Hi everyone, first post but been reading for some time

I built my jabod forge this weekend and just wanted to share with yall since everything you have been saying here was so much help.

About 30 inches square, 3/4 schedule 40 tuyere, hairdryer a couple inches away and angled for air control (on the lookout for a handcrank blower)

Burning lump charcoal, using a water bottle with a hole in the lid to keep fire from spreading 

Started with a firepot 8" long 4" wide and 4" deep, didnt like the way that was working and changed it up to about a 2" deep 6" circle with a mound of fuel on top. I liked that better, but still going to play around with it. Which really is super easy since its just a box of dirt

Anvil is an old vulcan thats seen better days but was free from my great grandfathers barn

I had fun, played around for about 6 hours, and made what was going to be part of a brooch (wound up just leaving it how it is), and a ugly set of tongs (but at least theyre semi functional)

Anyway, just wanted to share and say thanks to all you guys for the advice and support you put out

Welcome aboard, and that's a good start! Keep us posted on your progress!

(Also, might want to upgrade your footwear. Sandals are only comfortable up to the point you drop something hot on your feet.)

Welcome aboard Mike, glad to have you. You're off and going now! Nice brooch, great start. The only important thing about tongs is how they hold. Keep them so you can see your improvement over time. My first tongs are as bad or worse.

Frosty The Lucky.

(or Heavy, or Sharp!)

Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming, Mike.  Glad to have you.

Your vulcan looks very similar to my 1st anvil which I used for years until I upgraded to a Peter Wright.

I hope you find the craft as satisfying and rewarding as I have.  I started in 1978 and it has been a positive thing in my life through good times and bad.

You can now call yourself a blacksmith.  You can spend the rest of your life becoming a better blacksmith.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

I find building a trench with walls about 4” wide is more fuel efferent than banking fuel on the hearth and trying to keep all the charcoal from lighting. 
 

Thanks guys! I agree on the footwear, just got too excited after getting it done and didnt think about it until i came in for the night and realized i had had a lucky evening.

Im going to dress my hammers this evening, may look at lowering my anvil (its too high to hold stock between my legs and made for a slightly more difficult time punching the holes), and might try to build up some walls to try the trench out. 

Still just feeling my way into what works for me. I felt like i learned a bit just between the 1st and 2nd half of the tongs.

The 2nd half took half the time and i found out where on my anvil was flat, what edge was good to use, that using the cross peen made a world of difference in drawing out the reigns from the 5/8 round bar, and that i got it way to thin in one of the pivot areas.

Just practice and hopefully improvement now

Mike, I have never liked holding stock between my legs as a 3d hand.  It just feels unantural and dangerous to me.  I suggest you devise some sort of hold down to secure stock in place when you have to use both hands.  A goose neck hold down that fits in the pritchel hole works OK but I have an old agricultural roller chain with a weight on the end attached to the far side of the anvil stump and if I need a hold down I just flip the chain over the work piece to hold it in place.  If I wanted it even more secure I could attach a stirrup to the weight and be able to add downward force with my left foot.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

I do like that weighted/stirrupt chain idea, i think ill go with that. Thank you!

 

Welcome from the Ozark mountains.

Your old Vulcan has a lot of life left in her as long as you do no grinding, milling or welding on the hardened steel face. My first anvil (London Pattern) was also a 110 pound Vulcan, which I still use even though I have accumulated other anvils. I like it because it is a very quiet anvil. The thing about Vulcan's is the face is very thin compared to other anvils with a forge welded on face plate. What does yours weigh?

Thank you,

 

Yeah, i dont plan to do anything to it, just keep using it. It is quiet, I think it weighs about 70 or 80 pounds. Ill check the number on it when i get back from work in the morning

In stead of a stirrup, I forged the end of a 1/2" sq rod down till I could insert it and bend it around the last link of the motorcycle chain I use as a hold down.  It angles down to the ground and I can step on it to apply weight but still have my foot stable on the ground.  The other end I can adjust length to keep the foot piece at a good angle when I radically change the size of stuff needing to be held.

I checked and the anvil does have the number 8 cast in so 80lbs unless im mistaken.

And the adjustable chain/bar idea seems like a more versatile and stable version than the stirrup. Might have to try both and see

Also, got the trench walls built up around the firepot to give that a try. About 7 inches deep and 4 wide. We'll see how it goes this weekend

With charcoal it should help with fuel consumption. 
nice thing about the low cost and materials availability for dirt on can experiment to see what works for you, your work and fuel. 

Got some time to hammer this weekend. Went and picked up a Champion blower and wow does it keep the shop quiet compared to my propane furnace or the hairdryer i used last weekend.

Between the new blower and the trench, i used about half the amount of charcoal as last time in the same amount of time

Played around with some different hooks and got a rake made. Had fun and gonna keep working on it

You will also learn to only give enough air to heat the steel to forging temp and not welding temp. This saves fuel and steel, lol

Those #40 Champion Lancaster blowers are great. You will be surprised how comfortable they are with a wood handle that fits your hand. Easy to make with a hand drill and belt sander or wood lathe.