what can i use for good forging metal?

[juggalo]

im new at forgin so i dont know what all the big terms are plus im in 9th grade so i need help what will have good forging metal?:confused:

[Finnr]

What do you plan to forge is the first question.
Finnr

[juggalo]

im interested in bladesmithing espescialy knives

[ChrisB]

what kind of tools do you have?

[Rich Hale]

Check the opeing page under getting started,,

[Frosty]

Be patient with us, we're not being short with you, your question is simply too vague to answer simply. In short you need to know more before you can ask questions that have simple answers. If that makes any sense.

For example, the literal answer to your question is most of them in the right alloy. Fact is, there aren't many metals that can't be forged, from uranium to titanium. What you're asking though is something different. Perhaps you want to know what a good knife steel is for forging. Or perhaps general smithing. Perhaps structural smithing.

In the first, there have to be hundreds of steel alloys you can forge blades from with a couple dozen popular ones. In the second, mild steel or wrought iron. In the third, it'll be specified by the engineer, architect, etc.

Also, successfully forging a blade is a ways down the road for the beginner, you need to learn to forge first, then learn tool steels and heat treating. Learning ABOUT these things is easy, really easy. Learning to DO them is a different matter and takes hands on practice.

Welcome aboard Juggalo, good to have ya.

Frosty

[Doug C]

Juggalo, Frosty is right. Be patient and learn the basics before you start making knives. If you learn the skills required beforehand your first knife will turn out better than you hoped. Join your local blacksmithing group:
KENTUCKY BLACKSMITHS' ASSOC KY.abana-chapter.com

[matt87]

Welcome, Juggalo. It's good that you have taken an interest in a productive activity, which will help you to learn valuable real-world skills, and one day might lead to a job. Blacksmithing encompasses very practical skills and techniques which will always be useful, especially when financial chickens come home to roost and people need to tighten their belts.

This website is probably the best single resource for metalsmithing on the internet. Furthermore it doesn't cost anything other than time to access and to learn very valuable information. It is provided so that everyone who is interested can learn about metalworking and contact other metalworkers wherever they are from, so long as they have an internet connection. There is a wealth of information here, much of it specially geared towards the beginner. As such I avoid asking a question unless I can't find the answer myself, as a matter of courtesy -- it might be free for me to access, but it costs others time and effort to answer a question, so if I expect to get an answer to my question without putting any effort in myself, that's just plain rude.

As Frosty says, there is a lot to learn before starting bladesmithing - it is a specialised sector of blacksmithing - just like farriery, architectural ironwork and sculptural ironwork. They all have at their core the same skill-set, i.e. manipulation of metals while in their plastic (heated) condition with the application of localised pressure. This is forging. It's like they say, you can't walk before you can run. Therefore practice of the basic forging techniques -- drawing down, cutting, fulling, punching, bending, upsetting -- is what you need first.

Considering your age there are several factors which you might have to deal with that we old fogies generally don't, such as a very small budget, no car, rapid and sporadic growth, parents, and perhaps legal concerns. None of these are necessarily insurmountable, as the number of younger smiths on this forum goes to show. There are several threads which address some of these issues, if not all.

Once again, welcome to the forum and the community, Juggalo. Feel free to ask for advice whenever you need it, but be prepared for some learning.

[ThomasPowers]

When I teach college students smithing they all want to make blades but as I tell them "*everything* you are doing making S hooks directly applies to blademaking" and far better to make you mistakes on "forgiving" mild steel than unforgiving blade steels.

So I would advise finding a steel place locally, (I get mine from a windmill repair company---about half the cost of buying it at the local lumber yard), and buy a stick of 1/4" square stock hot rolled mild/A36/structural (may be called any of those) and another of 3/8" sq stock to practice on. Also the dreaded RR spike can be good practice material thought they DON'T make good knives, but the size makes for a lot more work pounding.

When you have gone through that metal and you can hopefully forge a nice flat surface without a lot of hammer dings then pick up a piece of car coil spring and, if you can, have a friend run a cutting torch down one side giving you a bunch of good blade steel, (usually around 5160) to learn working higher carbon steels and heat treating on.

[Rob Browne]

Welcome to IFI Juggalo. All the advice above is probably not what a 9th grader wanted to hear BUT its all good. If you want to be a bladesmith, really a specialist blacksmith, then you have to have the blacksmithing bit worked out otherwise, you will just turn out junk.

Now if you are into stock removal methods then you have to get the gear for grinding and polishing and then learn the heat treating bits only.

Either way its a LOT to learn.

Welcome to the obsession :)

[juggalo]

all the tools i have is a small ball peen hammer and a 2 pound sledge hammer my forge is homemade and my "anvil" is a rock lol thanks for the info

[juggalo]

i dont have many tools just a 2 lb sledge and a small ball peen hammer i made a homemade forge and hooked it up to a shop vac and it works pretty good so far and i live near a place where they used to strip mine coal so i can get free coal there. i just dont know the different types of metals and wich is best to use.

[Frosty]

Find yourself a piece of RR rail and mount it with the face between knuckle and wrist height. I'd recommend wrist height seeing as you're still growing and mounting it a little high will mean more time before you need to remount it.

If you can't find a piece of RR rail, virtually any piece of reasonably heavy steel will work. Don't worry about it looking like a "real" anvil, up until a couple hundred years ago most anvils didn't look like "real" anvils. (Most anvils were square blocks of iron or steel with no horn)

Anyway, a piece of heavy plate, train coupler, large axle, etc. use your imagination make fine anvils. Seeing as you're using a rock almost any good heavy piece of steel will be a treat. If you can't find one, don't worry, a boulder is a fine traditional anvil, been in use for millenia and I've used one a time or two myself. Heck, I've used logs on occasion.

While you're schlepping around looking for a good heavy piece of steel for an anvil, keep your eyes peeled for any old pieces of steel, rebar, rod, angle iron, strip, bar, RR spikes, spring clips, bolts, etc. Pack it all home and store it so your Mom doesn't have to look at it every time she does the dishes.

Heck, do the dishes if you have to. The idea is to store it so your stock pile doesn't look ugly to her, bribing her is perfectly acceptable too. ANYTHING you make your Mother will be appreciated far in excess of it's actual value. It's a Mother thing.

Once you've collected some mild steel build a fire and start beating on it. There are plenty of good beginner projects in the "getting started" section of IFI. Start simple and keep at it. It may not seem like it but every time you strike iron you will change a little bit. You'll get stronger and more accurate, your eye, ears, hand feel and brain will grow more acute to the state of the iron. You will get better with every project.

Before you know it making a knife will seem as natural as making a coat hook or shed door hinge only harder.

It's all about knowledge and practice, no magic, no short cuts, no avoiding the burns, bruises, cuts, sweat and pain. But. And it's a big but . . . no, it's a HUGE but.

Being able to use mankind's three oldest tools, your brain, fire and something to bash with and make useful things from rusty, old abandoned steel, the very base of modern human civilization, is soul deep satisfaction. There's nothing like it, NOTHING.

Making beautiful blades is a wonderful thing indeed but it's secondary to the sheer joy of blacksmithing and what it represents.

Frosty

[juggalo]

thanks thats great info im going out asap 2 find these things that will work for an anvil

[David Einhorn]

The folks here have provided a lot of good advice. Very simply stated, in general most beginners start forging simple projects such as "S" hooks using "Mild Steel" (also called Structural Steel) because it tends to be readily available, cheaper and because it is softer and easier to practice on than trying to hammer on tool-steels that are used in making tools and knives. Any flat solid steel surface can serve as a first anvil, I have a fairly large steel plate attached to a bench that sometimes serves as a surface to straighten objects on, and two or three times have used it as an anvil when using tooling at that end of the shop.

Also, please check to see if there is a blacksmithing club and/or classes in your area so that you might get some instruction and supervision, for reasons of both safety and to accelerate your learning process. An experienced smith can show you in a weekend how to do stuff that otherwise might take you a year of more to figure out by yourself. He can also give you safety tips to help keep you safe and healthy into your old age. Smithing has its hazards, but good safety practices can minimize the risk greatly.

Edited November 19, 2008 by UnicornForge

[Rob Browne]

As for safety, make sure you have your forge in a VERY well ventillated area. Both gas and coal forges put out lots of hazardous gases and if they are in a contained area they can really harm you.

[tompdw]

Hello, Juggalo. I take it you are a fan of ICP. Save the hatchets for later. Try with a blueprint of some tongs from mild steel, or maybe a fork. I'm not trying to be smart with you just helpful.

[Justin Keller]

Everyone here has really good advice to help you start out.. For my part, I'd recommend safety equipment as a very smart investment. Especially eye protection, as stone chips very easily when you hit it with a hammer. Also, gloves and an apron of some kind are a good idea as well.

The other thing to keep in mind, there has been quite a bit of talk about this around here lately, never heat up steel with a galvanized coating (that generally means steel that's silver coloured). The zinc will burn off and will make you very sick.