Do you remember the first piece you ever forged? I know that the vast majority of you on IFI are accomplished smiths. But, I just built my first fire in my first forge, and spent 3 hours making one half of a pair of tongs. I'm almost as proud of that as I am of my 4 month old son (don't tell my wife). I finished the brakedrum forge today and couldn't wait for the blower that is supposed to deliver next week, so I comendered my wife's hair dryer (she is gone for the week end). I couldn't wait for the coal that my wife is bringing back, so I burnt 15lbs of charcoal on that one half of a pair of tongs. It don't take long for the smoke to get in your blood does it? Some day I'll probably look at those tongs (assuming I can make another half to match) and laugh. But for now I thing they are a thing of beauty.

howdy, wealcome it is adicting. but mommy may be mad so you don't let the cat out of the bag-my first atempt at tongs was horrable-and i have yet to make a good pair. is a feat to create something out of nothing. have fun and be well, jimmy

first think i made was a knife......

It was a poker for my forge..Made from a 1/2" piece of rebar..I still use it..

Started with S hooks, each with a variety of ends and twists. I think I found alot of my "style" in those very early S hooks

First piece was a nail or drive hook at a guild meeting, first piece in my forge was a fire poker for the forge, then a pair of tongs. Still have those tongs, ugly but effective.

I made a wall hook, it still holds my apron, may I suggest going to the goodwill or salvation army, buy the cheapest oldest vacuum, disassemble it, take the blower motor and use it to drive your forge, it was my first blower, and it takes some doing, but a slide can be made to adjust the airflow and a squirrel cage to hold it, I look back at it sitting on my shelf with reverence. I fooled around for about a year before I got wise enough to join a group, don't make that mistake, find one and join now! Your life will be enriched beyond belief.

Starting with S hooks and J hooks many years ago and still making them.

a leaf kind of a sun-burnt willow looking thing but it was fun!
For some reason leaves were the first things that I learned how to make.

A leaf key fob, a letter opener & an s-hook I think. It's all been fun, fun, fun....... :)

ha ya i remember my first forge ... I was just out of highschool and only had bealers art of blacksmithing for reference ... I took a 55 gallon drum and cut it in half leinghtways (i was gona make swords) lined it with firebrick .. put a grate across the bottom and pumped aor thru where the bung hole was ... it heated up nice ... melted the grate and left me witha asmall fire right where the air entered!!! I ended up buying a riviters forge a little later.. that was 25+ years ago i dont remember what i made with it tho but it was fun!

My first was a simple hook from a piece of 1/4 round, at a demo in the foothills of the Blueridge in "little" washington VA (pictures in my gallery). the second thing was a pair of super easy tongs designed by Sean Conner (probably the original kidsmith) on Jock Dempsey's site.

Thanks Sean, if you ever see this. I use them most regularly. Great design and foolproof to make. Here is the link and look for Link removed at the request of anvilfire

I hammered on a piece of 1" round until it got beat out to about 3/8" square and ended up making a roasting fork out of it

An S-hook, many many years ago back in the stone-age, sharing a single coal forge with a bunch of other students. I also remember that I burned my hand pretty good too. We only had vise grips to hold the iron, an old hair blower blowing air into a length of black-pipe. A slit in the cap on the pipe served as the air-source.

The KLO-1 (Knife Like Object). Beaten out from a push rod??? I found in a scrap heap. Forged it using a brake drum sitting on the ground with a pipe buried in the dirt hooked to an old vacuum cleaner. Vice grips to hold the steel and old hickory chunks for fuel. My anvil was the "anvil face" of a large bench vice.

I really didn't know what I was doing but had Wayne Goddard's Wonder of Knifemaking and the will to succeed. Within a week of mangling this poor defenceless piece of steel, I had tracked down my local ABANA chapter and went to my first meeting. That was pretty much all she wrote for me. Forever doomed to black boogers.

I made a hoof pick and a heart coathanger

I made a cold chisel at school that broke when used

Can't remember what I made before that probably pokers and such in the forge on the farm.

I'm pretty sure I just heated and beat the snot out of steel the first few times I tried it in the early 60's. The forge was a hole and no air blast, anvil was a heavy hunk of scrap from Father's shop. Later I made a forge from a brake drum let into a washing machine lid, packed with adobe to the rim of the drum and set on cinder block legs. The air blast was an old hood style hair drier, this was before the gun style common today. Wood for fuel.

The first actual THING I made was a screwdriver in Jr. high metal shop class. I didn't find books or blacksmiths to learn from till late in life.

Steve, take my advice and buy your wife a new hair drier. Do it now, she'll know. She may not say anything but she'll know. You can pick up an old one for the forge at Sally Anne or any 2nd. hand shop.

Frosty

First thing I made was a horrible pair of tongs that took two days to beat out by hand from 1/2" square...absolutely nasty things that were uncomfortable to handle and wouldn't hold a piece without losing it. I hung them up for a while to keep me humble but they finally got put in the scrap bin and went to the yard in a load.

A froe. I still have it hanging on the wall of my shop.

I drew points and cut em off for a week , then I think I made a hook that has somehow vanished.
Finnr

An S-Hook. It is holding an antique lantern in my den.

An old fashioned triangle dinner bell and striker, hangs in our kitchen

A froe. I still have it hanging on the wall of my shop.

a massively under appreciated tool

first thing I forged (and the next 999 things I forged) where more or less identical scrolls for a railing

The very first thing I attempted to make in my forge were some tongs and they are not only ugly but ineffective. I made the attempt based on what I remembered from some blueprints but mixed them up in my head and was trying techniques from at least two different BPs and wound up burning/breaking the ends off of a great many pieces of flat and sqare bar before I got anything that even remotely resembled tongs. My first successful use of the forge was a series of leaves out of 1/2 square bar.

I'll try some tongs again soon but I had to let it go for a while.