Hello newbi but trying to learn

[Fdisk]

ive always been interested in making knives and swords but ive never realy made any outa good steele most ive ever done was just make em outs just plane old steele looked good but thats about all they was good for just to look at but anyway
i want to start making good functionin knives ive got some old leaf springs with that awfull bend in em and i know nothing about anneling tempering
all ive ever done is stock removal so where do i start im on a fixed income so buying books is outa the question i live check to check as is

[Rob Browne]

OK, its time to start at the start. Go to the front page of this site and click on the Getting Started link. Work your way through that then the Lessons in Metalworking link is next. After that take a deep breath and browse the Blueprints, you will find lots of info here on making forges and tools to simple projects to get you going. After you have done ALL that then you can start thinking about drawing out knives/swords. They are definitely not beginners projects but are a great target to aspire to which is a good thing.

Read, read, read then practice, practice, practice the basics first.

[jayco]

Fdisk, welcome to Iforgeiron!

There's a lot of information on this site about everything, 'Metal'.
The 'search' feature at the top of the page can be used to find that information.
You can do searches on 'leaf spring', ' temper', annealing, etc, and get specific info.
I don't get results on every search, but when I choose the proper 'terminology' I usually get 'hits'.
If one search term , or set of words doesn't yield results, I just try another.

Also, being semi-retired, I can identify with the 'fixed income' part of your above post.
Luckily for me, I can scrounge or make most of my forges, tools, etc. without spending that ever scarce 'cash'!
( The scrounging becomes part of the fun.......just look at the 'It followed me home' thread)

Enjoy!

James Flannery

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard Fdisk, glad to have ya.

If you'll click on "User CP" at the top of the page and edit your profile to show your location folk close to you will know and probably get in touch for some hands on help.

I know what you mean about fixed income as well. I retired a year ago June and did so with an unhealed broken arm so I haven't been able to find a retirement job for some extra income.

There are any number of forges you can build from salvaged materials. An anvil is as close as a couple feet of RR rail. Hammers are everywhere and vise grips were invented by a blacksmith who was tired of dropping things from tongs.

In short you can get an improvised smithy up and working for next to nothing. For a few bucks and a world of practical help doing exactly this I recommend, "The Complete Modern Blacksmith" by Alexander Weygers.

He spent many years traveling around the world early in the last century but didn't carry his artist's tools with him. When he found a piece of wood or stone or . . . He wanted to carve he'd scrounge the materials to build a smithy, forge his carving tools and do his project. The book is a wealth of improvised shop tooling and tool making with step by step instructions in many cases.

If you can't swing it there are a bunch of online blacksmithing how to publications available. There's a list with links right here on this site in fact.

Forging knives let alone swords requires quite a bit of skill at the forge. There's a LOT more to it than just hammering out the shape and plunging hot steel in water, oil or whatever. bladesmithing is still a terrific goal, it's just not a beginner's project.

Frosty

[Fdisk]

Well im not retired im a cna now my wife started having seizures about 6 years and so no meds or vns implant has been able to control them she has 2 -3 seizures a day
where i had been a emt i got on this program where i can have a income caring for her but the pay is very low she also is on disability but its still a fixed income but the piece of mind knowing so is taking care of makes the low income fell more like being rich

[Frosty]

I'm sorry to hear that. Deb and I have come close to similar a couple times now but have escaped serious medical disabilities so far.

So, we'll just get you set up with as little out of pocket as possible. I'll leave the bulk of the actual bladesmithing to the actual bladesmiths in the gang. What I can do is offer advice on general smithing, improvised tools, equipment and metal working techniques.

Frosty

[Fdisk]

i had a little trouble finding the getting tarted link im not that great on forums but there sure is alot of good reading there
i dont know if you guys ever heard of Tweetsie Railroad Tweetsie Railroad: North Carolina's Original Family Theme Park
but i dont live far away from it i had a friend that used to be in the band there and he could sent out invites for free thay have a blacksmith up there and its about my faveriot thing hes good

[WannabeSmith]

Fdisk that's got to be a tough situation to be in but as you said at least you know she is being well cared for under your own hands.

I certainly can't claim to be in a similar situation but I am a full time college student who works about 9 hours a week at a part time job because the college program I'm in sort of rides me hard. I do get a bit of money back at the start of every semester from my scholarship overages but that's about it.

I am just trying to start out as well and thus far have no experience to speak of. Frosty will probably yell at me for it but I am still gathering some things together before I start. I have fiddled around with the thought of building a "washtub forge" to get started a little quicker but am currently holding out to try to find a good solid steel table to use as a hearth and go from there.

I have collected a good deal of knowledge and ideas from this site and others like it (mostly IFI though). Thus far I have my rail road track anvil (that I still have to remove rust from) some starting materials (RR spikes and plates (be careful when grabbing these because as Frosty pointed out to me it is a federal offense to do so and so you may want to ask permission)) and have plans to build a shop underway.

Perhaps tell us what kind of tools you have access to so people could best advise what projects you could tackle yourself and what kind of forge you could make on your own and that sort of thing. You can certainly go out there and heat up some steel and bang it something fierce, there is alot to be learned from personal experience (so I hear); but if it will likely save ya some material and possibly cash to read up some tips on here, look through blueprints, decide something to make, read up (online if you wish) on the process involved in making things of that nature, then go for it.

Good luck to ya! Get going and we could make our sucky newbie stuff together and compare through pics and such haha!

Edited November 11, 2008 by WannabeSmith

[Fdisk]

i can do stock removal also have a mig welder i have files dremmel grinders and im pretty good a just shaping forming process by stock removal i just absoluty not experiance at anneling tempering things like that basicaly id love to learn but i do good stock removal work but as i have curved leaf springs i gotta heat hammer to get it straight from what ive read so far and ill have to read alot more and read it over a few times for it to sink in but if i heat the steel hammer bend it flat and let it air cool haw much have i changed the temper of the original metal

[Rob Browne]

The Getting Started link is off the Homepage. Go to the top of this page and click on the Home link. Then the Getting Started and Lessons in Metalworking links are down the right side of the page.

You can find the Blueprints the same way, just click on the Blueprint link at the top of this page. There are some really cheap options for a forge. The simplest would be a the brake drum forge with an old hair dryer for the air supply.

Enjoy your reading, its part of the fun :)