Hello!

[Paradigm11]

Just popping in to say hello

I'm 33 and I live in New Hampshire. Been in love the idea of blacksmithing most of my life and finally have the time and space to explore it. 

I've taken a class and plan to take another, but I've purchased a small cart coal forge and a small (75-100lb?) anvil and have been having a grand ole time absolutely destroying perfectly good metal.

 

I'm sure I'll be asking a lot of questions, please be patient. I make up a lot of my failings with enthusiasm and the good fortune to have a friendly neighbor with access to a lot of scrap metal.

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard Paradigm11, glad to have you. If you put your general location in the header you'll have a much better chance of meeting up with members living within visiting distance. Nothing enhances learning the craft like knowledgeable help, especially pointing out mistakes and what not to do. Then there are the tools, materials and invites to get togethers to consider. I also suggest you attend a meeting or join the local blacksmith club. 

How about some pics of your set up and space? We LOVE pics you know.

What do you want to make? 

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[Paradigm11]

Yep, just read that in the READ FIRST post (oops!). Trying to figure out where to put that info.

As for what I want to make, it varies widely.

I bought a house a few years ago and it's an old 1840s farmhouse with the original floors so I've been trying to make things by hand when needed to add to the aesthetic.

Outside of utilitarian brackets, repairing metal, nails, etc, I do like making hooks and latches eventually would like to replace all of our interior door hardware with custom stuff.

 I found forge welding in my class very challenging but rewarding and exciting.

My long-term goals are to be able to make friends and family nice, utilitarian stuff. I'd love to make my dad a wood axe, I'd love to make my d&d group swords or axes. I'd love to be able to make my uncle arrowheads for hunting. 

I just want to be generally good at metalworking lol. I plan to have this as a hobby for decades and I'm extremely patient.

 

[Frosty]

Alrighty then. A properly blacksmitherly way of acknowledging an inconsequential goof is, DANG!. Oops is okay occasionally. We're a friendly bunch, only the youngsters and youtube educated newbies get snide or sarcastic without being provoked.  (WINK)

Forge welding isn't that hard, just follow the rules. Match the joint surfaces, clean, Clean, CLEAN, it close it up warm it enough the flux will stick and apply flux. Bring it to welding heat and gently but firmly set the weld. Brush, flux, heat and refine the weld with moderate blows, refine it again and it's good to go. I  make forge welding a first session thing to get the, oh NO it's HARD BS out of the way.

Door hardware, especially home hardware is what I consider intermediate level blacksmithing. Not only does the hardware have to work properly and look nice it has to match the other hardware closely enough to fit the room. Make sense? When you start making hardware make it for the barn where aesthetics aren't as important as strength and function. 

Hooks, I usually start a first timer off making a leaf finial coat hook. It consists of a straight shank that rests flat against the wall, board, etc. with a leaf finial that also rests against the wall. The shank transitions into a long even taper to a small scroll finial so the hook won't punch holes in a coat, etc. Punch first the countersinks then the screw holes in the bottom of the counter sinks in the shank. And the last bit of forging is turning the hook from straight into a coat hook. A final vigorous wire brushing and oil or wax finish and it's ready to put on a wall. Or barn wall at first. 

Old horse shoes make excellent wall hooks for barns or western décor homes. They're really good for hanging tools like shovels, rakes, push brooms, etc. Horse shoes make fine starting stock for many things utilitarian and decorative.

Get to know a local farrier (horse shoer) s/he'll probably have buckets full of old shoes to get rid of, when I was a kid the farrier usually just left them and I had to pick them up. Of course Dad had a metal spinning and machine shop so we made regular runs and sold scrap at the scrap yard. The guys who picked scrap up tended to skim a little more than they charged so Dad and I hauled it ourselves.

Get some small stock, I like starting folks with 3/8" sq, hot rolled. It's heavy enough to hold the heat for a while but small enough a beginner can smoosh it without killing themselves. I also recommend you start with a modest hammer, I like a 32oz. Drill hammer, they have a shorter handle so are easier to swing accurately. They're heavy enough to move serious metal but not so heavy you're likely to injure yourself before you learn the warning signs. 

A 2lb - 3lb rounding hammer is a go to forging hammer it has a flat face on one side and a domed pien on the other side of the hammer head. The domed pein really moves hot steel, the dome concentrates the energy into the contact point. The flat face smooths it all up or serves for turning hooks, scrolls, angles, etc. All in all a highly effective hammer. Starting light is better than starting too heavy.

You'll build up to heavier hammers, it takes more of everything to control them but once you have it they're the bomb.

Make your Dad an axe when you've developed more skills, there are lots of other cool things you can make him and he'll love every single one. Honest, I know.

We'll talk about your introduction to working heat treatable steel later, I'm about typed out for now.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[Paradigm11]

I appreciate the info! 

[George N. M.]

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

There are some really BAD forging videos out there but also some good ones.  I like the ones from Black Bear Forge, Christ Centered Ironworks, JPL Services (our own Jennifer), and Torbjorn Ahman from Sweden.  Some folk like Alec Steele but I find his presentation style to be kind of annoying.

I also strongly suggest that you join your local blacksmithing group.  Look up the Artist Blacksmith Association of North America and look for their affiliates.  Go to all demos and classes that you can.  Learning from a more experienced smith is orders of magnitude better than just doing it by yourself.  I know.  When I started in 1978 all I had were books from the library and lots of my own mistakes to learn from.  Even now hard copy books have some advantages over videos.

Knife and sword making is an overlapping skill to general blacksmithing which involves skills and knowledge that are specific to that craft.  Many smiths, myself included, do not do a lot of blade work because it involves so much bench work (grinding, polishing, making guards, pommels, and grips, etc.).  I'd rather be hitting hot metal.

Jennifer of JPL Services has been putting a blacksmith school together for the last several years.  She appears to be close to being done.  Once it is in operation I VERY strongly suggest that you get yourself down to MA and spend some time sith her.  She is a great smith and a grest teacher. 

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."