPL Sevices (our own Jennifer), Torbjorn Ahman (from Sweden), and Christ Centered Ironworks.  There is a young guy, Alec Steel, who does good work but I find his presentation kind of irritating.  I believe there is an IFI thread on recommended YT videos.

George Monsson

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[George N. M.]

Donald, I see from your previous message/posting that you are only about 20 minutes east of me, up near the Ames Monument.  If I can convince my wife that there is minimal risk we should be able to get together.  Are you vaxxed and boosted?  Also, you are close enough to CO to participate in RMS events.

GNM

[Donald Sawyers]

George

In answer to the last Question, no we are not vaxxed.   Not anti just scared of catching from the shot.  Wife has heath issues that put her in high risk.  Good friend has same issues and shot almost killed him.  32 days in ICU and now has to stay on oxygen.  We stay isolated naturally due to location.  Only go to town when we need groceries.  My wife is also very concerned about the virus so she keeps us at a distance from folks.  I would love to visit and see your shop but probably won’t happen for a while.  I plan on building a coal forge this summer for outdoor use only.  I enjoy Black Bear very much.  My closest neighbor (1 mile) is building a ribbon forge so I hope that will solve the low heat problem. 
 

 

[Frosty]

If I haven't already, Welcome aboard Donald, glad to have you. I understand your reluctance to be vaccinated and won't ramble about it. Much. It's not possible to catch covid from the vaccine, there never was virus live or dead involved in making them. It is however possible to be exposed and infected where you get the shots or the side effects can be severe. It doesn't matter if they scare you. I understand being afraid.

How about posting some pics of your forge, we're pretty good at helping folks tune their burners to make their forges perform. Helping folk is why many of us old curmudgeons hang out here.

Frosty The Lucky.

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

Howdy from eastern Oklahoma! And welcome to the forum!

We’re always happy to see new members here! I can’t wait to see pictures of your work! Or pets or tools or whatever!

[George N. M.]

Donald, both my wife and I are in several high risk groups and have been vaxxed and boosted.  Not much in the way of side effects, a day or so of lethargy of me and some site tenderness for Madelynn.  

As I mentioned previously, Madelynn is very covid cautious.  We have been staying pretty isolated for the last 2 years and have not seen my son or Madelynn's daughter and grand daughter in that time.  We do most of our grocery shopping by pick up at Walmart.

So, yeah, a face to face visit will probably have to wait awhile.  Hopefully, that means a few months rather than years.  In the meantime, I will PM you with contact info.

George

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."