Coltsauer PA Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 Hello. I’m in western Pennsylvania. I want to get started blacksmithing. Several years ago I found an old forge made from a steel implement wheel with a turyure in the center set in concrete. It came with a hand crank blower and about 20 pairs of different tongs. Then I found a cast steel anvil(I think). I can’t find a name on it. I work out of town a lot but I would like to get it set up this year. I love seeing some of your shop pics for ideas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goods Posted July 27, 2022 Share Posted July 27, 2022 This might be a good place to start: https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/15354-show-me-your-shop33/ Welcome aboard! Keep it fun, David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted July 27, 2022 Share Posted July 27, 2022 Howdy from eastern Oklahoma! An welcome to the forum! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted July 27, 2022 Share Posted July 27, 2022 Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming. Glad to have you. The key thing in setting up a shop is to keep your work triangle of forge, anvil and vise small and efficient, no more than a step or so between each of the stations of the work triangle. Workbench, grinders, treadle/power hammer, etc. can be further away but not too far. The real goal is to minimize the time between when hot metal comes out of the forge and when it is being manipulated on the forge or in the vise. Other than that arrange thing in your available space in any way that suits you. Remember to leave room around work stations and machines so that you can work on long pieces. A free standing vise stand is probably a bit more useful than one mounted to the wall but not everyone has the space and capability for that. Post vises are more useful for a blacksmith than a bench mounted machinest's vise because post vises are designed to be hammered on and they have faster screws for the jaws so that you can open and close them faster. If you add your general location to your profile it will keep us reminded where you are. We probably won't remember after we leave this thread. Depending where you are in western PA you may not be for from Daswulf who is south of Pittsburg. I also suggest that you look up the nearest Artist Blacksmith Association of North America Affiliate and join up and attend events. You will learn a lot more and faster around experienced smiths. I can tell you from personal experience that learning on your own is not ideal. Also, there are some good (and some really bad) blacksmithing videos on You Tube. I like Black Bear Forge, JPL Services (our own Jennifer), Torbjorn Anmann, and Christ Centered Ironworks. There are others but those are the ones I personally like. I personally find Alec Steele kind of irritating but that may just be me. I believe there is an IFI thread on suggested videos. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted July 27, 2022 Share Posted July 27, 2022 Post some pictures of your kit, we can help and advise. Great info from George. Where in western Pa? Maybe a visit if you are close enough and able could help you learn a bit. A great organization is PAABA here in western Pa. (Pittsburgh Area Artist Blacksmith Association) They are a great group of people. look them up online for dates of events and other info and photos of some meets. I'm in the Charleroi area. Welcome aboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted July 27, 2022 Share Posted July 27, 2022 Welcome from the Ozark mountains. We won't remember your location once leaving this thread, hence the suggestion to add it in your profile so it shows up with every post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coltsauer PA Posted July 27, 2022 Author Share Posted July 27, 2022 Thanks guys. Goods, thanks for the link. There’s some nice pictures there. Daswulf, I’m just south of Punxsutawney. I worked on the lock and dam in Charleroi about 2 years ago. I’m not sure when I can get pics of my kit but I’ll try. Everything but the leg vice is kind of piled in a corner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted July 27, 2022 Share Posted July 27, 2022 Coltsauer, that's pretty interesting. Is that your line of work? You'd know the drive then if you wanted to come down. What are you interested in making? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coltsauer PA Posted July 27, 2022 Author Share Posted July 27, 2022 I operate heavy equipment. Especially cranes and drill rigs for foundation work. We can drill a 144” diameter hole to about 150’. 38”-96” are the most common range. I’d love to see you work. I currently have a severe lack of time since I’m working near DC. I would probably like to try some tool/blade making, some ornamental, a little bit of everything I guess. Then see if there’s some specialty that I like. Not shoeing horses. Nothing against it I just don’t like horses Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted July 27, 2022 Share Posted July 27, 2022 Most smiths are not farriers and do not do horse shoeing. I tell people that all I know about horses is that one end kicks and the other end bites. If asked if I shoe horses I say, "Sure. Shoo horse, shoo! (while making shooing motions with my hands)." "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coltsauer PA Posted July 27, 2022 Author Share Posted July 27, 2022 I’m surrounded by Amish. When I start hammering on an anvil they will probably give me no peace for a while Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 28, 2022 Share Posted July 28, 2022 Welcome aboard, glad to have you. Why would the Amish give you no peace? It's not like they don't have enough blacksmiths in their communities to supply their needs. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coltsauer PA Posted July 28, 2022 Author Share Posted July 28, 2022 The closest Amish blacksmith is about 15 miles away. They’re always looking for someone who might be cheaper too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 28, 2022 Share Posted July 28, 2022 I'd be thinking about trading labor for lessons in your situation, paycheck job allowing of course. I'm a mostly self taught hobbyist and would've loved someone to mentor me early on, self taught isn't the best route by far. However before my accident I used to take on a few paying forging projects to help pay for the hobby. Were I younger it would be nice to have a ready list of customers to help keep the ink black. At one time I was hoping to discover the "Golden Gizmo," some thingy I could make reasonably quickly and inexpensively that everybody wanted. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted July 28, 2022 Share Posted July 28, 2022 3 hours ago, George N. M. said: I tell people that all I know about horses is that one end kicks and the other end bites. Lol, that is the truth for me as well and gave me a good laugh. Colt, it's fine, contact me when you are more local and have some time. Long as I'm above ground I'm willing to help out. Pretty cool job. Ever deal with changing the cables on the rigs? The leftovers might make for some nice blades. Sure there is other good scrap you could probably save up for forge fodder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coltsauer PA Posted July 28, 2022 Author Share Posted July 28, 2022 Sometimes I could get some cable. I try not to ruin them. They’re a pain to change. I could get a fair amount of re-bar but I have heard that it’s not good for forging any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted July 28, 2022 Share Posted July 28, 2022 (edited) Yes, rebar is not great forging material for many things for 2 reasons. First it is tough to get rid of the surface pattern. If you are using it for something where that doesn't matter or it is desirable then that is not an issue. Second, modern rebar manufacturing techniques (continous casting) result in wide variations in the characteristics of the steel along the length of the bar. That doesn't matter for the strength of the rebar as concrete reinforcing rod for but makes it less than optimum for using it for anything else. Ungavanized wire cable can be used for "cable damascus" knife blades which some folk like. I, personally, don't find it that attractive but that's only my own personal taste. If you try using it make absolutely sure that the wires making up the cable are ungalvanized. In rust we trust. Galvanized metal in a forge is very dangerous becuase of the possibility of heavy metal poisoning from the fumes. This is VERY BAD. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Edited July 28, 2022 by Mod34 Fixed formatting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coltsauer PA Posted July 28, 2022 Author Share Posted July 28, 2022 I wonder if the old square re-bar like we find in some demo work is better for forging. I did know not to use galvanized. Sometimes we have to cut or weld it at work and it’s a pain. The old timers used to say to drink milk to cure the sickness from it. Just an old wives tale. I can’t see where that would do any good. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted July 28, 2022 Share Posted July 28, 2022 As George says, the best use for rebar is when you want the texture for aesthetic reasons. I've made a bunch of rebar bottle openers that I've given to contractors as a Thank-You for letting me scrounge demolition sites for structural steel. I also once used a great piece of "vintage" rebar as the handle for a zombie-killer (a "lobo", if you know what that is) commissioned by a cousin for her husband; that came out great. Definitely get together with Daswulf at your first opportunity. I've had the pleasure of forging with him in his shop, and it was both a blast and an education. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted July 28, 2022 Share Posted July 28, 2022 I got about a foot long piece of old square rebar before. Didn't forge it so I don't know. It got used for a palm tree sculpture. It had somewhat a more more modern ish pattern. My brothers friend gave me some twisted square bar that he said was old rebar. I haven't forged any of it yet. Still have yet to spark test it. Rebar can be forged, it just usually isn't ideal and can be more work and less consistent. I keep some on hand for different projects. As John mentioned bottle openers. It makes decent tent stakes as well. Working with known steel will hone your understanding of heat requirements and hammer technique. You don't want to mess up a cable, I just mentioned the cable as my understanding is sometimes it is changed out for safety reasons and it couldn't hurt to have some to work with. Cable damascus isn't the most beautiful but it is a good learning process and can make a nice blade. It is a long journey in learning so reading on here in the topics of interest will help you out a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted July 28, 2022 Share Posted July 28, 2022 A few years ago the county I worked for demolished a vault that was built in the 1920's or so. I salvaged an honest to god wrought iron rebar about 7' long. Smooth, not ridged surface. Haven't forged anything with it yet, though. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coltsauer PA Posted July 28, 2022 Author Share Posted July 28, 2022 Sometimes we find square rebar when we demo an old bridge abutment. Sometimes twisted sometimes straight. I don’t know if any were wrought. I don’t know how to tell either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goods Posted July 28, 2022 Share Posted July 28, 2022 A quick check for wrought iron is to cut 80% through the bar the bend it off. Wrought iron will have a fiberous(sp?) break like green wood. (There is highly refined wrought that may not break like that, but I have yet to run across any.) Also, if it’s pretty rusted you can sometimes see the “grain” of the wrought iron on the surface. (I wish I had all my pictures from my old phone on this one. If you need pics let me know and I’ll take some more.) Keep it fun, David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 28, 2022 Share Posted July 28, 2022 I hope to bring some real wrought iron to Quad State, only about 25# of it though. Some old coarse wagon tyre and some higher grade round. Also the spark test is good, real WI has a spark closer to cast iron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coltsauer PA Posted July 28, 2022 Author Share Posted July 28, 2022 I don’t know what you mean by spark teat I meant spark test. Is it common to find wrought iron? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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