What do I need?

[Matt in NY]

Or rather, what do you need?

I'm try to put my ducks in a row and I'm wondering what you can't do without.

So give me your list in order of priority. This can be as long as you like.

Thanks,
Matt

[Ted T]

Matt in NY
First off, Welcome to I Forge Iron.
As I give you my responce, I do it with the best approach to your question that I can think of. So here it goes:
I suggest that you go to the Home Page here at I Forge Iron.
On the right side it says

Edited September 25, 2008 by Ted T

[nuge]

The last thing to go is the flypress.

[NateDJ]

really simple list:

Something to hit
Something to get it hot with
Something to hit it with
Something to hit it on

The rest is just details
Welcome to IFI! All kidding aside the getting started pages are the very best resources you will find on the web! Grab a lunch and a large "jug o drink" and a comfy spot, you will likely find your day passing before you know it!

[GNJC]

I think what you need depends upon what you want to do. I mainly make historical domestic fireplace cooking things & gardening / farming tools so, for me, the essentials are: Hammers, Forge, Anvil, Chisels, Punches, Vice, Hardy, Tongs, Swage Block, Mandrel, Anvil Tools, Scrolling Tools; in that order.

If you aren't a pro' and want to increase your number of tools and learn new skills at the same time... make them! I have posted a link to the e-book 'Basic Blacksmithing' under the book review section of this website, it is a VERY useful text. I made my first tongs last week, following the instructions in the book, superb!

[philip in china]

#1 Hammer. Without that you can form nothing. You can form steel cold and you could use a rock as an anvil but must have a hammer.
#2 An anvil. Yes I love my 2 quality 280# anvils but a big piece of steel will do as a substitute. Lots of things will do some of which you can get free or virtually free.
#3 A forge. Again this can be made out of almost nothing.
#4 Tongs. These can be made very simply and will work. A piece of strip bent double like big sugar tongs will work- upto a point. We are now at the stage of tools you should be trying to make for yourself!
#5 Hardy. Very useful and pretty well essential.
#6 LEG VICE. Not a machinists vice. This is not an essential but I wouldn't like to have to work without one.

For forging those are your essentials. The vice you have to buy but everything else can be cobbled together out of nothing.

BTW I know that tradition has it that you can make your own vice. Somebody who is such a beginner cannot hope to forge a vice. If you don't agree with this please supply me with a list of the beginners you know who made a leg vice as a first project!

[Matt in NY]

OK, I have a hammer, anvil, tongs, forge and leg vice. I just wanted to find out what items various folks thought they couldn't do without. This would help me to understand where they are coming from.
Maybe a rating system of 1 to 10 with10 being indespensible. Or maybe items I can't do without, items I use once in a while and items I have but don't know why.

I have read the where to start section and I am trying to obtain other books as well as reading this forum.

It is very busy for the next month or so; I just want to get my brain wrapped around some of the notions I come across.

[rustyshackleford]

something hot to to bang on always helps. Might want to make a hardy (supplement with a chisel), a bending fork, a quench tank/bucket, a twisting wrench of some kind I don't have much beyond that, and I get along alright

[Glenn]

To be a blacksmith you MUST HAVE the following:

A positive blood pressure.

A positive IQ (Intelligence Quotient).

A positive attitude.

The rest you can deal with.


As has been said before an anvil is just a heavy object to hit upon, a hammer an object to hit with, and a fire to get things hot. Blacksmiths are inventors, scientists, free thinkers, problem solvers, and a whole bunch of other things. They use anything that works to get the job done. For them there is no *box*, just challenges, and oh yes a few obstacles to overcome.

Give a blacksmith all the tools in the world and he can only make what his brain can imagine. Give the blacksmith imagination and he will figure out a way to make most anything.

[Travis Covington]

Wire brush, sandpaper and paint are just a few.
Travis

[Ted T]

Matt in NY,
I have to tell you that I feel so thankful for all of the tools that I have gathered in about 50 years. I had a bunch of them stolen about two weeks ago. And now my place looks bare to me.
But, I have always kept in mind how little you actually need to work with. And that was due to seeing this youtub video.
Just for fun give it a look. YouTube - Blacksmith in Mali, West Africa
I feel very rich after seeing that video.
Have fun and be safe!
Ted

[matt87]

I'm sure I've heard a myth about a group of blacksmiths where if one just has two rocks, some iron and a fire, they will use one rock as the hammer and the other as the anvil to make a better hammer. Then using that better hammer they will make an even better hammer, until they have a very good hammer.

If you have a hammer, an anvil (doesn't have to be London pattern), a fire and a bar of iron you can make a chisel. (Use the edge of the anvil or the hammer as something between a fuller and a hardy.) Then you can make a punch using the chisel to cut the bar neatly. Then a pair of tongs. From then on you can make just about anything, given enough time, skill, fuel and iron.

BTW I know that tradition has it that you can make your own vice. Somebody who is such a beginner cannot hope to forge a vice. If you don't agree with this please supply me with a list of the beginners you know who made a leg vice as a first project!

Perhaps not a traditional leg vise using traditional methods, but if that beginner smith has a welder, some other fabrication gear and the knowledge to use them, a suitable alternative that is as good or better is quite possible. Example: http://www.abana.org/downloads/education/VerticalVise.pdf

[Truman]

I'm not being glib when I say that the thing I need most for my blacksmithing operation is TIME.

I need time to be out in the shop working -- without that, I'll never develop the skills that I want.

What I've learned from other smiths is that you can do a lot with very little.

It's like Lance Armstrong said "it ain't about the bike" --

[orgtwister]

what i need is for the phones not to work for a week so every buddy leaves me alone so i can finish cuting out the forge parts and weld them together then i can just forge metal and say i couldn't hear the phone ringing

[Frosty]

Even with this set up, not even handles for his hammers, he doesn't have time to take care of livestock. YouTube - Samburu Blacksmith

"Ask me for anything but time." Napoleon B. (I think)

Frosty

[Matt in NY]

The time business rings true. I can't even get out to grab some coal! This will end in a month and then I'm going to try to block out a section of the day for just anvil time. Wish me luck!